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19 Angels still on the lam – March 28, 2011 – Canada - By Eric
Thibault; www.TorontoSun.com - Nineteen Hells Angels
members & associates remain on the lam nearly 2 years after they
escaped the biggest biker bust in Canadian history. The names &
faces of the wanted men have been posted on the websites of the
RCMP & Interpol, the international crime-fighting agency that’s
active in 188 countries. Police insist they’re still hot on the trail
of those who so far have gotten away with murder, drug
trafficking & gangsterism. “These files are as hot as they were at
the start of the operation,” Quebec provincial police Sgt. Richard
Gagne told QMI Agency. “There is still work to do to find these
men.” Project Sharqc involved 1,200 police officers & led to the
arrests of 137 bikers & associates in April 2009. Defendants will
be prosecuted in groups of 8 or 9 in a series of mega-trials
scheduled to begin next month. The last biker to be arrested was
Normand (Casper) Ouimet, who was picked up outside his
Montreal dentist’s office last fall & now faces 22 counts of
murder. Interpol has files on the 17 Hells members & 2
associates who are still at large. The fugitives have also been
flagged with a “red notice” designation that would allow foreign
police forces to arrest & detain them pending extradition to
Canada. Last year Mexican police used Red Notice markers to
arrest Hells members Yannick Gauthier & Martin Robert while
the pair were living under false names.
Outlaw Biker Arrested for Having Drugs, Illegal Weapons –
March 29, 2011 – California – By www.MyValleyNews.com -
An outlaw biker allegedly running a “chop shop” at his Perris
residence, where illegal guns & drugs were stored, was arrested
today - - but not before his dog attacked a police dog & was shot
& killed, a Riverside County sheriff’s sergeant said. Todd Payne,
36, was taken into custody by members of the county’s regional
Gang Task Force around 8 a.m. at a house in the 24000 block of
El Baquero Road, according to Sgt. Sean Brown. Brown said
Payne, who belongs to an outlaw motorcycle gang, which Brown
did not identify, was arrested on suspicion of possession of
methamphetamine, stolen firearms & assault rifles. Payne was
also dealing in stolen auto parts at the location, according to
Brown. “A total of 16 firearms were recovered, one of which
was reported stolen during a residential burglary in December,”
Brown said. “Officers also recovered multiple stolen motorcycle
parts, meth & gang paraphernalia.” According to Brown, during
their raid, a large mixed breed dog on the property attacked a
police dog, prompting task force members to shot & kill the
aggressive animal. The police dog was treated by a veterinarian
& is doing fine, Brown said. No other injuries were reported.
Payne was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center, but
bail information was not immediately available.
The Bikers Suing Their Local Police - March 30, 2011 –
California – By Christine Pelisek; www.TheDailyBeast.com -
The cops call them Harley-riding “terrorists,” but a group of
bikers in California say they’re misunderstood – & to prove it,
they’re using the whitest-collar of legal tactics: They’re suing. In
2010, the small, rural city of Hemet, California, made headlines
when its tiny police department was besieged by a series of booby
traps aimed at killing gang task-force officers. The police quickly
focused their attention on a local gang of skinheads & an outlaw
band of bikers known as the Vagos. It turned out that the alleged
attackers had an axe to grind with a local anti-gang detective, &
had no connection with the 2 groups. Now, the Vagos
International MC has filed a lawsuit claiming their reputation was
tarnished by the investigation. The 14-page lawsuit, filed March
17, alleges that law-enforcement officials defamed the 42-yearold
club by referring to them at a press conference as
“cockroaches” & “terrorists” who pose “an extreme threat to law
enforcement.” “It is the first time a motorcycle gang has sued
me,” said Richard Dana, former chief of police of the Hemet
Police Dept. Named defendants in the lawsuit include former
Riverside County District Atty Rodric Pacheco, a Riverside
County sheriff’s captain, & Dana. The attacks rattled the city of
88,000 once known for its mobile-home parks, retirement
communities, & the “Ramona Pageant,” California’s longestrunning
outdoor play. In recent years, Hemet, which is located 40
miles west of Palm Springs, has been plagued by foreclosures,
marijuana grow houses, meth labs, & an influx of gangs. About
25 chapters of the Vagos call the rural cities & counties of
California’s Inland Empire home. The police have long thought
the Vagos—known for its burly bikers who sport green jackets &
patches with the image of Loki, the Norse god of mischief—were
involved in the illicit drug trade & weapons trafficking. Over the
years, members of the Vagos have been implicated in assaults,
extortion, insurance fraud, vehicle theft, witness intimidation,
weapons violations, & murder. Last December, 2 Vagos
members, including the president of the Vagos’ San Bernardino
chapter, were found guilty of the brutal murder of a Fontana man
over the sale of a motorcycle. The man’s badly beaten body was
found bound with zip ties & duct tape in April 2003. In January
2010, a Vagos member & his wife were convicted of the slaying
of a former Marine who disappeared in 2007. The man had been
shot, bludgeoned, & suffocated with duct tape. Law-enforcement
authorities consider the Vagos to be “one-percenters,” a
subculture of motorcycle gangs that enforce a set of written
bylaws upon their members, maintain websites, sell biker
memorabilia, & trademark their names & logos. Prospective
Vagos members are put through an extensive background check &
participate in a “hangaround” phase in which they have to
complete a series of tasks & hazing-style rituals before they are
accepted into the club, law-enforcement sources say. “They have
the same propensity for violence as the Mongols & Hells Angels,”
said a former federal law-enforcement source who didn’t want to
be identified. They are classified as a criminal street gang, so
judges can give stiffer penalties if members are convicted. “The
criminals in these gangs pose a threat to public safety in the local
communities in which they operate because of their wide-ranging
criminal activity, propensity to use violence, & ability to counter
law-enforcement efforts,” said John A. Torres, special agent in
charge of the ATF in Los Angeles. But the club doles out
another form of vigilante justice, as well: lawsuits. In 2006, local
& federal authorities raided over 70 homes of Vagos members.
Some of the members were arrested for firearms & drug
violations. In 2009, 5 Vagos members who were not arrested in
the raid, dubbed Operation 22, filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit
alleging that some Vagos members & their families were
threatened, intimidated, & had machine guns pointed at their
heads. In one instance, 3-year-old twin boys were carried
downstairs in their diapers by officers wielding 12-gauge
shotguns. In another case, a four-month-old puppy was peppersprayed.
“They file lawsuits all the time,” scoffed the federal lawenforcement
source. “It is just their nature. They are trying to get
money any way they can.” Beverly Hills lawyer Joseph Yanny,
who represents the Vagos in the 2 lawsuits, said the group is
misunderstood. A large number of its members are upstanding
citizens who work as contractors, business owners, lawyers, &
teachers, he said. Eighty percent are clean & sober. One is an
ordained pastor. Former longtime Vagos President Terry
Orendorff told The Daily Beast that he has had his home &
business raided numerous times by federal authorities. He said he
has never been charged with a crime. “Over the years law
enforcement had problems with us mainly because I guess they