Musician Charlie Brechtel Dies In Motorcycle Crash

Copperopolis, California, USA (April 27, 2020) BTN — Charlie Brechtel died in a motorcycle crash on O’Bynes Ferry Road on Saturday, April 25 at 5:52 pm.

Charlie was riding his 1987 Harley-Davidson motorcycle when his motorcycle crossed the double-yellow line, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Charlie’s Harley-Davidson collided with the front left corner of a 2013 Chevy Equinox being driven the opposite direction by Briana Mason, 29, and Evan Gorder, 29, both of Davis.


Charlie was ejected from his motorcycle and was pronounced dead at the scene. Neither Briana nor Evan were injured. No arrests were made, and the Highway Patrol accident report states that drugs and alcohol do not appear to be factors in the collision.

Brechtel was a nationally known figure among motorcycle enthusiasts, and was nicknamed “Good Time Charlie.” Charlie Brechtel’s music is in an honest to goodness tribute to the biker lifestyle that he loved.

His top notch musical group, the Charlie Brechtel Band, had been featured in many motorcycle films.

Charlie’s music has been featured on the Sons of Anarchy TV series as well as many other biker movies, books and events. Charlie worked with the likes of John Lee Hooker, Deacon Jones, Gregg Allman, B.B. King, Dr. John, Buddy Miles, Aaron Neville, Freddy Fender, Steppenwolfe and much.

He had his own stage every year at The Buffalo Chip in Sturgis and headlined every night.


Charlie has opened for artists such as Dave Mason, Foghat, Edgar Winter, Jackyl and a host of others. He was also a Composer, Arranger, Songwriter and Producer. Brechtel was 62-years-old.

Bar Owner Sues City And Cops

Pittsburgh, PA (April 18, 2020) BTN — The owner of a South Side bar in which undercover city police officers and members of the Pagans Motorcycle Club fought in October 2018 has sued the officers, their chief and the mayor, saying the police started the fight and have a history of abusing people while their leaders have condoned it.

Stephen R. Kopy, owner of Kopy's Bar, said in the federal court suit that the officers escalated a tense situation with the Pagans MC before the fight erupted on Oct. 12, 2018, ignoring him when he told them the bikers weren't causing any trouble as they played pool in a back room.

When the punching began, he said an officer pepper-sprayed him without cause as he tried to shield other patrons. Later, he said, another officer tried to cover police actions by destroying a surveillance video of the incident, not realizing that copies had already been given to other parties, including lawyers for the Pagans MC.

The Biker Trash Network as been covering this story from the start.

Timeline stories below

Related | Cops in Pagan's bar fight keep their jobs
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Related | Undercover cops drinks bought by city

Related | All 4 cops on paid leave after bar fight

Related | Pagans MC: Another member sues city officials
Related | Pagan MC member files lawsuit against City and Police

Related | FBI investigating Pagans MC bar fight

Related | Charges dropped against Pagans MC members in barfight

Related | District Attorney: Police not submitting evidenceagainst Pagans MC in bar fight

Related | Pittsburgh Mayor defends drunken cops who startedfight with Pagans MC members

Related | Pagans MC: Bar owner says cops would not leave MC membersalone

Related | Pagans MC: District attorney waits on criticalinfo from cops

Related | Pagans MC: Attorneys say new video shows copsstarted bar fight

Related | Pagans MC: The cops were drunk and started the fight

Mr. Kopy and his lawyer, George Farneth, cited numerous other incidents of alleged abuse by Pittsburgh police, many of which have resulted in federal lawsuits.

The officers, according to the suit, "conspired and acted in concert with each other" to deprive him of his civil rights in the wake of the brawl. Chief Scott Schubert and Mayor William Peduto also made defamatory statements in defending the police and labeling his establishment as a "biker bar" and nuisance bar when it is neither, Mr. Kopy said.

In addition to the mayor, the chief and the city of Pittsburgh, the suit names Officers Brian Martin, Brian Burgunder, David Honick, David Lincoln, Matthew Turko, a detective identified only as Murray, and John Doe, an unknown officer.

The bikers said the officers instigated the fight after drinking all evening and into the night and then jailed them on false charges of having assaulted them. The district attorney's office withdrew the charges and several of the Pagans MC members later filed federal lawsuits against the police.


Video of the incident shows Officer Lincoln punching one of the Pagans MC members, Frank DeLuca, nearly 20 times in the face as another officer pins him to the bar. The FBI and the U.S. attorney's office reviewed the case for civil rights charges but said they found no basis for federal crimes.

The suit largely repeats claims Mr. Farneth and Mr. Kopy have previously made that the police were to blame and should be held accountable.

It says that the officers involved, and other city officers, have shown a pattern of abuse under the training of instructor David Wright and the supervision of Chief Schubert.

"At the direction and under the tutelage of Schubert and the City, the police are trained to be aggressive above all else, to escalate all citizen encounters so that their aggression is greater than the citizen they encounter, even when their aggression results in the use of excessive force, and to 'win' under all circumstances during citizen encounters," Mr. Farneth says in the complaint.

The suit says the police and their leaders are part of a "good old boy network" that protects police who violate civil rights with aggressive tactics and then cover their tracks with false affidavits and charges.

The suit cites numerous incidents of alleged police abuse, some of which involved officers in the Kopy's fight.

Among them are the case of Kyle Sholtis, of Uniontown, Ohio, who in a federal lawsuit filed last year said Officer Turko used a Taser on him without cause after a scuffle at the Cheerleaders club on Liberty Avenue in 2017. The suit also mentions Officer Turko in another incident in which he was accused in a federal lawsuit of beating a man during a traffic stop on the North Side in 2012. In that case, a federal court jury awarded the man $105,000 in damages.

The Kopy's suit is asking for compensatory and punitive damages and other relief, although no dollar figure is mentioned.

Spokesmen for the mayor and the police declined to comment on the suit.

SOURCE: CBS Pittsburgh

Cop Busted Threatening HA Member

Greeley, Colorado, USA (April 13, 2020) BTN — A lawsuit filed in federal court claims officers of the Greeley Police Department, LaSalle Police Department and Weld County Sheriff’s Office violated the First, Fourth and 14th Amendment rights of Anthony Mills, a Hells Angels Motorcycle Club member, during a 2018 traffic stop.

According to Mills’ attorney, Sarah Schielke, he was pulled over by a La Salle police officer for speeding the night of April 8, 2018. He was ticketed for driving 20-25 mph over the speed limit.

But during the 90-plus minute stop, Schielke argues officer and deputies treated her client like a criminal and was harassed strictly for his association to the Hells Angels MC. Schielke says body camera video she obtained through an open records request shows officers abused their power that night.

At one point during the body camera video, an officer is allegedly heard saying, “I’m shooting him. I need some paid vacation.”

“An officer can say, ‘I’m going to shoot him. I need more vacation time!’ and that’s a joke? And that gets laughter,” questioned Schielke.

She also points to a part in the footage that she says reveals the officers wanted the body cameras turned off and the one officer who did have his camera rolling must have done so by mistake.

READ: The lawsuit filed on Mills’ behalf

Schielke says her client wants an apology and to see changes to the departments involved.

“To take police seriously, to trust police to police us, those kinds of conversations can’t happen,” added Schielke.

A check on Mills’ background shows he was charged in 2017 with burglary, witness intimidation and assault. All three charges were dismissed.

In response to the lawsuit, the La Salle Police Department said it launched an internal investigation and the officer involved was notified of that investigation.

A spokesperson from the Weld County Sheriff’s Office said the department does not comment on pending litigation.

The Greeley Police Department did not respond to a request for comment as of Friday night.

SOURCE: WKRG

Charges Dropped Against Vagos Members

Las Vegas, Nevada, USA (March 29, 2020) BTN — About a month after eight members of the Vagos Motorcycle Club were acquitted in a lengthy racketeering trial, federal prosecutors on Friday dropped all charges against each of their co-defendants awaiting trial, except one.

In a three-page court brief, prosecutors dismissed all charges against 11 more defendants.

Prosecutors still are pursuing two counts against one local biker, John Halgat. While a racketeering count against him was dismissed, he still faces charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to the crime charged.

Related | Vagos MC Members Acquitted
Related | Long Vagos MC trial continues in Vegas 
Related | Judge rules Vagos MC members will face charges 
Related | Star witness in Vagos MC trial lied 
Related | Jury selection begins in Vagos MC case

Last month, after a trial that started in July, jurors acquitted eight members of the club, including its president on federal charges of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, murder and using a firearm to commit murder.

The Las Vegas trial centered around the fatal September 2011 shooting of a Hells Angels leader inside a Sparks casino during Street Vibrations, an annual motorcycle festival.

SOURCE: Las Vegas Review

Outlaws MC Member Disputes Claim

Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland (March 3, 2020) BTN — A member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club is disputing the RCMP’s depiction of their activities.

Cops seen this belt during the raid, liked it and confiscated it

Operation Barbarian last week resulted in eight cocaine trafficking arrests after the Outlaws Clubhouse in Grand Falls-Windsor was raided last weekend.

Two of the accused were members of the Outlaws and four others were associated with a support group known as the Fallen Few. Police say the investigation continues and more arrests are pending.

RELATED | Outlaws MC Members Charged 
RELATED | Arrests at Outlaws Clubhouse

At the time, RCMP warned that while the Outlaws try to depict themselves as motorcycle enthusiasts who give back to the community through charitable acts, their activities are linked to organized crime.

Mark Hancock takes exception to that. He admits they like to “party and have fun,” but says you’ll find people getting into trouble in any group.

He says to-date, the Outlaws Motorcycle Club has not been charged for being organized crime.

SOURCE: CBC

Chapter President Pleads Not Guilty

Providence, Rhode Island, USA (March 2, 2020) BTN —As his legal troubles mount, the president of the Hells Angels Rhode Island chapter is accusing the authorities of trying to entrap him and going easy on a “star witness” with a violent history.

Joseph Lancia, 28, of Smithfield, pleaded not guilty in District Court on Monday morning to two misdemeanors stemming from an altercation at the Cadillac Lounge strip club Saturday night. Police said they saw him punch a man, later identified as a strip club bouncer, in the face.

He will remain locked up because authorities say he violated the conditions of his bail in a case from June, when police said he shot at a man — a former prospect for the motorcycle club — driving by the Hells Angels Providence clubhouse in a truck.

In legal papers filed just days before the strip-club altercation, Lancia’s attorneys launched a number of accusations at the man police said he tried to shoot.

RELATED | HA Chapter President Arrested
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RELATED | Hells Angel MC member home raided 

The man, Richard Starnino, actually pointed a gun at Lancia first, and has threatened Lancia’s life a number of times, the filing says. Nobody was injured in the incident.

“The Grand Jury was never made aware of Richard Starnino’s drug habits, nor were they made aware of his violent criminal history or the numerous death threats he made against Joseph Lancia,” the filing says. “Furthermore, it was never disclosed to the Grand Jury that Starnino was an informant for the State Police, and that Starnino instigated and caused this incident.”

And Starnino has seen his own legal troubles quickly resolve in his favor — because he was cooperating with prosecutors in a long-running investigation into the Hells Angels, Lancia’s lawyer, Joseph Voccola, said.

Voccola said in a court filing that Starnino was arrested in May after beating a woman who’d gotten sand into his vehicle.

But by then, Starnino, 47, was already cooperating with the state police in an investigation into the Hells Angels, and had been for a number of months. So despite the fact that the victim reported suffering broken bones and needing 30 stitches, Starnino was charged only with misdemeanor simple domestic assault, the filing says.

Just days later, Starnino was charged again with violating a no-contact order after another assault, Lancia’s attorneys said. But he again was only charged with a minor offense, and authorities withdrew an accusation that he’d violated his bail on the earlier charge, Voccola said.

The charges against Starnino were eventually dismissed, according to court records.

Lancia now faces an accusation that he violated the terms of his bail in the June case after his arrest at the strip club over the weekend. That differs from the treatment Starnino received, Voccola said. “Everybody should be treated the same,” Voccola said. “That’s not the case here.”

Starnino’s attorney in his latest cases from 2019 did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lancia will pursue a self-defense argument and an entrapment defense; the route Starnino took with his truck to drive by the Messer Street clubhouse “doesn’t make sense,” Voccola said.

Maj. Timothy Sanzi of the Rhode Island State Police said he could not comment on the specifics of Lancia’s arguments, but said: “The detectives do a terrific job and we stand by the investigations they produce.”

Lancia is expected to appear in Superior Court on Tuesday to face accusations that he violated the terms of his bail from his arrest at the strip club over the weekend. He rejected a deal that would have resolved the bail violation and the underlying misdemeanors from the weekend but would have resulted in him serving 75 days at the Adult Correctional Institutions.

Voccola noted that the victim in the strip club case “doesn’t even want to come forward.”

But police said they saw him punch the victim, so he was charged with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. On Monday, a simple assault charge was added to the case.

SOURCE: TurnTo10

HA Chapter President Arrested

Providence, Rhode Island, USA (March 1, 2020) BTN — Shortly before Midnight Saturday February 29, 2020 nightclub staff alerted police about a disturbance inside the nightclub near the bar area. Police observed multiple persons of the Hells Angels Motorcycle club arguing with club managers and nightclub security.

Tim Fascitelli suffered a bloody nose and mouth from a punch to the face by an unidentified male member of the motorcycle club. Fascitelli reported to the police that he was attempting to calm an argument between the unidentified Hells Angels member and club staff when he was punched in the face.

Fascitelli did not file a formal complaint and would be okay if the Hells Angels members left for the evening.

It took several minutes for police and nightclub security to gather and escort the motorcycle club members to the exit.

Just outside of the club exit, 28 year-old Joseph Lancia of the Hells Angels Club walked out the front door and was observed by police punching a male subject, 43 in the face.

The 43 year-old victim fell to the ground, struck the back of his head and appeared to become unconscious. After regaining consciousness, the victim was treated on scene and brought to Rhode Island Hospital for evaluation of possible head injuries.

The victim told police on scene he also did not wish to make a formal complaint against Joseph Lancia at this time.

Lancia was found to be negative through the Nation Crime Information Center and was charged with one count of disorderly conduct and held for the next session of 6th District Court.

SOURCE: Providence Journal 

Red Devils Clubhouse Raided

Halifax, Nova Scotia (February 27, 2020) BTN — RCMP raided the clubhouse of the Red Devils motorcycle club on Alma Crescent in Halifax on Thursday afternoon as part of an organized crime investigation.

Staff at the nearby Mary Brown’s Chicken outlet said they heard the commotion in the early afternoon. “There were cops here earlier,” Jennifer Nolasco said at about 3:15 p.m. “We heard like a bang, a loud one, a cop went inside and they said they threw tear gas (and) it will take a while for it to be gone.”

Police had left the scene by about 2:00 p.m., Nolasco said. “We just saw one police car but the cop said there were a few cars which were not visible.”

She said the officer who came into the fast food outlet told them they had a search warrant but the staff did not see if anyone was taken into custody.

Cpl. Lisa Croteau, spokeswoman for the Halifax District RCMP, confirmed the Mounties’ involvement.

“Nova Scotia RCMP is currently engaged in an operation that involves searches of a number of properties in the HRM,” she said. “This is an ongoing serious organized crime investigation and more information, including possible arrests, charges and seizures, will be published when available.”

Croteau could not specify what other locations besides the Alma Crescent residence was involved. Nor could she confirm it was the Red Devils clubhouse. Online sources identified the clubhouse.

Julian Sher, an investigative journalist and author of several books on bikers and organized crime, said the Red Devils are affiliated with the Hell’s Angels.

“These guys are Hells Angels wannabees,” Sher said in an email. “Puppet clubs of the outlaw motorcycle gangs are just as dangerous as the real thing – sometimes even more so. They are like a farm team for the HA and they want to prove they are as bad as the baddest.”

SOURCE: The Chronicle Herald