Eustace man accused of leading gang members to murder Arp motorcyclist in 2020
https://www.kltv.com/2024/04/17/eustace-man-accused-leading-gang-members-murder-arp-motorcyclist-2020/
By Mack Shaw KLTV in Tyler, Texas April 17, 2024
SMITH COUNTY, Texas (KLTV) – A man from Eustace was arrested Tuesday in connection with acts of violence committed by a gang he is alleged to lead.
Chad Michael Crowell, 38, is accused of giving directives from a position of leadership to members of an “outlaw motorcycle gang” called the Ugly Man Cossacks. According to his arrest affidavit, Crowell is believed to have ordered the murder of Brandon Edwards, of Arp, a member of the rival club 1%er Cossacks, on May 2, 2020. Crowell is accused of involvement in the following incidents:
Jan. 24, 2020 – aggravated assault with a motor vehicle (Hubbard).
Feb. 1, 2020 – aggravated assault with brass knuckles and a handgun (Gilmer).
Feb. 1, 2020 – aggravated robbery with a knife (Upshur County).
Feb. 2, 2020 – robbery (Tyler).
March 7, 2020 – aggravated assault with a handgun (Tyler).
May 2, 2020 – murder (Tyler).
For these offenses, Crowell was arrested by Texas DPS and charged with directing activities of a street gang, a first degree felony, on Tuesday.
According to the arrest affidavit, Crowell is the “national sergeant at arms” for the Ugly Man Cossacks, who were previously reported on for Edwards’ murder in 2020. In 2023, Joshua Ray Tibbits, 33, of Waco, was sentenced to 45 years in prison on a charge of engaging in organized criminal activity for his involvement in the death of the Arp motorcyclist. Jeffery Ryan Griffin, 34, of Robinson, was sentenced to 22 years for the same charge. Crowell’s affidavit claims that he gave the order for the murder, along with numerous other violent crimes against members of the rival club, by issuing a “smash on site” targeting the 1%er Cossacks.
This order was allegedly given during a closed “sergeant at arms” meeting of the Ugly Man Cossacks in the fall of 2019, which the affidavit said included only “ranked” members of the group, including Tibbits and Griffin. According to Griffin, Crowell made the following statement in this closed meeting.
If you see one of these (expletive), you are to put him down. You are to hurt him… you are to take his cut (biker vest). If you can’t handle him one on one, watch him and call another brother and get him over there. Tell your members the same thing. If I catch one of y’all around one of them and not putting them down… then you’re going to have to talk to me about it.”
According to the affidavit, Griffin noted that while Crowell gave the order directly, he believed the decision was ultimately made by the “national president” of the group, a Kevin Dale Higgins. Higgins has no listings in the Smith County Jail.
The affidavit states that Tibbits recalled the orders from leadership in the months prior to Edwards’ murder during a courthouse interview on Oct. 16, 2023. Tibbits reportedly stated that Crowell continued to give orders for violent crimes in monthly regional meetings, quoting him as saying “keep your head on a swivel,” and “smash on site, no matter what.” According to the document, Tibbits said that the goal of the violence was to force the 1%ers to change their name, which the Ugly Man gang believed was derivative of theirs. Tibbits allegedly said that Higgins would tell the “national president” of the rival gang over the phone, “change your (expletive) name and it won’t happen no more.”
The affidavit goes on the describe the offenses listed above, which it states Crowell had either orchestrated or was involved in directly. In the Feb. 2 robbery in Tyler, Crowell is believed to have been caught in surveillance footage at the scene, and another photo pulled from social media appears to depict Crowell in a biker “cut” with Ugly Man Cossacks patches.
Due to the claims made by Crowell’s alleged subordinates along with photo evidence of his involvement in the group, the affidavit said there is probable cause to believe the man is in national leadership in a street gang and rewarded criminal acts of violence which he issued orders for. As a result, the affidavit for his arrest was issued on April 12, 2024, by Judge Taylor B. Heaton.
Crowell is being held in the Smith County Jail on a $2.5 million bond.
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