Results tagged “motorcycle gangs” from Crime Scene

This from the San Francisco Chronicle (thanks to a NorCal Crime Scene reader)

A suspect in the slaying of the leader of the San Francisco Hells Angels chapter is now facing federal murder and weapons charges, court records show.

Christopher Ablett, 36, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco to charges of murder in aid of racketeering and two gun-possession charges in the September slaying of Mark "Papa" Guardado, the head of the Hells Angels' "Frisco" chapter.

Authorities believe Ablett shot Guardado, 46, after what police describe as a "wrestling match" outside a Mission District bar the night of Sept. 2. Witnesses told police that the killer rode away on a motorcycle; police later searched the home in Modesto where Ablett lived with his parents and his two children and seized a 2005 Harley-Davidson.

Police say Ablett is a member of the Mongols Motorcycle Club, a rival group to the Hells Angels.

Ablett killed Guardado "for the purpose of gaining entrance to and maintaining and increasing his position in the Mongols, an enterprise engaged in racketeering," according to an indictment handed down July 23 by a federal grand jury in San Francisco and unsealed Wednesday.

This comes from the Associated Press: 

LOS ANGELES  -- The former national president of the notorious Mongols
motorcycle gang has pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge in a case that
accused other members of murder, drug trafficking and violent attacks.

Prosecutors revealed January's guilty plea by Ruben "Doc" Cavazos in court papers filed on June 29. He could face up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced in February.

A phone message left with Cavazos' attorney Angel Navarro was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Cavazos and other Mongol leaders directed members to engage in murders, extortion,
robberies and drug trafficking to "promote and further the activities of the Mongols
gang," according to a 177-page indictment.

Among other things, prosecutors claim Cavazos was involved in negotiating with Mexican Mafia leaders over the collection of payments for drug trafficking in areas controlled by that gang and getting Mongol members to commit crimes against people who challenged the gang's authority.

 

The LASD sent along some photos after raids on Mongols in the San Gabriel Valley Friday.

Here's a jacket taken in the raid. Other items taken can be viewed here.

A recent ruling in federal court allowed police agencies to prevent Mongols members from showing off their trademarked colors.

 

SAN GABRIEL -- Police seized Mongols motorcycle-gang paraphernalia Thursday during a Parole Probation Compliance Check of 40 locations in Rosemead and South San Gabriel, officials said.

The items bearing the Mongols insignia included shirts, jackets, a clock and beanies.

They where found in the home of Mauricio Montano, on the 8100 block of Blewett Street in San Gabriel, according Sgt. Mark Flores of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Temple Station.

Montano is believed to be part of a Pico Rivera chapter of the outlaw Motorcycle gang, officials said. He was taken into custody but not arrested.

"We will write up a report and start an investigation," Flores said. "We will hand it over to the Federal Government."

A federal judge in October barred the Mongols gang from wearing or distributing its logo. The order came one day after a nationwide federal sweep, which landed 61 Southern California Mongols members in jail.

During Thursday's operation, police made six arrests. The charges included marijuana cultivation, possession of methamphetamine, procession of narcotics and narcotic paraphernalia and felons in possession of ammunition.

The operation included about 50 officers from the Detection Unit, Asian Gang Task Force and Special Projects Team.

The action follows a similar raid in Azusa.

This from the "Aging Rebel" blog, which adds some context to several of the stories we've reported about the triple homicide in Pico Rivera Saturday night:

Last week the Azusa, California Police Department issued a "tactical alert" that the Mongols were planning a party at a restaurant on Foothill Boulevard, old Route 66, in Azusa. When the partiers arrived they were greeted by a command center and officers from the Montebello, Azusa, Glendora, Arcadia and Monrovia Police departments. The Mongols and friends were also surveilled by a Los Angeles County Sherriff's Department helicopter.

A source has alleged that ATF Case Agent John Ciccone and another well known "outlaw motorcycle gang investigator" named Chris Cervantes both attended the event with their special spy cameras. Cervantes works for the Montebello police and his hobbies include the Mongols.

Garret Dandini, a Naval veteran and recruiter has been identified by family members as among the dead at the Falcone's Pizza parlor shooting in Pico Rivera Saturday night. Here's a link to his myspace and at left is a photo of Garret.

Police officials said they were on alert Saturday for outlaw motorcycle gang activity in Azusa, but were taken by surprise when three people were killed and seven people were injured at a fundraiser held in Pico Rivera by the Old School Riders motorcycle club.

Here's a poster advertising Old School Bike Night. Members of the motorcycle club were apparently targeted in a mass shooting Saturday night that left three dead and seven wounded. 

We're working to verify these stories now. Just thought I'd share some of the mail. First a car crash Sunday in Rowland Heights:

There was a car crash on May 17th, 2009, Sunday. My fiance was behind the car when it got hit by an suv, the car flipped over and landed in Joe's Crab Shack. My fiance saw the car flipped upside down and he saw the passenger with their eyes open and blood everywhere. He was sure they had passed away, and has been pretty tramatized about it. I've been looking everywhere on the internet to see if it was reported and I havent found anything. I was wondering if you will be reporting it? or is there anywhere that they might where I can find it. I just would like to give him some peace of mind and me as well. Thank you so much :) It happened in Rowland heights by the Puente Hills Mall. 

Next, a stabbing in Highland Park (also Sunday):

There was a stabbing in Garvanza Park near the corner of Avenue 64 and Meridian last night (Sunday, the 17th) at approximately 6 pm.  The small park was full of families at that time and I believe the stabbing victim has since succumbed (based on the memorial that now stands in the park). There was a heavy LAPD presence in the park just after the slaying.
As I have seen no mention of this incident in the media anywhere, I thought I'd bring it to your attention.

Questions about the Mongols motorcycle gang:

I've recently become aware that they're making a film about William Queen's book, "Under and Alone."
After reading the book, I began to wonder how The Mongols got to be what they are today. I knew one of them, very briefly, 30 years ago, and he and his friends were not like the book described at all.
I read the article in the SGV Tribune and, although they weren't boy scouts, Tony Vodnik's description was more what I remember. 
He may be able to answer some questions for me.
If you have a way I can contact him via email, and can share that info with me - or forward this to him, I'd appreciate it.

Finally, a drive-by in Rowland Heights:

I was told by a friend that there was a drive by shooting in Rowland Heights last week.
I wanted to make sure of those facts. I saw a deputy sheriff so I asked him if there was
in fact a drive by shooting in Rowland Heights. He said yes there was one.
Why isn't there any mention of it on your site or in the Newspaper?

Care to chime in on any of these incidents? 

Four members of the Mongols motorcycle gang were sentenced for their roles in an attack on a Hells Angel in November. The attack occurred in Humbolt County. All the Mongols pleaded guilty.

Here's the story from the Eureka Times-Standard:

Four men arrested in connection to the non-fatal shooting of a suspected Hells Angels member in November were sentenced in Humboldt County Superior Court Tuesday afternoon to terms ranging from three years in prison to 180 days in jail.

All four men, three of whom were found to be card carrying members of the Mongols Motorcycle Club, pleaded guilty in a plea agreement offered during their preliminary hearing, after evidence surfaced that the victim -- Robert Thompson -- may have fired first.

Deputy District Attorney Ben McLaughlin said although there are no current plans to charge Thompson as a felon in possession of a firearm, the matter is still under investigation.

The accused gunman in the case, 28-year-old Mongols gang member Eric Gunner Lundin, was sentenced by Judge Dale Reinholtsen to three years in prison for felony charges of assault with a firearm and participating in a criminal street gang.

Lundin's attorney, Glenn Brown, said his client will likely serve "a little over two years."

Dustin Liebes, a 36-year-old who the prosecution named as the president of the area Mongols chapter, was sentenced to one year in jail with five years probation. Shasta County resident Eric Garcia, 28, was also given a one year jail sentence with five years probation. Both men had pleaded guilty to participation in a criminal street gang, and both were granted 110 days time served.

 

The Merced Sun-Star confirmed Monday that a man shot outside a Eureka bar was a one-time double murder suspect. (H/T Mike Alerich)

Robert Thompson was shot several times outside The Shanty Bar in Eureka Saturday night. A member of the Hell's Angels, Thompson's shooting is suspected of being linked to ongoing tension between the Angels and the Montebello-based Mongols.

Here's a snippet of the Merced story:

Robert Daniel Thompson, the man acquitted of murder charges in the 1986 unsolved homicides of two Atwater girls, is in the hospital after being shot Friday in Eureka.

The 43-year-old Hells Angel was listed in serious, but stable, condition at UC Davis Medical Center on Sunday, according to hospital staff.

Although details about the incident are sketchy, the Eureka Times-Standard reported Thompson was shot several times outside of a bar called "The Shanty," found lying in an intersection, bleeding from gunshot wounds.

Thanks to a nice email tip, my attention was drawn to the Eureka Times-Standard, which details a bar shooting in Old Town Eureka that left a man wounded. Eureka's police chief told the paper that the shooting stemmed from a clash between Hells Angels and Mongols bikers.

A Merced man was seriously wounded after he was shot outside The Shanty in Eureka late Friday night, and four men were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder shortly afterward.

Robert Daniel Thompson, 43, of Merced was found lying in the intersection of Third and C streets, bleeding from several gunshot wounds, when police arrived at about 11:10 p.m. About five minutes later, officers stopped a vehicle at Watson and D streets and arrested four men believed to be involved in the shooting.

<snip>

Eureka Police Chief Garr Nielsen said earlier Saturday that the shooting may have stemmed from the longtime battle between the Hell's Angels and Mongols motorcycle gangs, but detectives have not been able to confirm that. 

*Who doesn't love Google magic?

This comes from Aging Rebel:

Maybe the Feds have the Mongols by the huevos. Maybe after, numerous attempts over the last 30 years, the Department of Justice is finally, actually going to deconstruct a major outlaw motorcycle club. Maybe not. But, don't dismiss the possibility. "The future right now," former Mongol Tony Vodnik rhetorically asked the Associated Press yesterday. [...]

About the time Ruben "Doc" Cavazos published his autobiography, "Honor Few, Fear None," his life as an outlaw motorcycle gang member began to come apart.

The book, published in June, tells Cavazos' story and includes re-tellings of violent episodes between members of the gang and outsiders.

To hear "Doc" tell it, the Mongols were taking on an assortment of gangs in an international turf battle that stretched beyond the San Gabriel Valley.

Last week a federal grand jury handed down an 84-count racketeering indictment against Cavazos and dozens of other Mongols. It detailed allegations including murder, attempted murder, gun possessions, racial attacks, maimings and drug offenses.

As part of the criminal case, the government barred members of the gang from wearing clothing displaying the Mongols' logo.

Here's how the book jacket pitches Cavazos' story:

"In reality, the Mongols are a tightly knit band of brothers devoted in equal measure to the club, their fellow Mongols, and their freedom. They live to enjoy life, party and travel the open road. Above all, they demand respect. When pushed too far, Mongols join together to push back. Just ask the Hells Angels, the Ukrainian mafia, the Mexican mafia and the U.S. government. All have tested the Mongols' resolve.

"Doc takes you to the streets and into the bars, the secret meetings, the brawls, and the shoot-outs, all proof that if you live like a Mongol does, you must honor few, fear none."

But why buy the book when the indictment lays out some of the same excitement without the hyperbole?

For example, on the day the book was published by HarperCollins, Cavazos awarded patches to two members accused of stabbing two innocent by-standers at a Mobil gas station in Pasadena on April 6.

They were among the last patches Cavazos awarded.

As Cavazos embarked on a high-profile tour of swanky bookstores in upscale neighborhoods like Beverly Hills, other members of the gang began to grumble about his leadership.

Principle among their complaints was Cavazos' penchant for recruiting street gang members and a loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars of Mongol money.

Cavazos frequently hit up his buddies for contributions to a Mongols legal fund. The money began to go missing.

Finally on Aug. 30, at the "House Lounge" in Vernon, Hector "Largo" Gonzalez and William Munz told the rest of the gang that "Doc" was stealing from them.

They also pointed to tensions between the gang and La Eme and voted Cavazos "out bad" from the organization.

"Out Bad" - sounds like a good title for the sequel.

Mongul author Ruben "Doc" Cavazos, Mongol Little Rubes, Mongol Ogre and Mongol Bouncer attend the Book Expo Celebrity Dinner at Restaurant 208 on May 30, 2008 in Beverly Hills, California.

 

Doc, Little Rubes, and Bouncer are all mentioned in the 177-page federal indictment handed down against the gang Tuesday.

Here's a mention of "Bouncer":

COUNT THIRTY-THREE

[21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(B)(viii)]

On or about July 25, 2006, in Los Angeles County, within the

Central District of California, defendant PETER SOTO, also known

as "Bouncer," knowingly and intentionally distributed at least

five grams, that is, approximately 13.5 grams, of actual

methamphetamine, a schedule II controlled substance.

 

Here's a mention of "LIttle Rubes"

COUNT SIXTY-FIVE

[18 U.S.C. § 924(c)]

On or about May 24, 2008, in Los Angeles County, within the

Central District of California, defendants RUBEN CAVAZOS, JR.,

also known as "Lil Rubes," and BRIAN MCCAULEY, knowingly

possessed a firearm, namely, an H&K .45 caliber handgun, bearing

serial number 25-093654, during and in relation to, and in

furtherance of, a crime of violence, namely, the racketeering

conspiracy set forth in Count One of this Indictment, a violation

of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1962(d).

 

 

There are some fascinating peeks at the workings of the Mongols outlaw motorcycle gang in the federal grand jury indictment released Tuesday.

Their brutality is apparent:

"On August 18, 2006, in Los Angeles County, defendant (William `Dago Bill' Shawley) advised an undercover law enforcement officer that he and defendants (David `L.A. Bull' Gil) and (Aaron `Sick Boy' Price) had captured an individual and tortured him for three hours, by breaking the man's knuckles with a pair of pliers, breaking his knee by hitting it with a metal pipe."

Alongside the action, a sub-plot emerges from the pages and pages of court documents.

It lies in the ongoing feuds among individual Mongols and a turf battle between bikers and area street gangs who are loyal to La Eme.

While there's been a push by former Mongols president Ruben "Doc" Cavazos to recruit street gang members, old-time members have been resistant.

Meanwhile, newer members have been reluctant to pay taxes on illicit drug sales to La Eme, because they are already paying the Mongols.

Last year, Cavazos wanted to broker an agreement between the organizations, but instead found himself targeted, according to the indictment.

According to the indictment, an informant told an undercover ATF agent that "Cavazos was attempting to negotiate with La Eme to compensate them for the narcotics-trafficking being conducted by Mongols members.

"Cavazos had met with

La Eme representatives at City Walk in Studio City to offer them a one-time tax payment, but that the offer had been rejected and La Eme had ordered a greenlight on the Mongols."

Although the meeting took place on the other side of town, it's pretty clear the San Gabriel Valley is fertile ground for organized crime.

This is prime turf for credit card scams, dope deals, money laundering, extortion, prostitution, assault and murder.

Stuff that happens here every day. Stuff that often gets reported in the newspaper, but in a disconnected, bullet-points-on-a-blotter sort of way that occasionally fleshes out the big picture.

Think about all the groups that operate in our neighborhoods. There's La Eme. We have the Wah Ching and assorted other Asian gangs. Crips and Bloods rule some neighborhoods, while Armenian and Russian gangsters continue to filter into the SGV from Glendale and Los Angeles.

If anything it's a Balkanization of sorts. And from time to time, each gang has its moment in the spotlight because of a large-scale federal or county prosecution.

Despite turf battles and rivalries, the prosecutions of these gangs highlight plenty of similarities - mainly the desire to make money. Lots of it. By any means necessary - including beatings and murder.

But it also paints a picture of young men who believe they are the last true individualists in America.

In his 1966 book "Hell's Angels," Hunter S. Thompson saw violent motorcycle gangs as part of the bleak and terrible rise of a new form of gangsterism dispensing equal amounts of violence and dope.

"(They are) not some romantic leftover, but the first wave of a future that nothing in our history has prepared us to deal with," Thompson wrote.

The US attorney wanted to own the trademarked logo of the Mongols outlaw motorcycle gang and a judge granted that request Wednesday, according to an Associated Press reporter who attended an afternoon hearing in federal court:

Here's the top of the story:

LOS ANGELES -- A federal judge in Los Angeles bars the Mongols motorcycle gang from selling or distributing its trademarked logo after authorities arrested dozens of its members in six states.

 

No word yet if Ruben Cavazos has appeared in court or entered a plea. Cavazos, a former president of the group, is targeted as the head of the conspiracy.

Reporter Amanda Baumfeld wrote an extensive story detailing the history of the Mongols Motorcycle gang in Montebello and beyond. Here's an excerpt:

The Mongols Motorcycle Club began in the 1970s as a group of men with a passion for motorcycles and partying before turning into a violent criminal enterprise, officials said.

Federal law enforcement officials attempted to dismantle that enterprise Tuesday when they arrested suspected Mongols members and their associates in a sweep targeting the outlaw motorcycle gang.

But the Mongols were not always an outlaw gang, according to former member Anthony Vodnik, 60.

Vodnik, also known as "Snake," is an original Mongol. He served with the motorcycle club for nearly 37 years. Disagreeing about the direction the club had taken, Vodnik retired in January.

"It's a good club," Vodnik said. "But some of us older members want to bring it back to how it used to be; we are tired over this war over drugs and who controls drugs."

Officials say the gang was formed by a group of Latino men who were banned from joining the Hells Angels because of their heritage.