Trial Set for Hells Angels Prospect

Kelowna, BC Canada (November 21, 2020) - A Kelowna Hells Angel prospect who's charged with assaulting a woman will go to trial next spring. In August, 43-year-old Jason Townsend was arrested and charged with simple assault and assault by choking, for an alleged incident that occurred in the early hours of Aug. 7 on Kelowna's Yates Road.

"Frontline officers immediately attended the scene and found the male suspect had fled the residence prior to police attendance," said Kelowna RCMP's Const. Solana Pare at the time. "Officers spoke with the female victim who had been assaulted and suffering non-life threatening injuries."

On Thursday, Townsend's two-day trial was set for May 3, 2021. 

The Vancouver Sun's Kim Bolan reported that Townsend had become a Kelowna Hells Angel prospect in the fall of 2019, after his former club, Prince George's Renegades motorcycle club, disbanded. A prospect is the final stage before members become full-patch members of the Hells Angels.

Townsend's former Facebook profile photo shows him wearing a jacket with red and white patches that say “PROSPECT” and “KELOWNA.”  Townsend remains out of custody after he was released on $1,000 bail following his arrest.

This is not Townsend's first run-in with the justice system. In 2014, he was sentenced to three years in jail for a 2013 assault on two men and a woman outside a Prince George nightclub, but the BC Court of Appeal took a year off his sentence in 2015.

RELATED | Hells Angels Associate Set For Trial

Townsend's trial will begin on the same date as the trial for another man affiliated with the Kelowna Hells Angels. Colin Bayley will face trial in Kelowna's Supreme Court for an aggravated assault charge stemming from a May 2019 incident that allegedly put a 41-year-old man in hospital. Kelowna RCMP described Bayley as a "known associate" of the local Hells Angels. His trial has been delayed several times, but it's now scheduled to also begin on May 3. He is also out of custody on bail.

In a BC Supreme Court decision from last spring, a judge ruled against the BC Civil Forfeiture Office's attempts to seize Hells Angels clubhouses in Kelowna, Vancouver and Nanaimo. Throughout the lengthy trial, the B.C government identified 14 members of the Kelowna Hells Angels since the chapter was started in 2007. At the time of the 2018-19 trial, the province also identified one prospect and two official “hangarounds.”

The province is appealing the decision.

SOURCE: CASTANET

Cops Concerned About Increase in MC Activity

Nova Scotia, Canada (November 20, 2020) - Police in Cape Breton say at least two motorcycle clubs are recruiting on the island and their memberships are increasing. Police say they have reason to suspect a new clubhouse is also being established in the Coxheath area. 

 

Motorcycle clubs first started cropping up on the island in 2015 and Constable John Campbell of the Cape Breton Regional Police Service said growing activity is tied to a flourishing drug trade.

Four known Motorcycle Clubs

"Right now we have four motorcycle gangs: the Outlaws, the Black Pistons, the Highlanders and the Salty Souls," Campbell said. "There's a huge market here for cocaine right now and they'll take any opportunity they can to make money for their club, for their organization, and it's strength in numbers."

Campbell said clubhouse members often portray themselves as good neighbors and motorcycle enthusiasts. "They do fundraising for different events or for special causes," he said. "They want that to stick out in people's minds so that when the police do enforce them, then the community is wondering, 'Why are the police bothering these decent people?'"

Police educating the community

Cpl. Andy Cook, an organized crime expert based in Prince Edward Island, led an education session Thursday for members of the downtown Sydney business community. Additional meetings were held with representatives of Membertou First Nation, the Cape Breton-Victoria Regional Centre for Education and community development organization Bay-It-Forward in Glace Bay.

Cook said crime groups are intrinsically linked to violence. He warned against buying, or even wearing, clothing that supports criminality. "They put money into their coffers that they can use for other things," he said. "And it spreads their message into the community."

In recent months, Cape Breton Regional Police executed at least three search warrants and seized more than $130,000 in drugs, cash and weapons tied to motorcycle clubs.  Robert Walsh, the acting police chief, said his department is proposing a signage campaign that would ban people from wearing outlaw club logos in business establishments. 

Police will also be approaching the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in hopes of creating a bylaw to ban such emblems on municipal properties. “By being proactive and partnering with our community, we can better prevent these organizations from establishing themselves here,” Walsh said.

Business owners concerned about criminal activity were told by Walsh that there is “safety in numbers.” Cops warn members of the public not to confront or engage with someone suspect of motorcycle club activity.

SOURCE: CBC

Police Raid Hells Angels Clubhouse

Lahti, Finland (October 31, 2020) - Police confiscated drugs, weapons and explosives during a sweep of motorcycle clubhouses on Friday. According to Detective Superintendent Pälvi Suokas of the Häme police department, the operation targeted the Hells Angels motorcycle club.

In Lahti, about 100 kilometres north of Helsinki, authorities searched premises rented by a new motorcycle club called Red Roots. A preliminary investigation determined that the facility is now used by the Hells Angels. Other sites were searched, including a Hells Angels clubhouse in the eastern city of Lappeenranta.

Police said they detained an unspecified number of people on Friday. Three of them were prospective Hells Angels members who this month had been granted “hang-around” status, the first step toward full membership.

 

The Häme police department led the operation with extensive cooperation from the Southeast Finland, Helsinki, Eastern Uusimaa and Western Uusimaa police departments as well as the National Bureau of Investigations and the Criminal Sanctions Agency. Police declined to provide more details, citing the ongoing preliminary investigation. 

The Finnish News Agency STT reported in September that a new motorcycle club called Red Roots had been established in Lahti. Police first observed motorcyclists wearing Red Roots vests and insignia last spring.  Police say that Red Roots dissolved in August, splitting into two groups. Since then both groups have been involved with the Hells Angels, officials say.

Red Roots was set up to replace the Lahti chapter of the United Brotherhood (UB) club. At the same time an associated group called Redrum was also established, corresponding to a UB affiliate called Bad Union, according to police.

This week Eastern Uusimaa District Court extended a temporary ban on UB’s activities, which was originally imposed in January. Legal proceedings aimed at shutting down UB permanently are scheduled to begin in late November.

UB was launched in 2010 through the merger of three organisations, known as Rogues Gallery, Natural Born Killers and MORE.

SOURCE: Nord News

Cape Breton Police File Firearms Charges

Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada (October 20, 2020) - Two people are facing firearm offences in connection with an ongoing investigation by Cape Breton Regional Police into the activities of so called outlaw motorcycle clubs.

James Robert Osmond Berthiaume, 53, and Jennifer Lynn Chisholm, 50, both of Ben Eoin, are charged with unauthorized possession of firearms, careless use of a firearm and possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose. 

They have been released from police custody on conditions and are to appear in provincial court November 30 to enter pleas. Among the conditions of their release, the accused are not to associate with any other members of the Outlaws or Black Pistons motorcycle groups or attend their clubhouses.

The pair were charged after police executed a search warrant in connection with an East Bay Highway property last week. Police seized two firearms, including one that was loaded, ammunition, and clothing affiliated with motorcycle clubs.

In September, regional police made arrests in Glace Bay resulting in charges against three individuals including drug trafficking and weapon possession.

RELATED | Outlaws MC Clubhouse Searched

The Glace Bay arrests are also linked to the Black Pistons and the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.

Police seized more than $120,000 worth of drugs including 600 grams of pure cocaine, cannabis resin, Ritalin and hash. Officers also seized $12,000 worth of cash.

SOURCE: The Chronicle Herald