Brian Jeffrey, 50, president of the Simcoe County Hells Angels chapter and Gerald (Skinny) Ward, 60, a founding member of the Niagara Hells Angels, each pleaded guilty in a Universiity Avenue courthouse to an assortment of drug trafficking charges. However, each of the burly, bearded bikers vigorously denied that the drug sales were for the benefit of a criminal organization. Ontario Superior Court Justice John McMahon heard arguments from defence lawyers and prosecutors on whether the drug deals were for the benefit of the international biker club. He reserved his decision. Marco Freitas, 29, also pleaded guilty to selling drugs to Stephen Gault, a former member of the Oshawa Hells Angels who became a police agent. Freitas admitted selling 8,000 pills of ecstasy worth $55,000 to Gault. Freitas was not a member of the Hells Angels. men were charged two years ago in a massive police operation involving 500 officers from 11 forces, which police call Project Tandem.
Ward is charged with the commission of an offence for a criminal organization, instruction of an offence for a criminal organization, two counts of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, four counts of trafficking in a controlled substance, four counts of possession of proceeds of crime and possession of a restricted firearm.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Hell's Angels and their associates the Henchmen were known to frequent Checkered Flag Bar and Grill on Lincoln Avenue
San Jose gang investigators are trying to figure out who blasted bullets early Saturday morning into a bar known to be frequented by bikers.
No one was injured at Checkered Flag Bar and Grill on Lincoln Avenue. Police declined to comment when asked if they believed the gunfire could be connected to the rising tensions between the Hell's Angels and Mongols motorcycle clubs, sworn enemies who some experts fear are on the cusp of a unprecedented war.
"Right now, we don't know who did it,'' police spokesman Enrique Garcia said. "We're looking at many possibilities."But sources told the Mercury News that Hell's Angels and their associates the Henchmen were known to frequent the bar and detectives were probing the possibility the gunshots were the latest retaliatory action.
On Sept, 2, Hell's Angels San Francisco chapter president Mark "Papa" Guardado was shot down by a suspected Modesto Mongol near the biker gang's clubhouse, according to authorities. Thursday, three pipe bombs exploded in the driveway of an upper echelon member of San Jose's Mongol Motorcycle Club. San Jose police have not attributed that bombing to the Hell's Angels, but they are looking into the possibility.About 1:05 a.m. Saturday, shots were fired at the San Jose bar, striking a window. One bullet went through the window of an apartment where someone was sleeping, police said.Bar owner Keith Scarboro said his drinking and dancing patrons
didn't even know about the shots until a police officer came and pointed out the damaged window."Good jukebox,'' Scarboro said.He said he didn't know anything about the biker gangs' conflict. He just wanted to replace his window and move on."I have a motorcycle crowd,'' he said. "But just because they ride motorcycles don't assume anything.''"I'm just trying to build a business here and so far it's been trouble free,'' the bar owner said "I'm so pissed.''
No one was injured at Checkered Flag Bar and Grill on Lincoln Avenue. Police declined to comment when asked if they believed the gunfire could be connected to the rising tensions between the Hell's Angels and Mongols motorcycle clubs, sworn enemies who some experts fear are on the cusp of a unprecedented war.
"Right now, we don't know who did it,'' police spokesman Enrique Garcia said. "We're looking at many possibilities."But sources told the Mercury News that Hell's Angels and their associates the Henchmen were known to frequent the bar and detectives were probing the possibility the gunshots were the latest retaliatory action.
On Sept, 2, Hell's Angels San Francisco chapter president Mark "Papa" Guardado was shot down by a suspected Modesto Mongol near the biker gang's clubhouse, according to authorities. Thursday, three pipe bombs exploded in the driveway of an upper echelon member of San Jose's Mongol Motorcycle Club. San Jose police have not attributed that bombing to the Hell's Angels, but they are looking into the possibility.About 1:05 a.m. Saturday, shots were fired at the San Jose bar, striking a window. One bullet went through the window of an apartment where someone was sleeping, police said.Bar owner Keith Scarboro said his drinking and dancing patrons
didn't even know about the shots until a police officer came and pointed out the damaged window."Good jukebox,'' Scarboro said.He said he didn't know anything about the biker gangs' conflict. He just wanted to replace his window and move on."I have a motorcycle crowd,'' he said. "But just because they ride motorcycles don't assume anything.''"I'm just trying to build a business here and so far it's been trouble free,'' the bar owner said "I'm so pissed.''
Alameda County SWAT team surrounded a home owned by a member of the Hells Angels in Oakland Tuesday night during a search for a pair of murder suspect
Alameda County SWAT team surrounded a home owned by a member of the Hells Angels in Oakland Tuesday night during a search for a pair of murder suspects that turned into a brief standoff.Alameda County sheriff's deputies and Oakland police remained on the scene late into the evening after spending hours looking for two murder suspects and searching the home of a Hell Angels member who was briefly detained by officers.
The home is located at 60th Street and MacArthur Boulevard near Seminary in East Oakland.At around 5:30 p.m., deputies were searching various neighborhoods for a man closely tied to two murder suspects was seen in the East Oakland neighborhood, according to department Sgt. J.D. Nelson.When the deputies arrived in front of the home on MacArthur, they found the man they were looking for -- 24-year-old parolee Colt Gazzaway -- standing outside. When they tried to arrest Gazzaway, deputies say he tried to run but they were able to catch him."Sheriff's investigators upon arrest of Mr. Gazzaway developed information that he had been in and out of that home the last few days, which is why they made entry into that house," explained Sgt. Nelson.
Oakland police entered the home to search for murder suspects Aaron Hammond and Ben Eddleman, both 33-years-old.Arrest warrants were issued last Thursday for the two men who are suspected in a fatal shooting in unincorporated San Leandro Wednesday night, according to the Alameda Sheriff's Office.Sheriff's deputies responded around 6 p.m. to a report of shots fired at a home in the 1500 block of 167th Avenue and found a 54-year-old man suffering from a single gunshot wound. The victim died at the scene.Homicide investigators Thursday obtained arrest warrants for Hammond and Eddleman. Investigators believe Eddleman may have fled in a black Honda Accord and Hammond may have fled in a red sport utility vehicle.Eddleman is 5 feet 11 inches, 220 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes. He may have also been shot Wednesday night. Hammond is 5 feet 4 inches, 140 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
Neighbors told deputies that Gazzaway had been seen in the home before Tuesday and the sheriff's office believed Hammond and Eddleman, both 33, may have been inside.
Law enforcement officers were out in force as they searched for the men in the surrounding area, but authorities came up empty handed as of late Tuesday evening.
They did detain the owner of the home, Edward Proudfoot, who is a member of the Hell's Angels.Proudfoot's attorney Portia Glassman said her client did nothing wrong and that law enforcement had no reason to invade hiss home while he was trying to quietly celebrate his 65th birthday.The attorney says she suspects Proudfoot is being targeted because of his affiliation with the Hells Angels."This is devastating to enter someone's house this way and detain them for something they're not accused of doing and to shoot their dog," said Glassman. "It's horrible."
Many Hells Angels including the president of the Oakland chapter arrived at the scene to support proudfoot.Proudfoot was detained for aiding and abetting a fugitive, but his attorney said he was later released without charges.
The two murder suspects are still at large. Gazzaway is being held for violation of his parole. At around 10:30 p.m., Nelson said the warrant had been signed by a judge and a search was being conducted. At that time, he said no other arrests had been made since Gazzaway's.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Hells Angels attacked the Bandidos with knives and bats.
The July 29, 2007, attack on the four members of the Bandidos motorcycle group was brutal. Eureka Springs police described it as an ambush where the Hells Angels attacked the Bandidos with knives and bats. It happened about 2: 30 p.m. on a Sunday as the Bandidos were riding out of town on U. S. 62. They passed three Hells Angels who waved them into the parking lot of the Gingerbread Antique building. As the Bandidos pulled in, a pickup blocked the parking lot exit, and a man jumped out with a bat, a victim told police. Isidro Zerrata said the attack happened fast — in less than a minute. He was stabbed in the heart and lost a kidney. About 15 minutes after the attack, Berryville police stopped a red pickup with a Massachusetts license plate and arrested its three occupants. Also arrested were three Hells Angels on motorcycles who were traveling with the pickup. Police seized knives from the pickup and found blood on the inside front passenger door, court records state. Pate interviewed Zerrata at Northwest Medical Center in Bentonville. Pate wrote in a report that was introduced as evidence at a later hearing that Zerrata definitively identified the attackers during the Aug. 4, 2007, interview. However, in an audiotape of the interview, Zerrata didn’t give detailed descriptions of the attackers. He said two were wearing face masks, and he didn’t describe them as wearing clothes indicative of membership in the Hells Angels, the court records state. Zerrata said he couldn’t see clearly because he was wearing a motorcycle helmet. At the January hearing, Pate testified that Zerrata said he was waved over by at least two Hells Angels in a red truck, but in the audiotape, Zerrata never mentioned the truck being red, the records state. Prosecutors failed to tell the defense about the audiotape of the interview until it was mentioned at the January hearing, the defense claimed. Epley ruled Sept. 10 that the tape should have been turned over to the defense during discovery since it contained exculpatory evidence.
Epley said he doesn’t believe Pate or prosecutors intended to mislead the defense.
“The tape was lost behind a file cabinet,” Prosecuting Attorney Tom Rogers said last week. “It wasn’t intentional.” Pate didn’t return a call seeking comment last week.
The defense said Pate tipped off Zerrata during the Aug. 4, 2007, interview that the suspects were from Massachusetts and Maine. The defense said that information helped Zerrata later identify the suspects in a photo array. During the interview, Pate asked if he saw the license plate, but Zerrata said no. Pate then told him the pickup had a Massachusetts license plate, court records state. The Arkansas State Police met with Zerrata after he was released from the hospital and showed him a photo array. He chose each of the six defendants in six photo arrays.
The defendants challenged how Zerrata could identify the suspects although two of them wore masks. They said the photos of the defendants were taken at the location of the traffic stop. Each of the photos had the same background of grass and trees, suggesting they were photographed together after being stopped by police, the defense said. Epley in February ruled the photo procedure was defective for the main reason the only sharp, clear contrast photo in each array was the one showing a defendant in the case. Robert Thomas Reynolds’s attorney, said it hurts the state’s case that they don’t have witnesses identifying the six defendants as the assailants. “The state indicated their case will be circumstantial, and I’m not aware of any witness who can say, ‘ We saw this person whose height is this and who looked like this, ’” Miliotis of Boston said. “They don’t have any of that.” Rogers said there is physical evidence in the case that is strong enough to overcome any setback from the rulings. “We’ve got physical evidence and crime lab evidence, and that will establish a clear link,” he said, declining to give specifics. There are other witnesses who’ve given statements to police after the assault, records state.
A clerk at a nearby business said she saw a red pickup with a Massachusetts license plate pull into the Gingerbread building parking lot before the assault.
Other witnesses said they saw Hells Angels and Bandidos fighting in the parking lot.
A motorist said a red pickup with a Massachusetts license plate sped past her on U. S 62 around the time of the attack, and that someone threw what looked like an aluminum bat out the window. Police found a bat nearby, records state. Parker said the defendants are reserving the right to claim selfdefense. He said one of the Bandidos victims wore surgical gloves during the assault.
“It begs the question if the Bandidos were the ones who initiated the ambush,” Parker said. Rogers said the defendants are charged as accomplices, meaning prosecutors don’t have to prove they acted directly, only that they aided or encouraged the crime. “We’re certain we have the right people, and we have the evidence to prove it in court,” Rogers said.
Epley said he doesn’t believe Pate or prosecutors intended to mislead the defense.
“The tape was lost behind a file cabinet,” Prosecuting Attorney Tom Rogers said last week. “It wasn’t intentional.” Pate didn’t return a call seeking comment last week.
The defense said Pate tipped off Zerrata during the Aug. 4, 2007, interview that the suspects were from Massachusetts and Maine. The defense said that information helped Zerrata later identify the suspects in a photo array. During the interview, Pate asked if he saw the license plate, but Zerrata said no. Pate then told him the pickup had a Massachusetts license plate, court records state. The Arkansas State Police met with Zerrata after he was released from the hospital and showed him a photo array. He chose each of the six defendants in six photo arrays.
The defendants challenged how Zerrata could identify the suspects although two of them wore masks. They said the photos of the defendants were taken at the location of the traffic stop. Each of the photos had the same background of grass and trees, suggesting they were photographed together after being stopped by police, the defense said. Epley in February ruled the photo procedure was defective for the main reason the only sharp, clear contrast photo in each array was the one showing a defendant in the case. Robert Thomas Reynolds’s attorney, said it hurts the state’s case that they don’t have witnesses identifying the six defendants as the assailants. “The state indicated their case will be circumstantial, and I’m not aware of any witness who can say, ‘ We saw this person whose height is this and who looked like this, ’” Miliotis of Boston said. “They don’t have any of that.” Rogers said there is physical evidence in the case that is strong enough to overcome any setback from the rulings. “We’ve got physical evidence and crime lab evidence, and that will establish a clear link,” he said, declining to give specifics. There are other witnesses who’ve given statements to police after the assault, records state.
A clerk at a nearby business said she saw a red pickup with a Massachusetts license plate pull into the Gingerbread building parking lot before the assault.
Other witnesses said they saw Hells Angels and Bandidos fighting in the parking lot.
A motorist said a red pickup with a Massachusetts license plate sped past her on U. S 62 around the time of the attack, and that someone threw what looked like an aluminum bat out the window. Police found a bat nearby, records state. Parker said the defendants are reserving the right to claim selfdefense. He said one of the Bandidos victims wore surgical gloves during the assault.
“It begs the question if the Bandidos were the ones who initiated the ambush,” Parker said. Rogers said the defendants are charged as accomplices, meaning prosecutors don’t have to prove they acted directly, only that they aided or encouraged the crime. “We’re certain we have the right people, and we have the evidence to prove it in court,” Rogers said.
Murder of Carl MacDonald outside the Lone Legion Motorcycle Club in Blenheim.
Mr MacDonald was shot dead with a cut-down rifle after an apparent argument between two groups outside the gang house on September 15 last year. murder of Carl MacDonald outside the Lone Legion Motorcycle Club in Blenheim.Aaron James Harvey, Corey William Mackle, Peter Christopher Tait and Jason David Warren have denied the murder and unlawful assembly outside the club.Two weeks have been set aside for the trial, to be heard by Justice John Wild.
Turf war between the Copenhagen Hells Angels and immigrant gangs in the city.
Danish newspaper Politiken reports on a turf war between the Copenhagen Hells Angels and immigrant gangs in the city. While the Hells Angels has traditionally been a secretive and exclusive organisation, the paper claims that it has set up a support group to increase its manpower and that disaffected Danish youths are flocking to join.Jyllands Posten reports that the trouble has spread to Arhus, Denmark's second city, after two hand grenades were thrown at the Hells Angels' clubhouse earlier this month.London-based Danish journalist Jakob Illeborg has no doubt who is to blame for the problem. It's the horrid right-wing government alienating ethnic minorities by introducing stringent immigration controls and insisting on integration.
Hells Angels bikie associate will appear in Adelaide Magistrates Court today charged with shooting a man
Hells Angels bikie associate will appear in Adelaide Magistrates Court today charged with shooting a man at Reynella on May 1.He is the second man charged over the shooting. Police will alleged the arrested man, 34, was involved in a fight at a house in Pasadena Crescent when another man was shot in the leg.Crime Gangs Task Force officers last night arrested and charged the man with cause serious harm. The man was refused bail.
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