Author: terry.katz

Two Hells Angels guilty of racketeering crimes, including murder and beatdown, third member found not guilty
Crimes included murder plot where victim was cremated illegally

By NATE GARTRELL | ngartrell@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: May 17, 2023 at 4:47 p.m. | UPDATED: May 18, 2023 at 3:58 a.m.

Two Hells Angels guilty of racketeering crimes, including murder and beatdown, third member found not guilty

SAN FRANCISCO — Two well-known members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club were convicted of racketeering and other federal offenses Wednesday, while a third member has been acquitted of witness intimidation, authorities said.
Raymond “Ray Ray” Foakes, the former president of the Hells Angels’ Sonoma chapter, was convicted of racketeering conspiracy, assault with a deadly weapon and witness intimidation, while Christopher “Rain Man” Ranieri was convicted of involvement in a murder conspiracy and racketeering. Brian Burke was found not guilty of intimidating a woman who alleged that Foakes had sexually assaulted her.
Jurors reached the verdicts after two full days of deliberation that started on Monday. Prosecutors and defense attorneys gave their final pitches to the jury last Friday.

The convictions mark the next major step in an ongoing prosecution of a dozen members and associations of the Sonoma Hells Angels, and the second trial to result in guilty verdicts. Both Ranieri and Foakes face decades in prison, but a sentencing date has not yet been set, according to court records.
Ranieri, the president of the Hells Angels’ Salem/Boston chapter, was convicted of involvement in the conspiracy to murder Joel Silva, a sergeant-at-arms in the Sonoma Hells Angels who prosecutors say was shot in the back of the head, then illegally cremated at a Fresno funeral home. The July 2014 murder went unsolved for years, until a former Richmond Hells Angels came forward with a stunning story that Silva had been killed for increasingly erratic behavior and threatening one of Ranieri’s best friends during a motorcycle event on the East Coast.
Foakes, meanwhile, was convicted of beating a former Sonoma Hells Angel after discovering an affair between the victim and his wife. The man testified that Foakes and others assaulted him for hours inside the Sonoma clubhouse, during which time Foakes allegedly left, sexually assaulted the man’s wife, then returned to continue the beating.
Burke had been charged with intimidating the woman Foakes allegedly sexually assaulted, by making a gesture at her after driving by her on a Sonoma County street. During trial, Burke’s attorney called the case flimsy and propped up by unreliable witness statements.
The charges have been active since 2017, when the FBI conducted a series of raids that resulted in the arrests of a dozen Hells Angels members. Last year, three others — Jonathan “Jon Jon” Nelson, Brian Wendt, and Russel “Rusy” Ott were convicted of playing different roles in Silva’s murder. Nelson of helping plan it, Ott of luring him to Fresno, and Wendt of shooting Silva in the back of the head after he bent down to look at some marijuana inside the Fresno Hells Angels clubhouse.
After the murder, prosecutors say Merl Hefferman, a prominent Fresno Hells Angel, directed a relative and another man to bring Silva’ body to a nearby funeral home and place it into the cremation oven with another person. A second member of the club, Robbie Huff, allegedly drove Silva’s truck to a remote location and set it on fire.

Huff is now listed as a missing person and his current whereabouts are unknown. Police say he was last seen near the Fresno area.
In both trials, Joseph Hardisty, a former Richmond Hells Angel, testified for the prosecution that he and Silva were close friends until a major motorcycle festival on the East Coast in 2014, when Silva completely alienated himself from the club by using drugs and being obnoxious. He testified that the plot to kill Silva started right after the festival.
After Nelson, Wendt, and Ott were convicted, prosecutors charged a man named Samuel Holquin with witness intimidation for allegedly sending Hardisty pictures of him and his family and making comments about harming them.

It is a lesson learned’: Sheriff talks after 2 killed, 4 injured in weekend shooting
https://www.wrdw.com/2023/05/15/watch-sheriff-talks-after-2-killed-10-charged-weekend-shooting/
By Staff Published: May. 15, 2023
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Richmond County Sheriff Richard Roundtree held a news conference after a weekend shooting that left two dead and four others injured Saturday evening.
Richmond County Coroner Mark Bowen identified those who died as Keith Coates, 30, of Valdosta, and Germayne Farrell, 51, of Daytona Beach, Fla.
The conference was scheduled to start at 11 a.m. on Monday.
Roundtree confirms that this shooting adds Augusta to the list of over 280 mass shootings we’ve seen so far in 2023.
“Gun violence has risen nationwide this year, and sadly, Augusta is not exempt,” said Roundtree.
Among the things discussed, he confirms a fire vehicle ran over a dead body on the scene. Roundtree reports fire personnel did not see the individual. He says the agency has a traffic report that is not yet available for release.
The shooting occurred at the clubhouse of the Outcast Motorcycle Club. The shooting involved Outcast and the Thug Riders. He says the Outcast building has not been shut down due to the investigation. Roundtree says the city hosted the Augusta Air Show and Mayfest, and that was overshadowed by out-of-town individuals.
He says several Thug Rider members were at MayFest. They then left the area and traveled to the Outcast clubhouse.
“We didn’t know that trouble was coming to our city. We didn’t know that trouble was already in our city,” he said.
Roundtree says 10 suspects were arrested and charged with two counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault. Three are still receiving treatment, including Deja Dotson and Jonathan Keaton. Dotson and Keaton have arrest warrants issued.
Only one suspect has a local address.
• 31-year-old James Bryant of Fayetteville, N.C.
• 39-year-old Freddie Crosson of Saint Marys, GA.
• 38-year-old Tyson Harper of Lumberton, N.C.
• 26-year-old McKayla Rickett of Kingsland, GA.
• 44-year-old Larry Ross of Hephzibah, GA.
• 30-year-old Cory Sapp of Kingsland, GA.
• 30-year-old Jessica Sapp of Kingsland, GA.
• 42-year-old Larry Sutton of Fayetteville, N.C.
• 43-year-old Kenneth Taylor of Boynton Beach, Fla.
• 28-year-old Matthew Willis of Saint Marys, GA.
Four suspects were a part of the Outcast Motorcycle Club, and eight were Thug Riders.
To bring this type of violence to our city, to add us to a national mass shooting list is unconscionable. This is something we will not tolerate here in Richmond County. That is why each individual who is involved or we feel to be involved or has any part in this will face charges,” he said.
He says the issue was not due to a lack of police presence. Roundtree says they had more deputies on the roads because they were leaving those two events. At least 20 officers were on the scene, and he says you could hear gunfire from a few blocks away.
“While this incident of violence is horrific, and many of the other tragic incidents that have occurred in this country and will still occur … my light will continue to push forward in the confidence that I have in the men and women of the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and the citizens of Richmond County,” said Roundtree.
Investigators found more than 150 shell cases on the scene. Roundtree says this was an “extremely large scene”, and kids were playing outside in a neighborhood right down the street.
“With 150 rounds, I’m sure it was more than two individuals,” he said.
When asked how to stop people from coming into Augusta with violence in mind, he says the sheriff’s office has to have good intel and that looking at South Carolina, they can see that crime can cross state lines easily.
“Very rarely do we see Florida to Augusta, but we have to increase our network, and a lot further reach. It is a lesson learned for us that we need to better our network when it comes to gun violence and gang violence that may spill over,” said Roundtree.
Officials believe this was a targeted attack from the individuals from Flordia who traveled three to four hours to engage in gun violence. They believe it stemmed from a recent incident that started in Florida. Additional information was not released regarding the Florida incident.
He says the Thug Riders came to Augusta in retaliation.
He says there was no permit to block off the street for the cookout that deputies learned Outcast was having.
In response to the shooting, regional affiliates with the clubs were mobilizing to retaliate again in Augusta. The sheriff’s office briefed Mayor Garnett Johnson and other city officials about the potential threat of another major shooting. Right now, the sheriff says there’s still an ongoing threat right now, but they’re prepared.

“We continue to monitor this situation in real-time and we will advise the public of any confirmed threat if they develop,” said Roundtree.
He says 13 motorcycles were taken into evidence, along with one car and 10 firearms. Weapons were found inside the clubhouse, vehicles, and nearby businesses from when the suspects fled the scene.
One Richmond County patrol car was also hit in the shooting.
Copyright 2023 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.

Ultimate bikie betrayal as former Bandidos boss ‘patches over’ to the world’s most notorious outlaw motorcycle gang amid fears of a major turf war
• Bandido Jason Fahey defects to Hells Angels
• Fears the move could lead to turf war
• Hells Angels also had Rebels chapter join
By DAVID SOUTHWELL FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA | UPDATED: 14 May 2023

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12081841/Ex-Bandidos-bikie-boss-Jason-Fahey-Hells-Angel-amid-fear-turf-war.html
The defection of a high-profile bikie boss to a rival club has fuelled fears of a bloody turf.
Former Bandidos national president Jason Fahey has ‘patched over’ to the Hells Angels who are aggressively expanding their presence in Sydney.

Recently an entire Sydney chapter of Rebels bikies are believed to have defected to the Hells Angels with the outlaw bikie gang taking advantage of rival’s weaknesses to gain a foothold in the city’s south.
After a decade at the top of the Bandidos hierarchy Fahey is considered a major figure in the bikie world and some found it hard to believe when he posted an image of himself arm-in-arm with senior Hells Angels members.
One shocked response was ‘you gone to HA????’.
However, others expressed their delight.
‘Cuzn. About time. welcome to the biggest and best MC worldwide,’ one post said.
Another wrote ‘ready to rumble’.
Fahey has also appeared on the Instagram account of Hells Angeles Liverpool chapter boss Shayan Jaberiyanfar.
‘There will be a lot of guys who will follow him,’ one bikie insider told the Daily Telegraph.
‘He is a big name.’
The major coup comes after the Hells Angels brazenly boasted last month about opening up a new ‘Bayside’ chapter in Brighton-Le-Sands, Sydney’s south, in the heart of rival Comanchero territory.
The bold move was made with a raft of senior leadership within the Comanchero including Allan Meehan, Tarek Zahed, Mick Murray and Mark Buddle are all currently behind bars on remand awaiting trial over separate matters.
Similar weaknesses have also plagued the Bandidos and the Rebels.
The Hells Angels are the world’s largest bikie gang with almost 4000 members across an estimated 475 chapters in more than 60 countries.

12 charged in deadly Augusta shootout between rival biker gangs

12 charged in deadly Augusta shootout between rival biker gangs

Greg Rickabaugh Augusta Press May 14, 2023
Authorities are filing double-murder charges against 12 people after Saturday’s shootout in Augusta between rival motorcycle gangs left two people dead and three injured.
The shootout reportedly involved members of the black motorcycle gang, Outcast Motorcycle Club, and a mixed-race biker gang, Thug Riders MC. Only one of the suspects is from Augusta.
Outcast has their clubhouse on East Boundary and was hosting a gathering, according to witnesses. An argument between the groups led to a shootout around 7 p.m. Saturday near the clubhouse and along Sand Bar Ferry Road, killing 30-year-old Keith Coates of Valdosta, Ga., and 51-year-old Germayne Farrell of Daytona Beach, Florida.
Authorities said no one was cooperating in the investigation, leaving them to charge a dozen of those connected to the shootout with two counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault.

They include:
James Bryant, 31, of Fayetteville, N.C., B/M
Larry Sutton, 42, of Fayetteville, N.C., B/M
Tysen Darrell Harper, 38, of Lumberton, N.C., B/M
Jonathan Keaton, 32, of St. Marys, Georgia., B/M
Larry Ross, 44, of Augusta, Ga., B/M
Deja Dotson, 30, of St. Marys, Georgia, B/M
Cory Sapp, 30, of Kingsland, Ga., W/M
Jessica Sapp, 30, of Kingsland, Georgia, W/F
McKayla Renee Rickett, 26, of Kingsland, Georgia., W/F
Matthew Perry Willis, 28, of St. Mary’s, Georgia, W/M
Freddie Wallace Crosson, 39, of St. Mary’s, Georgia, W/M
Kenneth Lamar Taylor, 43, of Boynton Beach, Florida, B/M
Cory Sapp, 30, of Kingsland, Ga., W/M
Three of those facing charges were shot, including critical injuries to Jonathan Keaton and less serious injuries to Larry Ross and Deja Dotson. Jailers at the Charles B. Webster Detention Center were working through Sunday morning to book many of the suspects into the jail.
As previously reported, the number of people who were shot instantly landed Augusta on the national list of mass shootings that has plagued the United States. The national number hit 260 on Saturday, with a “mass shooting” defined as “an incident of violence in which 4 or more people are shot.”
Complicating Saturday’s investigation are reports that a fire official ran over one of the bodies with his city vehicle, with a witness video showing the incident as it happened live. Several local residents reacted in shock. “That man on the ground dead and the EMS truck just ran him over y’all,” the Facebook user says.

How a Cold War Between Rival Biker Gangs on Cape Cod Turned Red Hot
A bloody brawl last year between the Hells Angels and the Pagans was just the latest conflict in a long-simmering feud between the two criminal organizations.

Chris Hippensteel Daily Beast May. 12, 2023

A newly unsealed FBI search warrant reveals how a turf war between rival biker gangs in Southern Massachusetts sparked a bloody 50-man street brawl, which resulted in several gang members being stabbed and bludgeoned.
The heavily redacted warrant, which was filed by an FBI task force officer and unsealed Thursday, details how the Hells Angels motorcycle gang and their supporters came to blows with a rival club called the Pagans in May 2022 over the latter’s encroachment on their territory.
Both the Hells Angels and Pagans are well-established outlaw motorcycle gangs, with a history of crimes across the country ranging from narcotics trafficking to racketeering. They also can’t stand each other, harboring a long-simmering feud that occasionally flares up into open violence.
According to the warrant, tensions boiled over between the gangs in April 2022, as the Pagans, who were new in the region, opened a chapter in Fall River. The small city is located on the Southern Massachusetts coast near the Rhode Island border, in an area where the Hells Angels long held sway.
But the Hells Angels had been neglecting the area of late, the warrant states—they’d allowed a chapter in the area to lie dormant for over a decade.
That left room for the Pagans to expand. They quickly moved into nearby Fall River. The Hells Angels, taking notice of this encroachment, reestablished their presence in Cape Cod, putting up a sign outside their newly christened clubhouse to announce their return.
“It was apparent from this change, that the HAMC was intending to reassert its dominance in South Coastal Massachusetts,” the warrant said.
Around the same time, the Hells Angels put out a nationwide “green light” order against the Pagans, the warrant said, citing minutes recently seized from a Hells Angels meeting. The “green light” gave Hells Angels members the go-ahead to “attack on sight” any Pagans members, according to the court document.”

The confrontation came soon after.
On the morning of May 14, more than 100 Hells Angels riders gathered at a rest stop in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, to fuel their bikes en route to the Pagans clubhouse in Fall River. Their ranks included the Hells Angel Salem chapter, which a confidential informant told the task force is a power-player among the gang’s Massachusetts chapters, the warrant said. Local allies of the group, including the Sidewinders motorcycle gang, offered backup.
Gang members talked, bought snacks and snapped pictures for social media before embarking on a ride that would end with several people stabbed and beaten on the street.
Cameras operated by the Fall River Police Department tracked the 100-strong group of bikers as they rode to Fall River and carried out the attack.. According to the document, a faction of about 40 Hells Angels broke off from the main group and rode by the Pagans’ stronghold. Pagans’ members, along with their girlfriends and wives, gathered inside and outside the clubhouse as they passed.
The Hells Angels returned a few minutes later from the opposite direction, the warrant said. This time, about 25 riders stopped their bikes, dismounted and descended on the Pagans gathered outside with knives, hammers and clubs.
“An additional dozen or more HAMC members and associates were present at the scene and provided support by blocking traffic and serving as lookouts during the attack,” the warrant said.
According to the warrant, the sidewalk outside the clubhouse became a battlefield, as the two dozen Hells Angels swarmed six or seven Pagans targets.
One Pagan member “was impaled with a dagger which was still protruding from his upper body” when police made it to the scene. Several others sustained injuries including stabbings and blunt force trauma. Several Hells Angels brandished ballpeen hammers, a signature weapon of the gang, the warrant said.
When the attack was over, “notable amounts of victims’ blood” has been splattered on both sidewalks, the sides of nearby cars and buildings, and one motorcycle visor recovered from the scene, the warrant said. The bloody melee lasted just a few minutes.
All in all, seven victims were transported to regional hospitals.
When it was over, the warrant said, authorities suspect the Hells Angels retreated to their reclaimed Cape Cod clubhouse. Investigators surveilling the property watched as cars and motorcycles sped away from the gated stronghold. Their drivers scattered in various directions, wearing different clothes.
“The presence of many HAMC members in Westport also suggests that weapons and other incriminating items from the crime scene could have been concealed at the clubhouse shortly after the attack,” the warrant read.
In the days following the incident, a confidential informant told investigators that the Hells Angels planned the attack “because PMC members had disrespected the HAMC,” and the latter needed to reassert their dominance.
It wasn’t Fall River’s first biker gang clash. In 2019, members of Hells Angels ally Sidewinders club engaged in a gunfight with the Outlaws motorcycle gang, The Fall River Herald News reported.
After the 2022 attack, the city of Fall River closed down the Pagans’ former club house and moved ahead with plans to revitalize the neighborhood.
In July of that year, the FBI raided multiple Hell’s Angels properties, including the reestablished club house where the gang put up a sign to advertise its return to the region.
It doesn’t appear the two groups have come to public blows since the massive Fall River brawl, but a confidential informant still cautioned the task force “that further violence against the PMC would likely follow.”

Police Arrest 10 More Suspects In Deadly Rival Biker Gang Shootout
By Sylvia Corkill, News 9 KWTV – Oklahoma City May 11, 2023

Investigators arrested ten additional suspects in connection to a deadly biker gang shootout at an Oklahoma City bar.
According to jail records, the suspects are being housed at the Oklahoma County Detention Center, and were booked in on a string of complaints including accessory to murder.
In April, three people were killed at the Whiskey Barrel Saloon near Portland and Southwest 29th Street.
“It’s unclear exactly what the beef was,” said Oklahoma City Police MSgt. Gary Knight.
According to police, the shooting erupted when members of the rival Bandidos and Homietos biker gangs collided.
“In the end, they were all shooting each other,” said Knight.
Police arrested three men just days after the deadly shooting.
Then in a roundup Wednesday, Oklahoma City Police, U.S. Marshals and the Oklahoma Highway Patrol made ten more arrests.
The suspects are jailed in the Oklahoma County Detention Center, and are being held on hefty bonds that ranged between one and seven million dollars.
Rickey Turpin is the only suspect to be held on a seven million dollar bond.
In a photo shared to his Facebook page, Turpin was pictured wearing a leather vest with a patch that identified him as a member of the Bandidos biker gang.
All of the suspects arrested Wednesday are facing a complaint for “committing a gang-related offense.”
In late April, another shootout between members of the same rival gangs erupted near Houston, Texas. The shooting left three people dead.
Texas investigators called it a targeted attack.

Fort Myers Mayor: ‘Fringe’ biker group responsible for downtown shooting

By: Colton Chavez fox4now.com Posted , May 03, 2023

Fox 4’s Colton Chavez spoke with Fort Myers Mayor Anderson about a shooting downtown that could be connected to a biker group.
DOWNTOWN FORT MYERS, Fla. — Earlier in the week, Fort Myers Police told Fox 4 a shooting on Hendry Street in downtown Fort Myers last Saturday was a conflict between biker groups who knew each other.
FMPD is now asking if anyone can identify the driver of a white pickup truck connected to that shooting. The shooting happened just after 10:30 p.m. on April 29.
Wednesday, Fox 4 spoke with Fort Myers Mayor Kevin Anderson, and asked him to help define a “biker group.”
“It’s my understanding it was an actual gang-type biker group,” said Anderson.
A gang, Anderson said, looks to cause problems in places like the scene off Hendry Street, which sent one person to the hospital.
“Let’s be real and understand that an overwhelming percentage of bikers are professional people, but there is a percentage of them that they are fringe, and they are known for criminal activity,” said Anderson.
Fox 4 asked Mayor Anderson if the city has an issue with biker gangs.
“My initial response is going to be no. Do we have incidents where those fringe bikers who are involved in criminal activities, make their way into downtown…yes,” said Anderson.
But Anderson said the city has non-bikers who cause criminal activity as well.
Business owners like Raymond Aulen, who owns the Indigo Room near Hendry Street, called the shooting unusual.
“I think this particular incident is really unusual and a little bit isolated from what I can see because it was a biker thing,” said Aulen.
Mayor Anderson told Fox 4 the shooting was an uncommon occurrence.
“So as long as we are gonna have a downtown that is open to people to come down there and enjoy, we are always going to be at risk of those fringe people, those troublemakers showing up. But those incidents are far and few in between,” said Anderson.
To submit an anonymous tip to SWFL CrimeStoppers regarding the shooting or the driver of the white truck, call 1-800-780-TIPS (8477) or contact the Fort Myers Police Department.

Solano County Hells Angels Member Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison for Firearms Offenses
Tuesday, May 2, 2023
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of California

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Michael Mahoney, 30, of Fairfield, was sentenced today to three years and one month in prison for possessing a firearm with an obliterated or altered serial number and possessing an unregistered short-barreled shotgun, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, on Dec. 8, 2021, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Mahoney’s home as part of an investigation into a brutal beating at the clubhouse for the Vallejo chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. In October 2021, two different victims—both of whom were members of a different motorcycle club that is considered a “puppet” (or subordinate) club of the Hells Angels—were beaten by Mahoney and other club members based on perceived infractions of the Hells Angels’ rules.

During the December 2021 search of Mahoney’s Fairfield home, law enforcement found several firearms, including a Smith & Wesson .38-caliber revolver with a serial number that had been scratched off, as well as a Sears & Roebuck 12-gauge shotgun with a barrel that had been sawn off to approximately 12.75 inches in length. Mahoney had not registered his ownership of this short-barreled shotgun with the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, as required by federal law.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Solano County District Attorney’s Office, the Solano County Sheriff’s Office, the Vacaville Police Department, the Vallejo Police Department, the Fairfield Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aaron D. Pennekamp and Jason Hitt prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
Updated May 2, 2023

Investigators trace deadly shooting in Texas to biker gang shootout in OKC
Three people were killed at the Whiskey Barrel Saloon back on April 1
Alyse Jones KOCO April 17, 2023

https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-city-deadly-shooting-texas-biker-gang-shootout/43623936
OKLAHOMA CITY —
Investigators traced a deadly weekend shooting in Texas to a biker gang shootout in Oklahoma City.
Three people were killed at the Whiskey Barrel Saloon back on April 1. The violence from that night hasn’t stopped.
One of the nation’s leading experts on biker gangs said the shootout at the Whiskey Barrel Saloon more than two weeks ago sparked another deadly shooting over the weekend. KOCO 5 affiliates at ABC13 in Houston covered a freeway shooting in the middle of the day on Friday that left three people dead.
Motorcycle gang investigator Steve Cook said intel indicates this shooting happened while members of the Bandidos motorcycle gang were traveling for the funeral of one of the victims of OKC’s Whiskey Barrel Saloon shooting.
“Unfortunately, with death comes funerals, and those are very high opportunity targets because rival motorcycle gangs know that it’s typically a mandatory attendance to those functions, so they lay in wait and know there’s a lot of opportunities to ambush people on the interstates,” Cook said.
Cook said retaliation is common in the biker gang world.
“This is certainly not the first time this has happened and, unfortunately, probably won’t be the last,” Cook said.
Cook said this is an ongoing, monthslong feud between the Bandidos and a gang called the Homietos. Now, he’s calling on the public and law enforcement to help settle the dust and keep citizens safe.
“This is something that one would hope is getting the federal authority’s attention. It’s racketeering-style crimes that these gangs are involved in. These are territorial disputes. They are killing one another over territory and over a patch. The public needs to stop ignoring the issue. This isn’t anything new. It’s been going on for a long time. This is organized crime. It’s not street gangs. They are organized crime, and they are involved in a wide variety of criminal activity,” Cook said.
The names of the victims in the Houston shootings have not been released. KOCO 5 reached out to Oklahoma City police to see if they could confirm the homicides are connected, but they said this is not their investigation and they can’t confirm at this time.
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©2023, Hearst Television Inc. on behalf of KOCO-TV.

B.C. government takes inventory at three Hells Angels clubhouses
Clubhouses in Vancouver, Kelowna and Nanaimo were transferred to government ownership on March 17 after a B.C. Court of Appeal ruling.
Kim Bolan Vancouver Sun Apr 14, 2023
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/bc-government-takes-inventory-at-three-hells-angels-clubhouses#:
Representatives of the B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office entered three Hells Angels clubhouses on Friday, after the province’s highest court ordered the properties in Kelowna, East Vancouver and Nanaimo forfeited for their links to criminal activity.
The land titles for the clubhouses, at 3598 East Georgia in Vancouver, 805 Victoria Rd. in Nanaimo and 837 Ellis St. in Kelowna were transferred to “His Majesty the King” on March 17 after the B.C. Court of Appeal ruling in February.
Police were on hand Friday at all three locations as forfeiture staff did an inventory inside each of the clubhouses.
Forfeiture Office director Phil Tawtel said in an email that his staff went to the clubhouses “in order to inspect the properties and replace the locks. They were accompanied by law enforcement who were on-site to keep the peace.”
He said he couldn’t comment further on the court cases as the bikers could still file their application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.
The Hells Angels have until Monday to ask the Supreme Court of Canada for permission to appeal the Court of Appeal ruling that sided with the government agency — overturning a 2020 B.C. Supreme Court decision in favour of the bikers.
Appeal Justices Mary Newbury, Christopher Grauer and Leonard Marchand said the findings of Justice Barry Davies were “tainted” because he used an elevated standard of proof and refused to admit facts from previous criminal cases against individual Hells Angels.
“We are satisfied that the inference clearly arises that members’ engagement in unlawful activities was facilitated through access to information gathered surreptitiously at the clubhouses, and protection from surveillance and detection by law enforcement offered by the clubhouses,” the judges said.
“Indeed, the most logical and reasonable inference to be drawn from the evidence is that the clubhouses were designed and outfitted at least in part for that very purpose. We are further satisfied that such use of the clubhouses was likely to continue.”
Last weekend, the East End chapter had to find another meeting place for its annual “Screwy Ride” to commemorate later member Dave “Screwy” Swartz, who was gunned down by a friend after an all night drinking party on April 6, 1988. The friend then killed himself with the same gun.