$1M bond set for Pagan's MC member

Fairmont, West Virginia, USA (August 28, 2019) BTN — Jason “Jay Bird” Edward Harris of Fairmont, is being held on a $1,000,012 bond on one count each of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit a felony. Harris was one of four men who carried out a pre-planned attack on a New York man on Aug. 3 outside of the BFS Foods convenience store in White Hall.

During the fight, the attackers struck Kenneth Murphy of Hilton, N.Y. with a baseball bat, as well as cut and stabbed Murphy with a knife.

“This is based upon a police investigation which is supported by physical evidence, surveillance video, witness statements, and personal observations,” states the complaint.

Harris, a member of the Pagan's Motorcycle Club, was arrested Friday night in Fairmont after staff with the U.S. Marshals Service in Clarksburg received a confidential tip. Witnesses at the scene the day of the attack said Murphy was wearing a Hells Angels Motorcycle Club jacket.

Murphy was transported to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown where he was placed in a medically-induced coma for treatment, according to the criminal complaint.

The U.S. Marshals Service began assisting the White Hall Police Department in locating Harris shortly after the incident occurred. Early Friday night, authorities received information that led investigators to a friend of Harris’ on Oregon Avenue in Fairmont.

Harris’ arrest is the third in the Aug. 3 melee.

Along with Harris, White Hall Police charged James Cody Biggie, 37, of 202 Skyline Dr., of Rivesville, and Bruce Evan Davis, 53, of 135 Pine Ln., of Fairmont, with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit a felony.

According to the original criminal complaint, Biggie and Davis, along with Harris and a fourth man, carried out what police called “a pre-planned physical confrontation with several male individuals in the parking lot of the BFS Foods in White Hall.”

The incident has been described as a fight between the Hells Angels and Pagan's motorcycle clubs. At 1:50 p.m. on Aug. 3., a Monongalia Emergency Centralized Communication Agency 911 report stated there was “a fight/stabbing in Fairmont between Hells Angels club and Pagan’s Motorcycle Club, and that one of the Hells Angels members was being transported to Ruby Memorial Hospital.”

Since their arrests, Davis and Biggie have appeared in court where their attorneys asked that their bail be reduced.

On Aug. 12 at his preliminary hearing, Davis’ bail was reduced from $750,00 to $450,000.

Then, on Aug. 13 at his preliminary hearing before Marion County Magistrate Todd Rundle, Biggie’s bail was reduced from $1,030,000 to $500,000. Biggie, who attended, waived the preliminary hearing and his case is now headed to Marion County Circuit Court.

Police are still searching for the fourth suspect in the case. That suspect’s name has not been released.

If found guilty of attempted murder, Harris could face 15 years in prison.

SOURCE: Time West Virginian

Hells Angels lose clubhouse to forfeiture

Nanaimo, BC, Canada (August 26, 2019) BTN — The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club and seven members have failed to have the province’s attempt to seize three of their clubhouses thrown out of court.

In a roughly 15,000-word ruling in advance of his decision in the civil forfeiture case, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Barry Davies rejected the Angels’ arguments that their rights had been violated in the proceedings to grab their properties in Nanaimo, the East End of Vancouver and Kelowna.

The fulcrum of the petition was the legality of the RCMP’s disclosure to the Civil Forfeiture Office of information gleaned from “Project Halo,” “Project E-Pandora” and “Project E-Predicate” — investigations involving the motorcycle enthusiasts.

Related | Hells Angels MC still fighting for their clubhouse

Davies said in the decision published Monday that there was no support for the club’s claims.

“I share some of the concerns raised by the petitioners with respect to the potential that exists for lack of notice and lack of record-keeping in the transmission of information and have observed that the relationship between the police and the CFO with the attendant possibility of conflict arising from the intersection of criminal law substance and procedure and civil forfeiture law substance and procedure may require not only evidentiary oversight by the court but may also engage charter scrutiny,” Davies wrote.

“I have also, however, determined that there is no evidentiary foundation for an argument that any lack of notice or record-keeping has compromised the ability of these petitioners or any of the other defendants in the related forfeiture proceedings to defend those proceedings.”

A vehicle belonging to The Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia sits in front of the former Nanaimo Hells Angels clubhouse in Nanaimo. Photo: Richard Lam/Postmedia

The Director of Civil Forfeiture seized the Nanaimo Hells Angels clubhouse in Nov. 2007 and commenced proceedings in Nov. 2012 against the East End and Kelowna clubhouses.

The two proceedings were joined for trial in Aug. 2015 based upon the allegation that each clubhouse was an “instrument of unlawful activity” because “in future, they were likely to be used to engage in unlawful activity that may result in the acquisition of an interest in property and/or cause serious bodily harm to persons.”

The Angels filed counterclaims that asserted the “instruments of unlawful activity” provisions of the Civil Forfeiture Act were unconstitutional.

The trial of the forfeiture proceedings commenced on April 23, 2018.

In Oct. 2018, the Angels filed the petition under the Judicial Review Procedures Act seeking to quash the forfeiture litigation and obtain orders prohibiting the Director from continuing the proceedings. After hearing the petition in early April, Davies reserved judgment; he completed the trial of the forfeiture proceedings on April 30. His decisions on the forfeiture applications as well as on the Angels’ counterclaim are pending.

Given the importance of the petition decision, however, it had to be delivered before Davies ruled on the underlying litigation. “I am satisfied that the Director had lawful authority to collect information from the RCMP and to commence and conduct the related forfeiture proceedings,” Davies concluded.

“Accordingly, while I find that entering into the (Memorandum of Understanding) with the RCMP by the Director and the creation of the CFO RCMP Program Manager Position was lawfully authorized, I am also satisfied that, in some circumstances, the relationship between the police and the CFO with the attendant possibility of conflict arising from the intersection of criminal law substance and procedure and civil forfeiture law substance and procedure may require not only evidentiary oversight by the court but also engage charter scrutiny.”

The Nanaimo Clubhouse and contents, except for some released by agreement of the parties, have been in the continuing possession of the CFO for almost 12 years.

SOURCE: Vancouver Sun

Hardliners MC photo provokes city officials

Haarlem, Netherlands (August 12, 2019) BTN — More than twenty members of the new motorcycle club MC Hardliners posed in full colors on the platform of the Haarlem city hall on Thursday afternoon. The photo session was with the back to the camera. MC Hardliners was founded from prison by Lysander de R., the former leader of the Haarlem Hells Angels.

Provocation

According to Noordhollands Dagblad, the municipality of Haarlem does not want to respond to this provocation and the police do not want to say much. At least 25 especially young members of MC Hardliners posed with their backs to the camera on the steps of the Haarlem city hall on Thursday afternoon. Around 5.30 pm the police asked the club members to leave the catering business in the center because wearing full colors in public is not permitted. The members left without problems. Almost a week earlier, around eight Hardliners drove through the center in Haarlem with a lot of noise on their motorbikes.

Mayor Jos Wienen

The photo session at the town hall is striking. The MC Hardliners are looking for a clubhouse in Noord-Holland and perhaps Haarlem. Earlier, mayor Jos Wienen of Haarlem closed the clubhouse of the Hells Angels. Wienen has been threatened since September 2018. It is unclear who is behind those threats, but outlaw motorcycle gangs are also mentioned in this context.

The same place

When it became clear in Haarlem last year that Wienen was being threatened, there was a well-attended demonstration on the Grote Markt in support of the mayor. The members of MC Hardliners posed on Thursday exactly where Wienen stood and spoke on 14 October (the landing of the town hall).

Logo The logo of MC Hardliners is very similar to that of the Hells Angels (see photo). The font of the emblems is the same, the color red-white and also the wing is prominent, but instead of a skull there is a shark.

Lysander de R.

Lysander de R., former leader of the Haarlem Hells Angels, founded MC Hardliners from prison in May. The R. was sentenced to nine years in prison last year because he was guilty of mistreatment, extortion, threat, arson and possession of weapons with two other leaders. Previously it had been claimed against him for fourteen years . He will be detained until at least November 2022. According to the court, a 'rock-hard and beastly chapter' was created under the leadership of De R. in which 'a real reign of reign' was conducted in Haarlem and the surrounding area.

Motorclub MC Hardliners poseert voor stadhuis in Haarlem https://t.co/IQgMolpXPX pic.twitter.com/T15COA5EIq

— haarlem (@haarlem) August 9, 2019

SOURCE: CrimeSite

Alleged killers of Hells Angel member appear in court

Toronto, Ontario (August 6, 2019) BTN — Two young men charged with murdering Hardside Hells Angel Suminder “Ali” Grewal will appear in Surrey Provincial Court Tuesday morning.

Calvin Junior Powery-Hooker, 20, and Nathan James De Jong, 21, were arrested minutes after Grewal was shot to death in the drive-thru of a Starbucks in South Surrey about 9:20 a.m. Friday morning. Each faces one count of first-degree murder, Sgt. Frank Jang, of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, said late Saturday.

Members of the Hells Angels, including members of affiliated support clubs, attend the funeral for slain HA Hardside chapter member Chad Wilson, at the Maple Ridge Alliance Church. Photo: Jason Payne

He said IHIT and its partners have been working continuously since Grewal’s murder and “have forwarded their findings so far in the investigation for charge approval consideration to the B.C. Prosecution Service.”

“The two accused men are known to police and investigators are firm in their belief that this was a targeted incident,” he said. “We urge anyone who had recent contact with Calvin Powery-Hooker and/or Nathan De Jong to contact IHIT as soon as possible. IHIT is appealing to the public for dash cam video from drivers who were travelling along 152 Street between 32 Avenue and 96 Avenue around the time of the shooting.”

Neither Powery-Hooker or De Jong have any criminal history in B.C., according to the online court data base. But Powery-Hooker faced an aggravated assault and unlawful confinement charge in St. Albert, Alberta two years ago. The charges were then stayed in January 2018. He was referred to at the time as a resident of Edmonton.


De Jong also appears to be from the Edmonton area. Grewal, 43, was shot to death as he sat in his Dodge Viper in the 3000-block of 152 Street, surrounded by other vehicles and passers-by. Jang said earlier that Grewal died at the scene.

“Immediately following the shooting, members of the public phoned police with information regarding a suspect vehicle which was quickly passed on to all officers. Frontline officers of the Surrey RCMP, members of CFSEU’s Uniformed Gang Enforcement Team and Police Service Dog Garner of the Integrated Police Dog Services (IPDS) responded promptly and were able to intercept the suspect vehicle and subsequently arrest two men in connection with the earlier homicide,” Jang said.

He said investigators are doing a neighbourhood canvass searching for video surveillance footage and witnesses. “IHIT’s crime scene manager will be working with forensic specialists from the Integrated Forensic Identification Services to complete a fulsome forensic examination of the suspect vehicle and the physical evidence collected at the scene of the shooting,” he said.

“Mr. Grewal was a well-established member of an organized crime group and it is believed that his homicide was targeted. IHIT will be engaging with numerous gang enforcement units throughout the Lower Mainland region that will be working to mitigate any on-going violence.”

Personal property records show Grewal leased or purchased on credit a Dodge Viper from Langley’s Willowbrook Motors on Sept. 10, 2015. Last November, Chad Wilson, 43, another member of the Hells Angels Hardside chapter, was found murdered under the Golden Ears Bridge. IHIT continues to investigate that murder.

Grewal and Wilson were both former members of the club’s Haney chapter in Pitt Meadows before helping form the Surrey-based Hardside chapter in early 2017. Mounties in Surrey reviewed all legal means to block the setting up of a clubhouse, but had no legal authority to deny anyone from purchasing or renting a residence.

Police are still probing several theories in connection with the Nov. 18, 2018 slaying of Wilson. Grewal was the Hardside Hells Angel who created a formal link between his chapter and the volatile Brothers Keepers gang. That alliance meant that conflicts the Brothers had with other clubs or over specific incidents of violence could then become issues for Grewal, too.

The Brothers Keepers has had a more direct involvement in shootings and murders that have become part of what police describe as the Lower Mainland gang conflict. Dang said that despite the arrests made Grewal’s shooting, “there is much work ahead for our detectives and partners this long weekend.”

SOURCE: Vancouver Sun

Gun and drugs found in Bandidos clubhouse raid

Melbourne, Australia (August 5, 2019) BTN —A man has been arrested after police seized a loaded firearm and drugs believed to be steroids from the Bandidos MC clubhouse in Melbourne's north.

The police raided properties in Brunswick and Doveton in Melbourne's south-east on Thursday as part of the anti-bikie Echo Taskforce.

The State Emergency Service assisted police with floodlights, as it was still dark, at an address on Weston Street in Brunswick on Thursday morning, a spokeswoman confirmed.

Along with the firearm and drugs, a 48-year-old man was subsequently arrested at the Brunswick property, and charged with possessing an unregistered handgun and unlicensed ammunition as well as a drug of dependence.

No one was arrested and no items were seized at the Doveton property.

Victoria Police said the two search warrants had been executed as part of an ongoing operation.

"Echo Taskforce detectives have executed two warrants this morning, one each in Brunswick and Doveton, as part of an ongoing operation," a spokeswoman said. "As the investigation is ongoing, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time."

The clubhouse has been the scene of violence in the past.

Former Bandidos enforcer Toby Mitchell was shot by two gunmen in an attempted hit outside the Brunswick clubhouse in 2011.

In 2014 a drunken passerby was beaten to death after taunting a dog tied up outside the clubhouse.

Echo Taskforce was launched in 2011 to tackle Victoria's outlaw bikie gangs.

SOURCE: The Age

Hells Angels play softball for local charity

Clemson, South Carolina, USA (August 1, 2019) BTN — It’s day three of the summer rally for the Hells Angels motorcycle club in Clemson.

On Wednesday, the bikers took to the field to play softball for a local charity. The east coast bikers played against the west coast to raise money for the Pickens County Advocacy Group.

Related | Hells Angels MC members gathering today

There was some concern from the community as the “outlaw motorcycle club” headed to town, but we heard from a local “Hells Angels” biker for the first time who said it’s been a great week.

“All I can say is we are having a good time here in Clemson and everything’s been great,” said Phil Sierputowski.

Sierputowski tells 7News that the club picked Clemson for their annual rally because it’s the home of the national champions.


There was extra security on hand from Clemson Police and several federal agencies due to the crowds.

The bikers will have their last official event Wednesday evening, but officials anticipate many staying through the end of the week.

SOURCE: 7News

Defendants point fingers for killing Outlaws president

Tampa, Florida, USA (July 31, 2019) BTN – Two men this week will stand trial in the 2017 assassination of a rival motorcycle club leader who authorities said was shot and killed while sitting in his pickup truck in rush hour traffic in Pasco County.

The two defendants, Christopher “Durty” Cosimano, 31, and Michael “Pumpkin” Mencher, 52, are both alleged members of the Hillsborough County chapter of the 69’ers Motorcycle Club.

They sat together at the defense table as their murder trial started Tuesday. But their lawyers told jurors that someone else was to blame for the slaying of Paul Anderson, 44, president of the Cross Bayou chapter of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club:

Mencher’s attorney told the jury that Cosimano shot Anderson.

Cosimano’s attorney said someone else — he did not say who — was responsible.

But prosecutors said it was Cosimano who pulled the trigger, and if he missed then Mencher was there to finish the job.

Related | Outlaws MC President was killed over club colors

Related | Outlaws MC President gunned down in Florida, suspects arrested

Related | Sheriff: Motorcycle MC member targeted in deadly shooting in Florida

Assistant U.S. Attorney Natalie Adams walked the 16-person jury through the Dec. 21, 2017 assassination and the violent feud that led to it. Cosimano and Mencher rode motorcycles behind Anderson, tracking him. Both carried loaded guns, prosecutors say, and wore masks to hide their faces.

When Anderson took an exit on the Suncoast Parkway and stopped at a red traffic light near State Road 54, Cosimano walked up to the truck’s window, tapped on the glass, then shot the Outlaws leader several times with a Glock 45 semiautomatic pistol, according to prosecutors. “He was dead with his foot on the brake, and a phone in his hand,” said Adams as Cosimano and Mencher looked on, quietly.

The state accused Mencher of being Cosimano’s backup, prepared to kill Anderson if the 69’ers’ president messed up the hit. Anderson, the Outlaw leader, was killed “to claim territory, to demand respect,” Adams said. But Cosimano and Mencher’s attorneys challenged the state’s account of what happened and what motivated the shooting.

Defense attorney Anne Borghetti said her client, Mencher, was told by Cosimano that he wanted to go riding on Dec. 17, 2017. That’s all.

Cosimano never mentioned anything about Anderson, she said, or any plan to execute him. She also tried to minimize Mencher’s ties to the 69’ers, saying the gang treated him poorly, even sometimes leaving him behind at club events. They called Mencher “the village idiot,” she said, and Cosimano’s plan “was to blame Michael Mencher” for the shooting.

Cosimano’s attorney, J. Jervis Wise, said someone else executed Anderson in 2017, but did not name that person. Instead, he described the incident as a “rogue act” that the leader didn’t know about. The attorney said prosecutors are relying on testimony from 69’ers members who will do anything they can to reduce their jail time for involvement in the case.

“They will tell the government what they think the government wants to hear,” Wise said.

Both Cosimano and Mencher faces charges of first-degree murder and a slew of related charges, including conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering activity and use of a firearm in a crime of violence causing death. If convicted, each faces up to life in prison. Mencher also faces drug-related charges for his involvement in a cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine ring that prosecutors accuse the 69’ers of running.


Members of the 69’ers, including at least one who has already pleaded guilty to charges related to this case, are expected to testify on behalf of the government, the state told jurors. Three members of the 69’ers — Allan Burt “Big Beefy” Guinto, Erick Richard “Big E” Robinson and Cody James “Little Savage” Wesling — were indicted along with Cosimano and Mencher and accused of taking part in the plot to kill Anderson. They took plea deals earlier this year.

Authorities said the 2017 murder of Anderson was part of an escalating conflict between local chapters of two prominent and motorcycle clubs, the Outlaws and the 69’ers, whose Hillsborough branch called itself the “Killsborough” chapter.

The trial is expected to take three weeks.

SOURCE: Tampa Bay Times

Jury selection begins in Vagos MC case

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA (July 30, 2019) BTN — Jury selection began Monday in U.S. District Court for a trial scheduled to begin with openings August 12 and stretch until about Thanksgiving.

The eight men, all from California and ranging in age from 36 to 70, represent the first of three groups totaling 21 defendants in a sweeping case that prosecutors allege involves Vagos and crimes in California, Arizona, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Nevada.

The centerpiece of the case is the shooting death of Jeffrey Pettigrew, president of the Hells Angels chapter in San Jose, California, during a brawl at a crowded Reno-area casino that sent gamblers diving under blackjack tables and left bullet fragments in slot machines.

September 23, 2011: Police officers keep an eye on handcuffed men at the east entrance to John Ascuaga's Nugget hotel-casino after a shooting in Sparks, Nevada - The Reno Gazette-Journal

Two Vagos members received non-fatal gunshots in the exchange of gunfire and one was wounded while riding his motorcycle several hours later in what authorities called a retaliatory drive-by shooting.

“The Vagos are always trying to be the big dog. In some areas they are,” said Terry Katz, a retired Maryland State Police lieutenant and gang expert with the International Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigators Association.

“Everybody’s heard of the Hells Angels, the Pagan’s, the Bandidos, the Outlaws. But the Vagos are right up there,” Katz said. “To kill Pettigrew in a setting like a casino shows that they just don’t care. It’s not like there are no cameras around.”

Now, nearly eight years later, prosecutors plan to tell a jury the case goes well beyond allegations that the eight defendants plotted to carry out a “green light order” to kill Pettigrew.

“That’s the enterprise. They’re the Vagos,” Daniel Schiess, the assistant U.S. attorney heading the prosecution, told Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro during a recent pretrial hearing. “The entire conspiracy for the enterprise is admissible against everyone.”


A 12-count indictment filed in 2017 accuses the 21 defendants of being a transnational gang with a hierarchical chain-of-command in which members reach leadership posts by adhering to club rules and committing acts of murder, kidnap, assault, extortion, robbery and witness intimidation as well as drug and weapons trafficking.

Charges date from a January 2005 bar brawl in Los Angeles; include allegations of cocaine and methamphetamine smuggling into the U.S. from Mexico; and point to a September 2011 kidnapping at gunpoint of a Vagos member suspected of violating gang rules. Prosecutors say he was beaten and robbed of his jewelry, guns and motorcycle.

The case relies on hundreds of recorded telephone conversations, reports by confidential informants and accounts by an undercover law enforcement officer who posed as a Vagos member in 2011 and 2012.

One allegation is that club members in Utah were ordered in August 2012 to pay a $100 tax to support lawyers for Ernesto Manuel Gonzalez, who was convicted in state court in Reno of Pettigrew’s death and sentenced to life in prison.

The Nevada Supreme Court overturned Gonzalez’s conviction in December 2015 due to faulty jury instructions at trial. He was awaiting a retrial when the federal racketeering indictment was filed.

He and his co-defendants — Pastor Palafox, Albert Lopez, Albert Perez, James Gillespie, Bradley Campos, Cesar Morales and Diego Garcia — have each pleaded not guilty. Each faces up to life in prison if he’s convicted.

SOURCE: My Northwest