Category: Gangs in the news…

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

https://www.foxnews.com/us/7-alleged-gang-members-wont-face-charges-las-vegas-hells-angels-freeway-gunfire-case

04/15/2023: Flood Run, South East Minnesota.

The Flood Run is a bi-annual event sponsored by Children’s Hospital in St Paul. Its a charity run that typically draws thousands of people on the Minnesota/ Wisconsin border. Its been thin the last couple of years. Its also the required run for the Minnesota Sons of Silence. In past years, we’ve seen SOS from MN, ND, IA, IL, IN and CO attend.

This year was very, very thin. The SOS will typically cross into Wisconsin and meet with the Outlaws in the town of Nelson. The SOS  (based on what I could tell) road in with the Outlaws from the Wisconsin side of the river. The Road Dogs (Bluff Siding, WI) and Trogs (WI) were present along with a group called “The Wanted” out of WI. There was a new Rochester, MN SOS support gang called the Savage Sons (never seen them before)

Pictures attached. OK to share within LE.

Dan Michener

Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) / TFO US Secret Service

At the conference there was a presentation on OMG traffic stops/pat-downs/etc. (very good class)

Attached is a running case-law doc of OMG cases involving 4th Amendments Terry-Stops, Seizing colors and expert gang testimony. Free to use/share with other LE and prosecutors. I haven’t updated it in a while so if there is something you’d like to add, just email me. The case can be good or bad (doesn’t matter if it went our way or not) the purpose is to educate and hopefully make us better (and safer) at doing our jobs.

Thanks!

Dan Michener, Special Agent

Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA)

US Secret Service TFO

daniel.michener@state.mn.us

Motorcycle Gang Case Law

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.

At least 1 dead in interstate shooting involving outlaw motorcycle gang members in Southeast Texas
By Paradise Afshar, CNN
Updated 7:55 PM EDT, Fri April 14, 2023

.
KPRC
CNN —
At least one man is dead in a Texas highway shooting involving outlaw motorcycle gang members, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
A 32-year-old man was shot Friday after 11 a.m. along Interstate 45 in Spring, and later transported to a local hospital where he died from his wounds, according to the law enforcement agency.
“The individuals involved are all believed to be affiliated with outlaw motorcycle gangs,” the statement said.
The agency went on to say they are aware of another incident that occurred in Walker County involving an additional motorcycle gang shooting.
“There are active investigations involving multiple agencies to determine if both incidents are related. These shootings appear to be gang-related and it’s believed there is no threat to the general public at this time,” the statement said.
Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Offficer Steven Squier told CNN affiliate KHOU another man may have also been shot with non-life-threatening injuries in their jurisdiction.
“We’re also aware that there is another incident in Walker County involving fatalities and a critically injured individual that may possibly be related,” Squier said. The investigation is ongoing, he said.
CNN has reached out to the Walker County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office for more details on the incident there.
The Huntsville Police Department said in a post on Facebook that it “investigating a major incident” on Interstate 45. The post said that I-45 northbound will be closed for several hours.
Huntsville is located in Walker County. Both counties where the incidents occurred are north of Houston.

Denton Police officers under investigation over argument circulating on TikTok
https://www.wmar2news.com/local/denton-police-officers-under-investigation-over-argument-circulating-on-tiktok#:~:text=DENTON%2C%20Md.,on%20S.%204th%20Street.
By: WMAR STAFF
Posted at 3:04 PM, Apr 12, 2023

and last updated 3:04 PM, Apr 12, 2023
DENTON, Md. — The Denton Police Department ordered an investigation into its own officers over their response to an April 7 incident that’s now circulating on social media.
Officers were initially called for a landlord tenant dispute at a residential building on S. 4th Street.
On scene the property owner and residents were involved in an argument over a pool in the yard.
Christopher Morgan, 38, who appears to be associated with the property owner, threatens to assault one of the residents.
Someone recorded part of the altercation on TikTok, which shows Morgan punching through a glass screen door in front of at least three police officers.
In the video, Morgan is seen wearing a Chosen Sons Motorcycle Club vest, and is accompanied by multiple other members who try removing him from the situation.
Police allow Morgan to leave the scene without charges.
“Morgan was not arrested at that time due to his highly agitated state and the officers intent to deescalate the situation,” said Denton Police Chief George Bacorn.
Officers ended up taking the residents to the District Court Commissioner to obtain a peace order against Morgan.
Police ultimately got a warrant for Morgan’s arrest, charging him with second degree assault and malicious destruction of property.
Morgan turned himself into police on April 11, and was released on $1000 unsecured bond.
“I have reviewed the officers body worn camera footage and it raises serious questions about how the call for service was handled,” said Bacorn. “The response by the officers involved will be investigated by Talbot County Sheriff’s Office and those findings will be provided to the Administrative Charging Committee. It is extremely important that we always take every step available to ensure victims feel protected and are protected.”