Police seize Hells ANGELS bike at show

 

 Winnipeg police continued their assault on the Hells Angels by stripping another member of his gang status and seizing the jailed president's Harley-Davidson motorcycle from the World of Wheels trade show. The Free Press has uncovered details on both events, the fallout from last week's Project Flatlined, which resulted in the arrests of 11 prominent Hells Angels members and associates. Sources say members of the organized crime unit went to the Winnipeg Convention Centre Friday night and seized a souped-up motorcycle that was on display. The bike belongs to Dale Sweeney, the current head of the Manitoba Hells chapter who was arrested earlier in the day at his lavish home in the Waverley West development. "Apparently there was quite a commotion there when they seized it from World of Wheels," a source said. Friends of Sweeney were with the Harley, which had the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club logo on the side of it, when it was seized. Police had seized two vehicles belonging to Sweeney during his arrest, and sources say they will now focus on his upscale home under the Criminal Property Forfeiture Act, which allows authorities to take possession of the proceeds of crime. "We'll take that (house) if and when he's convicted," said a justice source. The next phase of the police blitz occurred in a Winnipeg courtroom on Monday afternoon. Carmine Puteri, 39, a member of the Hells Angels, agreed to step away from the gang in order to gain his release from custody. Puteri was among those arrested last Friday but was not actually facing criminal charges. Instead, police and justice officials obtained a rarely used peace bond against him under Section 810 of the Criminal Code. In court documents, police state Puteri was likely to "commit a criminal offence for the benefit of a criminal organization." Puteri agreed this was the case and chose not to contest the court order, which is traditionally used by officials against high-risk sex offenders or convicted killers who have served every day of an existing sentence and are about to re-enter the community. A peace bond was used against notorious killer Karla Homolka. Sources say this is one of the first times Manitoba justice officials have used the tool to fight organized crime. Police will monitor Puteri and he has agreed to 14 separate conditions, including a midnight curfew and an order to not possess any gang clothing or paraphernalia. Puteri has also agreed to have no contact with any Hells Angels member or associate in the province -- a list of people that ran three typed pages in court and includes more than 50 names. Any breaches of the conditions would result in a stand-alone criminal offence and would be grounds for immediate arrest. Police have also obtained the same peace bond against Sweeney's brother, Rod. He has not decided yet whether to fight the application or consent to it, and remains in custody. Sweeney and the other eight accused who were arrested last week are facing a litany of charges, including trafficking, proceeds of crime, money laundering and participating in a criminal organization. All remain behind bars and further arrests are expected. More than 150 Winnipeg police officers were involved in last week's raids, which puts the immediate status of the Hells Angels in Manitoba in jeopardy. Organized crime Insp. Rick Guyader said there are only four local members of the Hells Angels who were not arrested -- putting them in violation of the biker gang's charter, which requires at least seven active members. Operation Flatlined is the fourth major bust of the Manitoba Hells Angels since 2006. Unlike those previous projects, police did not use a paid informant in Flatlined. Sources told the Free Press the undercover probe relied on court-ordered wiretaps that allowed police to gain insight and evidence. The Flatlined code name is a reference to the Redlined Support Crew, a puppet club of the Hells Angels. The Hells Angels created the Redlined gang in 2010 to stand up to other criminal networks that might muscle in on their former drug turf after many of their members were arrested and jailed following the other police stings. At the top of the list of rival gangs was the Rock Machine, which waged war with the Hells Angels in Quebec during the 1990s but hasn't had much of a presence in Manitoba until recently. Tensions escalated last summer, with more than a dozen reported incidents, including drive-by shootings and firebombings between Redlined and Rock Machine members, which prompted police to canvass neighbourhoods where well-known bike gang members lived, to warn residents an active gang war was underway.

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Michel Smith, a Quebec member of the Hells Angels wanted se 2009 in connection to 22 murder cases, has been arrested by authorities in Panama

 

Michel Smith, a Quebec member of the Hells Angels wanted se 2009 in connection to 22 murder cases, has been arrested by authorities in Panama, according to media reports. However, officials from the Surete du Quebec and RCMP were not immediately able to confirm or deny the reports. According to the RCMP, Smith is a member of the South Chapter of the Hells Angels and goes by the nickname "L'animal." He has been on the run since 2009 in connection with a police crackdown on the Hells Angels biker gang. He faces 29 criminal charges - including 22 murder charges. Citing Panamanian local media and Agence France-Presse, the QMI news agency reported that Smith, 49, had been detained by police Friday evening in the Playa Coronado region, on the Pacific Ocean coast of the Central American nation. A Canada-wide warrant issued by the RCMP said he was being sought for murder, gangsterism, drug trafficking and related conspiracy charges. His Central American connections were known to authorities. "Smith is likely to visit Panama and speaks French," the warrant stated. Const. Erique Gasse of the RCMP's C Division in Montreal said he had relayed a request for official word on Smith's status to RCMP officials in Ottawa, who did not immediately return a phone call. Asked for confirmation of the arrest report, Surete du Quebec spokesperson Sgt. Christine Coulombe said: "I have no information on this." Smith is "considered to be violent," according to the warrant. Aside from "L'animal," his aliases have included Mike Smith-Lajoie, Michel Lajoie-Smit and Michel Lajoie. The warrant describes Smith as 172 centimetres tall and weighing 95 kilograms, with brown hair and blue eyes.

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Alleged Quebec Hells Angels member arrested in Panama

 

Quebec fugitive -- and alleged member of the Hells Angels -- who is wanted on murder charges has been arrested in Panama, local media reports say. Michel Smith, 49, who was linked to Quebec's deadly biker war in the 1990s, was reportedly arrested Friday. Smith -- whose nickname is "animal" -- has been on the run since 2009. He was taken into custody by local police in the tourist area of Playa Coronado on the Pacific Ocean coast, according to local reports. The reports said he had been under surveillance for about two months before his arrest. Smith faces 29 charges, including 22 counts of murder. Police in Canada had not confirmed the news as late Sunday night. Smith is to be extradited back to Canada, police officials in Panama said in a news release. Smith has long been alleged to be among the top men affiliated with the Hells Angels when it was at war with the Rock Machine biker gang in the 1990s and early 2000s. The gang war killed more than 150 people. While most of the victims were members of the rival gangs and their affiliates, two prison guards and an 11-year old boy -- a bystander -- also died. An RCMP warrant describes Smith as 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 210 pounds, with brown hair and blue eyes.

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Murdered Hells Angel’s estate targeted in lawsuit

 

The estate of former Hells Angel Juel Ross Stanton is being sued in connection with an alleged assault at the Ivanhoe pub in Vancouver. Daniel Lee Williams, a Vancouver school-board employee, has filed suit against the estate, the pub and a number of other parties in connection with the March 6, 2010 assault. In a notice of civil claim filed in B.C. Supreme Court, Williams claims that he was sitting in the premises when he noticed another person, Kenneth Sacher, on the ground and being beaten by Stanton. He says that nobody else, including the staff, was coming to the aid of Sacher so he tried to intervene. “The plaintiff went to the aid of Kenneth Sacher, and while aiding Kenneth Sacher, was blindsided by the defendant Stanton, and as a result the plaintiff suffered serious injuries, loss, damages and expense,” says the civil claim. Williams says he suffered head, ankle and torso injuries as well as headaches, a concussion and bone fractures during the alleged assault. The incident happened several months prior to the fatal shooting in August 2010 of Stanton, a full-patch member of the East End chapter of the motorcycle club. At the time of the shooting at Stanton’s gated home near Vancouver’s city hall, he was facing several counts of assault causing bodily harm and various weapons offences stemming from two recent alleged incidents at the Ivanhoe. Stanton, 41, was on bail at the time of the shooting but was believed by Vancouver police to have been expelled by the club earlier in the year. The lawsuit says that the Williams assault was caused or contributed to by the negligence and the breach of statutory duty by the defendants. There was a failure to exercise due care for the safety and physical well being of Williams as well as inadequate security and staff on the premises and a failure to intervene and notify the police in a timely manner, says the suit. The defendants include the pub, several named companies, Sacher and the Stanton estate. Williams is seeking unspecified general and special damages. No response to the lawsuit has yet been filed by the defendants. A notice of claim contains allegations that have not been proven in court. A manager for the pub said that the current owners did not own the pub at the time of the incident and did not know how to contact the former owners.

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Wheels of Soul outlaw motorcycle gang member pleads guilty

 

Allan "Dog" Hunter, 33, of Chicago, was present during the March 6, 2011, shooting death of Javell T. Thornton, 32, also of Chicago, at 126 South Main St. according to a federal indictment. As part of his plea, Hunter, a member of the Wheels of Soul outlaw motorcycle gang, admitted Thursday in federal court that he conspired with other members of the gang to dispose of several firearms after the shooting. WOS was in Marion for a meeting at a private motorcycle club. In the early morning hours of March 6, a fight at the gang's after-hours party spilled onto the sidewalk on South Main Street. When the dust settled, three men were injured with stab and gunshot wounds, and Thornton was dead. The federal indictment states that Anthony R. Robinson shot three victims in the back as they fled the party, killing Thornton and seriously injuring another. Hunter reportedly fired a handgun indiscriminately into the crowd while wearing a bulletproof vest. Robinson has been indicted on one count of murder in aid of racketeering activity and one count of attempt to commit murder in aid of racketeering, along with other federal charges for murder and racketeering activities in other states, according to the federal indictment. Eighteen members of the WOS were indicted on federal charges June 9, 2011. One member allegedly stabbed another person in the head during a fight at a Chicago motorcycle club, then shot another in the stomach. The indictment says gang members are required to carry weapons - mostly guns, but also hammers, knives and other weapons.

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Hells Angels bikie war will explode in Kings Cross.

 

POLICE investigating the Hells Angels have launched a new taskforce amid fears a full-blown bikie war will explode in Kings Cross. The Sunday Telegraph can reveal the operation, code-named Strike Force Cheviot, was set up after 40 to 50 members of the Hells Angels descended on the red-light district last month. Police believe the "unprecedented" act may have been designed to send a message to rival bikie group Nomads, which have long controlled security in the area. Detective Superintendent Arthur Katsogiannis, commander of the NSW Gangs Squad, said police had been watching the situation closely since the February 5 incident. "Yes, we are aware and monitoring the situation with what happened at Kings Cross that night with the Hells Angels", Mr Katsogiannis told The Sunday Telegraph. "It was an unprecedented act from the Hells Angels and that's why it's important the Gangs Squad involved ourselves from the beginning. "Safety of the community is our top priority and we will not be allowing any OMCGs (outlaw motorcycle gangs) to carry on with that type of behaviour". Police are investigating a possible outbreak of violence between the Nomads and the Hells Angels, who have been on an expansion and recruitment drive for months around Sydney. It is one of several lines of inquiry being probed by Cheviot detectives. They are also looking at a credible allegation that Hells Angels members went to Kings Cross to confront a member of the Nomads clan who works in the area. The man, who for legal reasons cannot be named, was formerly a member of the Hells Angels but "patched over" several months ago. Since then he has been performing unofficial security tasks for nightclub premises in Kings Cross, including venues aligned with local identity John Ibrahim. Law enforcement sources said when the Hells Angels descended on the nightspot they arranged themselves across the road from a club where the man was believed to be working, and demanded he come outside. "That forms part of several lines of inquiry we are looking at," Mr Katsogiannis said, adding that officers from Strike Force Raptor were patrolling Kings Cross on the night of the incident and quelled the situation. "If they (Raptor police) didn't intervene at the time, it could have been a lot worse". Police have connected the Nomads member with some of the recent shootings across southwestern Sydney, all of which are under investigation. In November, The Sunday Telegraph revealed the individual was the target of a drive-by attack at an Oporto restaurant in Merrylands, which occurred two days after he was released from custody. Mr Katsogiannis said Strike Force Cheviot officers, would continue weekend patrols of Kings Cross to prevent any outbreaks of violence for "as long as it takes".

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