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SAN BERNARDINO – County prosecutors have dismissed criminal charges against Pastor Palafox, the international president of the Vagos motorcycle club.
Palafox, 47, had been charged with vehicle theft involving a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, possession of the stolen motorcycle and street terrorism. He was among several Vagos members whose arrests were announced last year at a news conference at the San Bernardino Police Department.
However, during a hearing Tuesday in San Bernardino Superior Court, Deputy District Attorney Steve Sanchez announced the charges against Palafox had been dropped. Prosecutors would not say why, citing an ongoing investigation.
Defense attorney Joseph Yanny, who represented Palafox, said later that prosecutors lacked probable cause to pursue a case. The motorcycle was part of a sale that had evolved into a civil dispute, and the alleged victim said it wasn’t stolen, he said.
“Hat’s off to Steve Sanchez for seeing the folly of prosecuting this decent man,” said Yanny, outside the courthouse. The lack of probable cause was revealed during requests for discovery, or evidence, from prosecutors, he said.
Two co-defendants in the case, Scott Rivera of San Bernardino, and Caesar Rodriguez of Oak Hills, continue to face charges and are scheduled to return to court Feb. 14.
The defendants were arrested in connection with an 18-month, seven-county investigation into the “upper echelon” of Vagos members by state and local authorities.
Hundreds of handguns and other weapons, including an anti-tank weapon and a rocket launcher, as well as body armor, cocaine, methamphetamine and Vagos clothing were seized by law enforcement officers.
Palafox, of Colton, said taxpayers’ money, which was spent to prosecute him, could have been used in better ways. “Because there was a lot of money wasted here,” he said.
Charges were dismissed in November against Andrew Lozano of Fontana, who was accused of possessing body armor and participating in a street gang. Thomas Henry Gibson of San Bernardino, pleaded no contest in November to possession of marijuana.
Prosecutors, however, say the Vagos investigation was successful.
“In regards to whether or not the raid was successful, the bottom line is that law enforcement was able to confiscate several hundred weapons and remove several pounds of cocaine and methamphetamine off the streets. Therefore, it was a huge success,” said Chris Lee, spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office.

According to their web-site, The Cave Creek Chapter of the Hells Angeles will be hosting the Chris’s 5th Annual Smoker Party. Open sources confirm that this event will take place on January 21, 2012 at the Croatian American Club, located at 2434 W. Devonshire, Phoenix Arizona and will start at 6:00 PM. They are advertising cheap drinks, band and show.

According to the Orlando Chapter of the Warlocks web-site, the Columbia, South Carolina Chapter will be hosting a Grand Opening of their clubhouse, located at 1700 Platt spring Road, West Columbia South Carolina, on January 6-7, 2012. From the web-site, it appears that the Warlocks have reserved a block of rooms at the Holiday Inn located at 110 McSwain Drive, West Columbia, SC 29169.

Vagos president pleads not guilty to felony charges
By Mike Cruz, The (San Bernardino County) Sun
Posted: 12/08/2011 09:51:17 AM PST

The international president of the Vagos motorcycle club pleaded not guilty to felony charges Thursday in connection with an earlier statewide sweep.
Pastor Fausto Palafox appeared for arraignment before Judge Michael Dest in San Bernardino Superior Court. He is out of custody in lieu of bail.
Palafox, 47, entered a not guilty plea to felony charges of vehicle theft involving a Harley-Davidson motorcycle, possession of a stolen motorcycle and street terrorism.
Los Angeles-based defense lawyer Joseph Yanny said his client, Palafox, denied all charges and “righteously so.”
“He is a decent man, and he’s a God-fearing man,” Yanny said later, by telephone. “But he fears no man, not even `the man.”‘
Palafox is one of a handful of local defendants who was charged in connection with an 18-month, seven-county investigation involving the “upper echelon” of Vagos members, state and local authorities announced at a news conference in October in San Bernardino.
Hundreds of handguns and other weapons, including an anti-tank weapon and a rocket launcher, as well as body armor, cocaine, methamphetamine and Vagos clothing were seized by law enforcement officers, they said.
Deputy District Attorney Steven Sanchez, who is prosecuting the case, could not be reached at his office for comment.
District Attorney Michael A. Ramos has called the Vagos “a ruthless, criminal motorcycle gang” that has terrorized local communities since the 1960s.
But Yanny said the Vagos is a fraternal organization, not a street gang as alleged by authorities. Its members are hard-working, blue-collar contributors to society, such as doctors, lawyers, dentists, contractors and business owners, he said.
The Vagos are not thugs, but they do defend themselves, Yanny added.

AP Exclusive: Witness: Biker Killing Was a Mistake
By SCOTT SONNER Associated Press ABC News
RENO, Nev. November 24, 2011 (AP)
Chatting peacefully on the floor of a Nevada casino, a senior Hells Angels leader and a 27-year veteran of the rival Vagos motorcycle gang thought they had negotiated a truce between competing members who’d been itching for a fight at a weekend long biker festival.
“Everything is going to be all right,” the Vagos member recalls his rival telling him. “He said, ‘I’m getting too old for this.’ And I said, ‘I’m getting too old for this too.’”
An hour later, a brawl erupted and a shootout ensued, killing one of the highest-ranking Hells Angels in the country and wounding two Vagos members.
More violence has followed the melee at the hotel-casino in Sparks on Sept. 23, but the longtime Vagos member told a grand jury in Reno earlier this month that the deadly gun battle was not part of some assassination plot or formal declaration of war.
Rather, he testified under the condition of confidentiality that it was the result of the unauthorized behavior of a drunken, fellow Vagos — a loud-mouthed, loose cannon nicknamed “Jabbers” who provoked the fight that led to the fatal shooting.
“Jabbers has a big mouth. He’s always had a big mouth,” said the witness, who described himself as being in the “higher echelon’” of Vagos leadership “before this event.”
Jabbers, whose real name is Gary Stuart Rudnick, was the vice president of the Vagos Los Angeles chapter but since has been kicked out of the club, according to the confidential witness. He’s one of three men indicted on murder charges in the killing of Jeffrey “Jethro’” Pettigrew, the late president of the Hells Angels San Jose chapter.
Rudnick had refused to back down even after national Vagos officers were summoned and talks with Hells Angels’ leaders had calmed the volatile situation shortly after 10 p.m., the grand jury witness said.
“This was diffused by national,” he said. “The national (leaders) went down there and talked to them. Everything was worked out, there was no problems.”
But about an hour later, Rudnick again was taunting Pettigrew, who the witness said “in the Hells Angels world is one of the most important guys in the United States.” Finally, he said Pettigrew had enough and punched Rudnick in the face, touching off a series of fights that led to the gunfire.
“All hell broke loose,” the witness testified. “Just bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam.”
Another Vagos, Ernesto Gonzalez, is accused of shooting Pettigrew four times in the back and is being held without bail on an open murder charge. Rudnick and Cesar Villagrana, a Hells Angel member accused of shooting two Vagos that night, face second-degree murder charges for their role in the fracas.
“There were so many shots, shots going off through this whole melee,” the witness said. “I’m surprised a citizen didn’t get shot because anyone could have walked around the corner or walked out of the bathroom and got shot.”
The 278-page transcript entered into the court record earlier this week offers a look at the mayhem in the jam-packed Nugget hotel-casino shortly before midnight on Sept. 23 — much of it captured on the casino’s 448 security cameras. Investigators later retrieved dozens of shell casings and bullets — one lodged in a slot machine, others in bar stools, a card table and a metal poker chip holder.
“It was a madhouse on that casino floor,” said Sparks police officer Jean Marie Walsh, a 22-year veteran of the force. She testified that she arrived at the casino to find Pettigrew shot in the floor before she noticed Villagrana with a black semi-automatic handgun.
“One gentleman was screaming at me when he saw me see Villagrana with the gun in his hand — ‘Kill him, kill him, kill him, he’s right there. Kill him!’” she said.
“We are just trying to get some semblance of control, trying to keep people from shooting other people,” she said, as the grand jurors looked at surveillance tape.
She instructed friends of Pettigrew to carry him closer to an exit so paramedics could safely treat him.
In addition to a total of five gunshot wounds, Pettigrew suffered multiple stab wounds to the face, said Dr. Ellen Clark, the Washoe County medical examiner who performed the autopsy. She said his nose had been sliced and one nostril was “almost completely detached from the nose.”
Pettigrew’s wounds were “distributed literally from his head to his pelvis,” Clark said.
The Vagos witness also described an element of the surveillance tapes to the grand jurors.
“There’s Jabbers putting on his gloves. The reason he is putting on his gloves is for one reason only, it is a premeditated thing they are going to start some action. This thing is going to go off.”

Gang member indicted in shootout at Sparks casino
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL NOVEMBER 17, 2011

RENO — A third motorcycle gang member has been indicted on murder charges in the September shooting at a Nevada casino that killed the president of the Hells Angels’ San Jose, Calif., chapter.

Court records unsealed in Washoe District Court on Wednesday identify Gary Stuart Rudnick as a Vagos gang member and co-conspirator in the shooting of Jeffrey “Jethro” Pettigrew at John Ascuaga’s Nugget in Sparks.

Rudnick faces a murder charge with Ernesto Manuel Gonzalez, a fellow Vagos member who police say fired the shots that killed Pettigrew the night of Sept. 23. It wasn’t clear whether Rudnick had been taken into custody .

Hells Angels member Cesar Villagrana was named in the indictment on a murder charge because he was involved in a shootout, authorities alleged, that led to Pettigrew’s death.

All three suspects were indicted on a felony count of second-degree murder with a deadly weapon. Gonzalez, 53, also was indicted on a charge of open murder with a deadly weapon.
Villagrana, 36, of Gilroy, Calif., is accused of shooting two other Vagos members that night at the casino, one in the leg and one in the stomach. A third Vagos member was shot in the stomach the next morning by someone in a passing car a few blocks away from the casino.

Another killing followed Oct. 15 at Pettigrew’s funeral in San Jose . Police think that fatal shooting involved only Hells Angels.

Mongols member convicted of second-degree murder in Gustine

By VICTOR A. PATTON – 2011Merced Sun Star Merced California November 10, 2011

A member of the Mongols biker gang could spend 15 years to life in prison after being convicted of second- degree murder Thursday in the November 2009 Gustine stabbing of Bill James.

Ruben Silva Jr., 23, of Los Angeles was found guilty after a Merced County jury of six men and six women deliberated for about two days. On the second- degree murder charge, Silva was found guilty under the theory he aided and abetted the attack on James, 33. Silva also was convicted of being a member of a criminal street gang.

The defendant showed little emotion and thanked his attorney, John Garcia, after the verdict was read. Meanwhile, nearly a dozen of Silva’s friends and family members broke into tears and exchanged hugs in the courtroom.

Carol James, the victim’s mother, sat in the courtroom with a downcast, weary-eyed expression.
Silva was one of as many as 10 people who entered the Gustine Club at 431 Fifth St. and killed James. Nine suspects were arrested, all of whom have taken pleas or had their cases dismissed.
The men entered the bar yelling “Mongols!” and James replied he didn’t care who they were. The prosecution argued that the group killed James because they felt he disrespected them.

Deputy District Attorney David Elgin, the prosecutor in the case, said Silva and his friends were looking to provoke a response when they entered the bar yelling their gang’s name. Four witnesses identified Silva as a participant in the attack, and two said he was carrying a knife.
Two of the knives used in the attack were logged as evidence. Elgin said three or more knives may have been used by the gang.

Complex, multilayered case

Elgin said he has a “great deal of respect” for the jury, which sifted through a complex, multilayered case. “I can’t commend them enough,” Elgin said. “I believe justice was served today.”

Garcia remained in the courthouse hallway after the hearing, trying to console his client’s mother, Lorena Witt, and other family members. Many of Silva’s supporters thought the case lacked physical evidence. For example, Silva’s DNA wasn’t present on either of the knives found by sheriff’s detectives.

Still, while Garcia maintained his client was innocent of participating in the actual attack, the fact he was at the scene probably resonated with the jury. “I think the aiding and abetting factor made it difficult to separate him from the conduct of others,” Garcia said.
Silva drove a gray GMC pickup away from the scene, and James’ blood was found on the inside of the passenger-side door, the back seat and other places inside the vehicle. Silva had borrowed the pickup from someone in Southern California before driving to Gustine.

After the fight continued outside the bar, witnesses saw the defendant’s GMC and James fighting with an unidentified person near the vehicle’s passenger seat.

Defendants Richard Naudin, Mark Oseguera and Brandon Carvalho pleaded no contest earlier this year to voluntary manslaughter charges and were sentenced to terms ranging from three to eight years in prison. Albert Aleman pleaded no contest to felony accessory after the fact and misdemeanor participation in a criminal street gang. He’ll be sentenced to 3½ years in prison.

Silva is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Ronald Hansen on Dec. 9.

Managing Editor Victor A. Patton can be reached at (209) 385-2431 or
vpatton@mercedsunstar.com.

Read more: http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2011/11/10/2116859/mongols-member-convicted-of-second.html#ixzz1dPOI8H00

The Cleveland Chapter of the Zulus Motorcycle Club is planning to take action against the Wheels of Soul Motorcycle Club in Cleveland, Ohio, Erie, Pennsylvania and Buffalo, New York. On October 15, 2011, a call to action was initiated by a member of the Cleveland Chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club and a group of Hells Angels Motorcycle Nomads during a meeting for the Zulus Motorcycle Club to take action against the Wheels of Soul Motorcycle Club for infringing upon the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club territory in northeast Ohio. The Wheels of Soul Motorcycle Club has recently established a clubhouse at 6725 Hosmer Ave., Cleveland, Ohio. The Cleveland Wheels of Soul Motorcycle Club membership consists of patched over Sin City Motorcycle Club members. Wheels of Soul Motorcycle Club members confronted Zulus Motorcycle Club members during a motorcycle party about “siding with a predominately white club and not with another black motorcycle club.” Although the conversation became heated, no violence occurred. After the confrontation with Wheels of Soul Motorcycle Club, the Zulus Motorcycle Club decided that they are going to confront Wheels of Soul Motorcycle Club in Erie, Pennsylvania and Buffalo, New York

Funeral held for Hells Angel killed at fellow biker’s burial begins

By Sean Webby swebby@mercurynews.com
Updated: 10/29/2011 10:33:19 PM PDT

The only gunfire at the funeral of Hells Angel Steve Tausan on Saturday came as a salute from the U.S. Marine honor guard.

The former Marine, professional boxer and legendary biker was memorialized Saturday morning at Jubilee Christian Church before being buried at Oak Hill Memorial cemetery in San Jose — exactly two weeks after he was shot and killed at the funeral of another member of the motorcycle club.

Although about 1,000 bikers rumbled in from all quarters, there was no trouble, dissension or arrests. There were only bear hugs, tears and memories of the Santa Cruz “enforcer” who called himself Mr. 187, after the penal code for murder.
On top of Sunrise Hill they buried his red-and-white casket

in the Hells Angels tradition — by shovel. Sonny Barger, a founding member of the Oakland chapter of the Hells Angel and an iconic figure in the club, tossed one of the last shovels of earth on the grave, as a police helicopter circled overhead.
They said they would have a quiet, respectful funeral and then they were going to leave town,” said acting Capt. Jeff Marozick, the commander of the San Jose Police Department’s special operations who had negotiated details of the funeral with the notorious biker club. “Everything they said is what they did.”

Amid the heavy police presence, Saturday’s somber service was relatively smaller and peaceful, in sharp contrast to the huge and chaotic funeral of Jeff “Jethro” Pettigrew. That service drew more than 3,000 bikers.

Beore Pettigrew could be buried, Tausan, a Santa Cruz resident, was fatally wounded during a bloody biker battle with another Hells Angel.

Aside from the odd arrest of an individual member, the notorious outlaw motorcycle club has been out of the headlines in the South Bay for years. But in recent weeks, the shooting deaths of Pettigrew and Tausan, the continued search for suspect Steven Ruiz and the bizarre traffic homicide of an East Bay member have put a hot spotlight on the Hells Angel, which law enforcement views as a criminal gang. The Hells Angels have long denied this, and many members have reacted to the recent events with dismay.

But the violent way Tausan died was not mentioned at his sentimental service. It was his colorful life they talked about, as an eclectic soundtrack from Tausan’s favorite performers — James Brown, Stevie Ray Vaughn and gospel singers — reverberated through the big hall.

“He was an imposing man,” said the Rev. Dick Bernal during the service at Jubilee. “But underneath the muscles and the tattoos beat the heart of a man, the heart of a brother.”

Bikers from Tausan’s home club, along with Henchmen, Devils Dolls and many others from as far away as New England and abroad, made up a long line of mourners. They paid their last respects as he lay in the casket, draped with an American flag and custom painted with the Angels’ death’s head with wings and the Marine Corps insignia. Tausan was clad in his leather Hells Angels vest, with a pack of Marlboros and an extended combat knife in his folded hands.

Next to the casket, there was a blown-up photo of him as a young Marine, his military haircut in stark contrast to the long, silvery mane he sported when he died. Also arrayed around the casket were pictures of Tausan on his Victory motorcycle and with his friends and family.

Tausan was better known than most Angels because of the charges he faced in the 1997 beating death of a man at the Pink Poodle strip club in San Jose. He was acquitted.

But to the Hells Angels and others, the gregarious and intense man was bigger than life.

“His love for his family and his friends in the club was undeniable,” Bernal said. “If Steve loved you, you never had to guess. If he didn’t love you, you never had to guess.”

Bernal recalled that Tausan once summoned him to his bail bondsman’s office so the two of them could view a 90-minute DVD of James Brown and opera great Luciano Pavarotti performing together. Tausan turned to Bernal and said, “Wasn’t that the greatest thing you’ve ever seen?”

Bernal said he agreed, then paused for effect. “You don’t disagree with Steve.” That drew an appreciative laugh from the crowd.

“He was compassionate, generous and loyal.” Bernal said. But he also mentioned Tausan’s “legendary short fuse.”

Bernal acknowledged that, as a clergyman, he is sometimes criticized for the people he hangs around with. “I don’t care,” he concluded. “If you’re my friend you’re my friend.”

The bikers applauded.

Former football great Jim Brown, who was introduced to Tausan by Bernal, was among the mourners. “I feel honored to publicly acknowledge my love, friendship and respect for this man,” Brown said during the service. “He had a quality I found very intriguing.”

Although they gathered around Oak Hill, there were no police visible inside the cemetery, which was closed to the public.

As Tausan’s body was lowered into the ground, fellow Hells Angels called out “One of a Kind!” and “hell of a man!”