Hells Angel MC member pleads guilty

Staunton, Virginia (January 29, 2019) BTN – In a surprising development, three members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club and a prospect pleaded guilty Tuesday in connection with a September ambush at the Hometown Inn that saw a rival motorcycle club member shot and another beaten.

Both men survived the attack.

In Augusta County Circuit Court on Tuesday, one of the alleged shooters, Anthony Milan, 28, of East Elmhurst, New York, a Hells Angel prospect at the time of his arrest, pleaded guilty to malicious wounding by a mob and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Related | Pagans MC: We were ambushed by the Hells Angels MC

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"He was a triggerman," Augusta County prosecutor Tim Martin said.

Milan was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Three other defendants, none of them one of the two shooters, were sentenced to four years in prison. Nathaniel A. Villaman, 28, of East Brunswick, New Jersey; Joseph Anthony Paturzo, 52, of the Bronx, New York; and Richard E. West, 53, of Baldwin, New York, all pleaded guilty to malicious wounding by a mob.

The second shooter is alleged to be Dominick J. Eadicicco, 48, of Staten Island, New York. He is scheduled for trial March 18.

Martin said he was pleased with the guilty verdicts, and noted: The shooting victim was not cooperating with authorities and wouldn't be a witness at trial.

Motions in the case were scheduled to be heard Tuesday before the plea deals were reached.

Two other Hells Angels members who were not charged in the attack face drug and gun charges.

Earlier evidence showed ambush

Motel video surveillance viewed at an earlier bond hearing in October showed five Hells Angels were lying in wait after two members of the rival Pagans Motorcycle Club were spotted across the street at the Pilot Travel Center during the early-morning hours of Sept. 10.

Roughly 90 minutes later, shortly before 3 a.m. as the two Pagans pulled into the motel parking lot on their motorcycles, an ambush was unleashed, video evidence showed.

One of the Pagans was shot, the other knocked off his motorcycle and beaten with a hammer.

Prior to the shooting, after the two Pagans were seen at the travel center, one of the motorcycle club members rousted four others from their rooms at the Hometown Inn, which is near Greenville.

After the men took off their Hells Angels gear and changed into different clothing, one of the Hells Angels kept close tabs on the Pagans across the street with binoculars. Another was seen holding an iPad in their direction as he presumably filmed them, video evidence showed. Other Hells Angels club members were nearby.

When the Pagans went to the Hometown Inn, the clerk, unaware there were now rival gang members registered at the motel, gave them a room next to one of three rooms rented by the Hells Angels, according to evidence.

As the Pagans pulled up to their room, one following the other, the second rider was knocked off his motorcycle as it was still moving. The rider in front wiped out as he attempted to escape the ambush, skidding his bike to the ground. As he ran, two Hells Angels opened fire on him, video showed. An investigator testified four to five gunshots were fired.

The victim was struck once in the lower left side of his back. He survived the shooting and was released from the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville after a week-long stay, according to testimony.

The beating victim was not seriously injured.

Both victims were members of the Pagans Motorcycle Club out of southern Virginia, the sheriff's office said.

Seven suspects were arrested at the scene. Two guns and a shell casing were recovered at the motel by investigators.

At a press conference held after the shooting, Augusta County Sheriff Donald Smith said both groups were passing through the area following an unidentified convention.

SOURCE: News Leader

Hells Angel MC member arrested after car ramming

Franklin, Indiana (January 28, 2019) BTN – About 57 pounds of marijuana were found in a Franklin home early Saturday morning after police were called to the neighborhood because a vehicle was repeatedly ramming a parked car in a driveway.

The incident, which got the attention of neighbors and required the SWAT team come to the scene, unfolded in the Franklin Lakes neighborhood off U.S. 31 beginning at 2 a.m. Saturday. A resident called police to report that someone was repeatedly ramming a vehicle parked in a neighbor’s driveway, and the parked vehicle was eventually forced into the garage, damaging motorcycles that were parked inside, a Franklin Police Department report said.

After an hours-long incident, including getting a search warrant, police arrested Jamie Ray Harper on four felony charges — dealing marijuana, possession of methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance and possession of a restricted drug injection device, as well as a misdemeanor charge of possession of paraphernalia.

Another resident, Christopher P. Tinney, 46, was arrested on charges of possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia, both misdemeanors.

Police saw the damaged garage door and could smell marijuana, the report said.

Harper is known to police as a member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, and the Johnson County SWAT team was called to the home as a safety precaution, the report said.

Police searched the home and found four large vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana. Together, they weighed 57 pounds, the report said. A glass pipe, scales, plastic baggies, syringes, vials labeled as testosterone and methamphetamine were also found in the home.

Harper was released from the Johnson County jail on $7,000 bond. Tinney, of Edinburgh, was held on $2,000 bond.

SOURCE: Daily Journal

Loners MC clubhouse have some concerned

Cornwall, Ontario (January 26, 2019) BTN – There may be at least one motorcycle club that has quietly set up a clubhouse in Cornwall, in the heart of Le Village.

According to the building’s owner Wolfe Vracar, the Loners Motorcycle Club moved into its current location in the basement of a building on Montreal Road just over a year ago, in December of 2017.

A few motorcycles parked outside the door believed to be leased by the Loners MC in Cornwall, Ont. 

Originally founded in Ontario decades ago, the Loners is a one-percenter club and advertises the fact by including a “1%” symbol alongside its main patch. Other clubs that claim to be one percenters include the Hells Angles, Satan’s Choice, the Lobos among many others.

“The term one percenter derives from the belief that the remaining 99 per cent (of motorcycle riders) are law-abiding citizens,” explained Cornwall Community Police Service Staff Sgt. Rob Archambault, of the criminal investigation division.

A local news source began investigating the possibility of a Loners MC clubhouse in Cornwall after being told by another tenant in the building who has since moved out. That tenant said the Loners’ presence downstairs was the reason for the departure. 

The new source also spoke to some of the residential tenants of the building, who said they didn’t know much about the motorcycle club in the basement other than the fact they could be very noisy.

Vracar acknowledged he had rented the basement to the Loners MC.

When asked why he was comfortable having a one-percenter club as a tenant, Vracar said he tries not to prejudge people, and noted they have been good tenants for the past year. He refuted the concerns of his former tenant, saying he believed that tenant left for business reasons.

“I could put them out any time that I want, but they have been very respectful and there haven’t been any issues of any kind. I don’t paint anybody black until they do it themselves,” said Vracar.

On Wednesday, someone answered the door to the basement unit said to be leased by the Loners. He confirmed he was a club member, but said he did not know where the person who signed the lease was or when that person would return to the clubhouse.

He was also asked to pass along an interview request. Word of Vracar’s tenants came up as CCPS was increasing its enforcement efforts and officer training to deal with motorcycle clubs as part of a new initiative that has been dubbed “Project One Percent.”

In late November, the CCPS received a nearly $100,000 from the provincial government’s Civil Remedies Grant Program to help fund Project One Percent in Cornwall. The official description of the initiative’s goal was to “help to decrease outlaw motorcycle gang activity.”

“We are using this money for a variety of different things within the service and within the community,” said Archambault. “We are going to provide training to our officers in recognizing different criminal elements, we will also be reaching out to our community and business partners in the community to provide them with the ability to observe, notice and report criminal activity. ”

When asked outright if the CCPS was aware of any one per cent motorcycle club in Cornwall, including the Loners’ possible presence on Montreal Road, Archambault would not comment on any specifics, but said CCPS is aware of the presence of biker gangs in the city.

“We are aware of many possible locations where motorcycle gangs might be frequenting, but we are not at liberty to say what the locations are that we suspect,” he said, explaining that to share any detailed information or confirm knowledge of a specific club could jeopardize any investigations that might currently be underway.

Archambault said motorcycle clubs can be involved in the same illicit activities that other organized crime groups are. This includes smuggling everything from drugs to humans, which is a prominent issue in Cornwall.

“In Cornwall, we suspect the main source of their criminal activity is likely drug trafficking,” he said.

The CCPS’ street crime unit has the issue well in-hand, said Archambault, and there’s no reason for the public to be worried. But the police are encouraging anyone who does see something suspicious or concerning to call and tell them about it.

SOURCE: Standard Freeholder

Member of Pagan's MC found dead

Spring Hill, Florida (January 17, 2019) BTN – Pasco County sheriff’s detectives say a documented member of the Pagan's Motorcycle Club was murdered in Spring Hill. His body was discovered in his home's driveway Wednesday morning.

Detectives say 32-year-old James William Earl died of a gunshot wound. His body was discovered in the driveway of 14383 Glenrock Road in Shady Hills.

The sheriff’s office says it’s not known if the murder had anything to do with the Pagan's Motorcycle Club activities. A local leader of the Pagan's, Glenn Buzze, wouldn’t appear on camera but said he was saddened by Earl’s death. “My best friend was murdered,” said Buzze.

He said Earl was a Navy veteran and got engaged on Christmas Eve. Buzze said he doesn’t know why someone would kill Earl.

Neighbors we spoke with told us there is known drug activity in the neighborhood and they often hear gunshots in the night.

“When I hear the guns my grandchildren run in the house because i tell them to come in when they hear the guns. You never know where the bullets going to go,” said a neighbor who didn’t want us to use her name or show her face. So far the sheriff’s office hasn’t named any suspects as the investigation continues.

SOURCE: FOX 13 News