Tyshaun Riley, Philip Atkins and Jason Wisdom -- members of the notorious Galloway Boys, an east-end gang named for their 'hood at Galloway Road and Kingston Road -- could be heard kicking the sides of the armour-plated court services truck bringing them to court on Wednesday morning.
They were also found guilty of attempted murder and participating in a criminal organization in connection with the shooting of two people in March 2004 in Toronto's Malvern neighbourhood. The three did not react well to this news.
They started banging loudly on the door of the prisoner's box and yelling at the judge when the jury pronounced them guilty while family members began screaming and crying."I didn't kill anybody," Riley -- the purported leader -- shouted over and over again. The other two accused the judge of bias.
The judge ordered the men out of the courtroom when the hysteria broke out.
"It was a scene of pandemonium inside the courtroom," said CTV Toronto's Chris Eby who was in court when the verdict was read out.Outside the courtroom, Wisdom's mother collapsed to the sidewalk in hysterics, screaming, "Oh my God." She had testified for the defence, providing an alibi for her son.
For Valda Williams, "Justice was served," she told reporters through tears.
She is the mother of murder victim Brenton Charlton.The case stems from a daylight shooting at the intersection of Finch Avenue and Neilsen Road. Two men were sitting in their car at the intersection waiting for the light to turn green when they were shot. The car had been stopped in front of a busy bus shelter at the time.
Charlton, 31, died of his wounds. Leonard Bell, who was 43 at the time, survived but suffered critical injuries. Bell testified during the trial but told the jury he could not identify who shot him. Williams said she feels an "enormous relief" because of the verdict. She also said she forgives the three men for killing her son.
"For the most part, the people that were shot and wounded or shot and killed by these people were completely innocent victims," Det. Dean Burke, the lead investigator, told reporters.The three accused were in Scarborough on a mission to track down a member of rival gang, the Malvern Crew, hoping to exact retribution for the 2002 murder of a G-Way leader, the Crown argued. "In my view, these were leading members of the G-Way gang," said Crown prosecutor Suhail Ahktar.The murder trial is said to be one of the most expensive street gang prosecutions in Canadian history. It is the result of a Toronto police operation titled "Project Pathfinder." The investigation lasted years and two new courtrooms had to be built to meet the security requirements of the case. Police in paramilitary gear escorted the defendants."It was a unique case in many ways, not least of all because the Crown relied on a former gang member (Roland Ellis) to lay bare many the secrets of the gang that was operating in Galloway," Ahktar said.A first-degree murder conviction carries an automatic life sentence with no possibility of parole for 25 years. They will be sentenced on the other charges later this month.Williams said she had some sympathy for the mothers of the newly convicted men. "No mother want to see their child die and no mother wants to see her children in jail," she said.
Alton Reid, 35, had been attending a birthday party at the Atlanta banquet hall on 1240 Ellesmere Rd. in Scarborough on the weekend when someone walked in and started shooting sometime after 3 a.m. on Sunday.Four people were found wounded at the scene, and Reid showed up later at hospital. He died of his injuries on Monday.
Reid's autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday.
Sara Villella, 27, was convicted of 13 charges, including smuggling firearms across the Windsor border for the "Malvern Crew." Crown prosecutors asked for a 10-year prison term, calling her a "merchant of death" who had a split personality.The judge, however, felt that was too high. He scolded Villella for the poor choices that have ruined her life and shamed her hard-working parents, who live in Hamilton.
Villella's lawyer Randall Barrs blamed her fall from grace on her boyfriend, who received a sentence about twice as long for his criminal lifestyle, which included smuggling 23 guns across the border. Villella was arrested in May 2004 during sweeping raids by Toronto police. More than 500 charges were laid against 65 people involved with the street gang. Twenty-eight firearms were seized, along with drugs such as ecstasy, marijuana and cocaine. Members of Scarborough's Malvern Crew are responsible for several shootings throughout the GTA. The gang's No. 2 man, 30-year-old David Francis, received a seven-year prison term in August after pleading guilty to gun running and participating in the shooting of a rival gang member.
Deputy District Attorney Victoria Weiss spent more than 2 hours during closing arguments telling jurors why Miguel Najera should be found guilty. Weiss says Najera, a confessed gang member, was a month and a half out of jail and had something to prove to his gang, the Barrios Cathedral City gang.
"He was back on gang turf. He was back hanging out with BCC homies. And he was back in the gang lifestyle," says Weiss.Police arrested Najera in 2006 for killing Adrian Cedeno. He's also accused of stealing Cedeno's wallet and watch. Prosecutors say he wanted to kill another man, but instead he shot Cedeno. His defense attorney told the jury his client wasn't in the gang in 2006 and was just looking for drugs.
"He didn't go there for the glory of the gang. He went there to satisfy his craving, his drug addiction," says Defense Attorney Jeff Zimel.Najera told police he accidentally shot cedeno during an argument. The defense says the victim was on drugs at the time of shooting and started the argument."We're not saying he didn't pull the trigger. He did. But it wasn't to kill the man. It was his reaction to the mans movement."The prosecution is pushing for the death penalty because of Najera's gang affiliations and the killing allegedly happened during a robbery. If found guilty, a judge will ultimately determine his fate.
Toronto's 54th homicide victim has been identified as someone who had belonged to the notorious Malvern Crew street gang.Alton Reid, 35, had been attending a birthday party at the Atlanta banquet hall on 1240 Ellesmere Rd. in Scarborough on the weekend when someone walked in and started shooting sometime after 3 a.m. on Sunday.
Four people were found wounded at the scene, and Reid showed up later at hospital. He died of his injuries on Monday.Reid's autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday.
He had been arrested in 2004 as part of Project Impact, a police crackdown on the gang following a vicious war between the Malvern Crew and the Galloway Boys.
Police charged Reid with a number of offences:
•aggravated assault
•discharging a firearm
•participating in a criminal organization
•related conspiracy charges
Project Pathfinder targeted the Galloway Boys.
Three Galloway Boys were found guilty in the March 3, 2004 murder of one men in Malvern. The court heard the trio were allegedly looking for Reid.
Instead, they shot and killed Brenton Charlton and gravely wounded Leonard Bell as the two men sat stopped in their car at a light.Tyshan Riley, Philip Atkins and Jason Wisdom got life sentences for the attempted murder of Bell and a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years after being convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Charlton.
From federal prosecutor to accused violent gangster, pimp, and drug-dealer...That's the unusual career trajectory taken, say the Feds, by Paul Bergrin, who was indicted earlier this month in a 39-count racketeering indictment. In a drama that could have been made for HBO, Bergrin -- a white-collar defense lawyer who once represented, pro bono, a solider accused of abusing Abu Ghraib detainees -- seems to have allowed his gangster clients to drag him into a world of violent crime. And he may have gone a lot further than Maury Levy ever did for Stringer Bell.
Read More...Shane Kelter of Vancouver, 32, was shot several times outside an upscale Bay Street condo tower after he exited a white limousine just after 3 a.m. Sunday. An autopsy Monday concluded he died from gunshot wounds to the chest. Homicide investigators believe the slaying is drug-related. "The evidence to me suggests this person was targeted," Det. Graham Gibson, a homicide squad officer, told CTV News.
A discarded revolver was found near Queen's Park shortly after the shooting. Video surveillance is being gathered as Toronto Police look for suspects. Kelter, who was said to be visiting a friend in Toronto, has a lengthy criminal history in British Columbia and the United States. A man by the same name and born in the same year was facing conspiracy charges in the U.S. for alleged involvement in an ecstasy and methamphetamine drug smuggling ring between B.C., Ontario and California. Kelter was one of six Canadians charged in September 2008 as part of a massive two-year international drug investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration called "Operation Candystore." The United States Attorney's Office said the drug ring organization allegedly imported ecstasy and marijuana from Canada and sent cocaine to Canada from the United States. Investigators said Kelter worked for Jason Ming Wei, a Canadian national living in Temple City, California, "in relation to drug smuggling between the United States and Canada." Various media reports suggest Kelter was involved in the Independent Soldiers gang, an organization associated with drug distribution and money laundering operations.
Defendants from the Maryland branch of the “Latin Kings” gang, a group with thousands of members largely based in Chicago and New York, face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted, the US Justice Department said in a statement.
“Today’s indictment alleges that the Latin Kings gang is an organized criminal enterprise with leaders and members who commit violent crimes,” said US Attorney Rod Rosenstein.The indictment charges that “from a date unknown to the present, the Latin Kings members conspired to commit attempted murders, robberies, witness tampering and arson to further their racketeering scheme,” the Justice Department said.The group is alleged to have been started in Maryland from the spring of 2007 by Miguel Cruz and Erick Roman, who named their “tribe” of the main gang the “Royal Lion Tribe of Maryland.”Thousands of members affiliated with the gang — officially named “Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation” — are said to be spread throughout the United States and Latin America.“Gangs, like the one charged in this indictment, may be relentless in protecting their turf, but we will be relentless in taking it back,” vowed assistant attorney general Lanny Breuer.Among the charges, officials accuse Latin Kings members of gathering materials for a firebombing; stabbing a suspected rival gang member in Maryland; shooting at other gang members in New York; committing a number of burglaries; and conspiring to murder a security guard, and a female gang member for “snitching.”“We dismantled a large part of the Latin Kings organization whose members allegedly used violence to secure the sanctity of their private society. We have made a serious impact on violent crime and gang violence,” said Kenneth Melson, deputy director of the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
Las Vegas Police Officer Trevor Nettleton, 30, was mortally wounded by several assailants, while standing in his garage. His wife, two children, and his mom were in the house, only a few feet away. Officer Nettleton died in his mother’s arms that night.Las Vegas police Officer Chrissie Coon told reporters: "He was standing in the garage with the garage door open when he was attacked by multiple suspects. It looks like it was an attempted robbery. There was an exchange of gunfire."Officer Nettleton was in the garage that night, after working his shift, building a toy for his 2-year-old son. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps for ten years, before joining the police department three years ago.In addition to his son, Officer Nettleton leaves behind a wife, and an infant daughter.His brother, Ryan Nettleton, is also in the military and was in Iraq when he heard that his brother had been murdered.Ryan told KING 5 News: "He wanted to be a cop so bad when we were kids, and I wanted to be one, too. So we decided the best way to pursue that goal was to become military service members."Ryan continued: "I'm going to say goodbye to my brother, I'm more worried about my mother. It's bad enough when a parent outlives a child, but to have your child die in your arms from a murder. I can't imagine."
The accused killers Saul Williams, Jr., 20, Prentice Marshall, 18, Quadrae Scott, 18, Emmitt Ferguson, 18, and a 17-year-old juvenile are all gang members, all face various charges including murder, attempted robbery, as well as conspiracy.
Marshall as well as the unnamed juvenile face charges in another robbery which occurred less than an hour before they allegedly killed Officer Nettleton.
This murder illustrates just how dangerous life has become in Las Vegas, due to gang violence. According to the Southern Nevada Community Gang Task Force, there are at least 11,000 gang members in and around Las Vegas, including 5,000 minors. Law enforcement has identified 500 different gangs in the area.Officer Nettleton will be laid to rest on Wednesday, after a funeral Mass at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Roman Catholic Church. If you wish to make a donation to Officer Nettleton’s family, you may do so at any Wells Fargo Bank, by making a deposit to the Ryan Nettleton Relief Fund.
Three 20-year-old men were convicted last Wednesday and sentenced to a combined total of 44 years after a seven-week crime spree through Melbourne’s West, including the brutal bashing of former Australian Medical Association head Dr Haikerwal.
Ringleader, Alfer Azzopardi, 20, of Coolaroo, received a cumulative sentence of 18 years and six months for a total of 46 offences.Michael Baltatzis, of Glenroy, 20, received a cumulative sentence of 16 years and six months.Sean Gabriel, 20, of Hoppers Crossing, was sentenced to a cumulative maximum of nine years and nine months.Azzopardi will be eligible for parole in 2022, Baltatzis in 2019 and Gabriel in 2014.Dr Haikerwal said that he didn’t take great comfort that people would be locked up.“None of us will be happy about people being behind bars, but we’re comfortable that justice has been done, and that there is a strong message that violence won’t be tolerated,” he said.On AFL Grand Final night last year, Dr Haikerwal was brutally beaten with a baseball bat in Williamstown.
The affects of the attack meant Dr Haikerwal needed neurosurgery to remove blood clots on his brain, and suffered severe physical and emotional trauma.
“I was one of seven victims, and there were 34 individuals who had significant trauma in this spate of attacks,” he said.
“I’m very trepidatious when I do go out, but I haven’t let it change my lifestyle,” he said.
“I always have a phone with me, I try and avoid unlit areas and if possible have a person with me.”
Dr Haikerwal said he had to have significant time off work, time to rehabilitate and was still recovering his strength.
“I have to be very careful of what I do and how I do it. I try and live my life to the full, but it’s hard because I get very, very tired due to my injuries,” he said.
There were 34 victims from the attacks which occurred between August and September 2008. Some 24 were males and 10 females. Two bear permanent reminders of the attacks in the form of scars on their faces.
Judge Gullaci identified a commonality between the victims, with the majority being vulnerable, alone and generally in a dark public place. The judge said the offending was “pre-meditated, planned and executed” and that each offender “had their role”, with many attacks involving a knife, baseball bat or metal pole.
The judge had also said the offenders had cruised around Melbourne searching for victims. Judge Gullaci said that, in the brutal beating of Dr Haikerwal, Azzopardi had taken the baseball bat from another co-accused saying, “you’re not doing it right, give it to me”, with which he took a giant swing at Dr Haikerwal’s head.
The judge concluded that the three were not beyond redemption as young, remorseful and with “limited intelligence” and were identified as being “part of a gang”.
Judge Gullaci said the sentences served not only as punishment but as a statement that society would not tolerate these offences. “The courts have a duty, that if you offend in this cowardly and despicable manner, then a lengthy period of imprisonment awaits,” he said.
Dr Haikerwal thanked the police and community for their support.
“I can’t thank enough all the people around me in our local community, in Victoria and across Australia and indeed the world. They have been real pillar of strength for my family and myself in a situation that no-one should find themselves in – half an hour away from death.”
Shane Kelter, 32, was just getting out of a white limousine when he was sprayed by gunfire near Wellesley and Bay just after 3 a.m. Sunday."The post-mortem examination determined the cause of death as gunshot wounds to the torso," Const. Tony Vella said in a news release.Kelter was well-known in B.C. and charged last year in a massive undercover investigation along with 17 others for allegedly moving marijuana, ecstasy and cocaine between B.C., Ontario and California.
Kelter and Vancouver residents Walther Edgardo (Sharky) Orellana Aguilar and John (Keith) Wark were facing extradition. They were allegedly working with another B.C. man, Jason I. Ming Wei, who was arrested in Los Angeles in September 2008.Two other Toronto men, Jagmohan Singh Dhillon, 35, and 32-year-old Paramijt (Pumma) Singh, allegedly helped facilitate the transportation of Wei's drugs between Canada and the U.S., according to the U.S. indictment. Kelter had a lengthy criminal record in B.C. and was facing two sets of charges here at the time of his death in Ontario.He was convicted two months ago of resisting a police officer in Vancouver and fined $100. Last March, he was convicted of assaulting someone at Whistler and got a $1,000 fine and 45 days probation. He was charged in North Vancouver in August with refusing to provide a breath sample to police and was due back in court on that charge later this week. Also last March, he was charged in West Vancouver with driving while prohibited - a count he was due to go to trial on next year.In 2002, he was convicted in Richmond of having a growing operation, for which he got a conditional sentence of nine months and an order to pay $3,251.58 restitution. He faced drug-trafficking charges in North Vancouver in 1998, but only two co-accused were convicted.The California drug conspiracy trial was set to resume on June 15, 2010 for the defendants in custody.Many of the court documents filed more recently in the case have been ordered sealed.But U.S. authorities said at the time of the charges that during the investigation, they seized cash and drugs, including a 60-kilogram shipment of cocaine and a 35-kilogram shipment of cocaine. The indictment said Kelter would direct the activities of Wei - the Canadian in California - "related to the trafficking of narcotics to or from Canada and the laundering of money."
Wei was the middleman, the documents say, overseeing the meth entering from Canada and "the trafficking of kilogram quantities of cocaine to Canada from the United States." Wei was recorded talking to one of the Toronto men, Singh, on June 15, 2007 about sending Dhillon "to pick up cocaine from defendant Wei in Los Angeles county to transport to Canada." Wei allegedly spoke on the phone to Dhillon later that week, and Dhillon "explained that he was driving a tractor-trailer so that defendant Wei could load the cocaine."
white supremacist gang member in Orange County was sentenced to death Monday for his involvement in the murder of a fellow gang member who had divulged gang secrets on television, authorities said.Billy Joe Johnson, 46, was convicted last month of assisting two other men in the March 2002 murder of Scott Miller, a founding member of the gang, the Orange County district attorney's office said. Miller was featured in a Fox News broadcast a year earlier that focused on a criminal case against known leaders of the gang.Michael Allen Lamb, 35, and Jacob Anthony Rump, 34, were also convicted for their role in the murder. Last year Lamb was sentenced to death, and in 2007 Rump received life without the possibility of parole.Johnson was charged with this murder Aug. 23, 2007, after the conviction of two previously charged co-defendants. Co-defendants Michael Allen Lamb, 35, and Jacob Anthony Rump, 34, (Case #03CF0441) were convicted by a jury on July 10, 2007, of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, committing murder for the benefit of a criminal street gang, two counts of possession of a firearm by a violent felon, two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon, carrying a firearm as an active gang member, two counts of street terrorism, and the attempted murder of a peace officer. The jury also found true the special circumstance of murder committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang and sentencing enhancements for criminal street gang activity, the personal discharge of a firearm causing death, and vicarious discharge of a firearm causing death as a gang member. On Oct. 5, 2007, Rump was sentenced to the maximum sentence, as sought by the People, of life without the possibility of parole. On June 11, 2008, a jury recommended that Lamb receive the death penalty. Lamb was sentenced Aug. 22, 2008, to death.
The Murder of Scott Miller
In February 2001, Fox 11 News profiled a violent white supremacist criminal street gang, focusing on a pending criminal case against known leaders of the gang who were on trial for conspiracy to commit murder. Scott Miller, a founding member of the gang, was featured in the broadcast, offending fellow gang members who felt he was airing "dirty laundry." While Miller's voice and face were disguised, his tattoos were visible and made it possible for fellow gang members to identify him.
On March 8, 2002, Miller was at a party in Costa Mesa with other members of his white supremacist gang. Johnson lured Miller from the party under the guise of purchasing drugs in Anaheim with the understanding that they would return to the party later. Johnson drove an unsuspecting Miller to an Anaheim apartment complex with the expectation that Lamb and Rump would be waiting there to murder the victim. Lamb and Rump were waiting in an alley and executed Miller by shooting him in the back of the head at close range with a 9mm firearm.On March 11, 2002, Lamb and Rump became involved in a police car chase in Anaheim. They tried to flee from police, jumped from the moving vehicle, and ran off into an apartment complex. As the officers attempted to close in on them, the defendants fired a shot at police officers. Lamb and Rump surrendered after the gun they were firing jammed. The gun used to shoot at the officers was the same 9mm that was used to murder Miller three days earlier. During the murder trial against Lamb and Rump, Johnson lied on the stand by testifying that he had been the shooter in the murder of Miller. He lied in order to make himself a "martyr" for his gang by attempting to keep Lamb and Rump out of prison. In order to testify, Johnson was brought to Orange County from state prison, where he is serving time for an unrelated 2004 gang murder, where he repeatedly hit a man in the head with a hammer.During the penalty phase of the jury trial against Johnson, the defendant admitted to committing two additional murders to which he had not been previously connected. Without giving the names of the victims, Johnson admitted that he had killed one additional man while out of custody and one inmate while in custody. The defendant claimed that he directed violence toward gang members, rapists, "rats", and drug dealers. Johnson testified that his victims brought their murders upon themselves and when asked if he had anything to say to Miller's mother, Johnson replied, "Sorry for your luck." Senior Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh of the Homicide Unit prosecuted this case.
The 17-year-old male was shot at 7:30 p.m. during a gathering with other young people at a home in the 3900 block of Thomason Avenue near Dyer Street, police said.
The shotgun was fired when an argument began when another group arrived at the gathering, police spokesman Officer Chris Mears said.The wounded teen was taken to Beaumont Army Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.Ambulance transmissions indicated the man had buckshot wounds to the torso and neck.Red and yellow crime scene tape sealed off the area late Monday night."We do have reason to believe it is gang related," Mears said.Police would not confirm comments by residents that the teen was a student at nearby Chapin High School.There had been no arrests. Late Monday night, investigators were talking to neighbors, with the police mobile command center parked on the street.
Return of graffiti markings from the Barrio Williams Street gang whose presence has been almost nonexistent since the mid- '90s."When we do have something that's gang related it's generally going to be something in the library, or something off campus," Laws said. "For a couple of years we were having some gang activity in the teen center on the third floor of the King Library."It took a lot of directed patrol on the part of the library security staff and the officers working in the King Library to minimize and diffuse that problem."Anh Thu Tran, a junior hospitality and management major, said she has not seen any gang activity on campus.
"Around my old neighborhood, yes, my brother has been jumped twice at Independence High, but around campus I haven't heard much about any gang violence," she said. "I'm not here on campus often. I'm here for classes, then I leave."
Tran said she has noticed graffiti tagging on the fence of her sorority house, but doesn't know the markings of any gangs. "There's obviously parties around campus and toward the evenings, or there's people that are walking the streets at night, but we don't know if they're students or not," she said. "They tend to get violent if they are not given access to some of the parties that happen to be around campus. And we've been noticing that lately."Tran said when violence breaks out at a party, they usually call the police. San Jose Community Services Supervisor Mario Maciel, said San Jose is one of the safest cities in the Bay Area.
"I haven't seen any major trends forming," he said.He said most incidents occur at parties thrown by SJSU students, but those are isolated incidents.
"A college student probably is not a gang banger," Maciel said.Laws said gangs have not been a problem on campus. "Through directed enforcement by the university police and by the city police department, we were able to essentially make the Barrio Williams Street gang something that was no longer of concern to the university," he said.Laws said UPD officers have reported seeing graffiti tagging that is associated with that gang, but no other activity has been associated with the Barrio Williams Street gang.Lt. John Spicer, from the San Jose Police Department, said the area adjacent to the campus has the lowest reported amount of gang violence out of the four geographical areas in San Jose. He said those areas include Central Division (where SJSU is located), Foothill Division (East San Jose), Western Division, and the Southern Division.Spicer said 10 incidents were reported in the Central Division in the last month
Bronx gang members whose beef led to the accidental shooting of passing schoolgirl Vada Vasquez complained Monday they are being hassled in jail.Lawyers for four of the five men asked for protective custody at an appearance in Bronx Supreme Court, saying their clients fear for their safety behind bars. "He's faced a fair amount of abuse in custody. He's been having a tough time inside," said Matthew Kluger, lawyer for Cleve Smith, 20. "They be bothering him - even the correction officers," said Scylestina Smith, the suspect's mother. "They threw him in the cold shower. It's f----- up."
The fifth defendant, 16-year-old Carvett Gentles, charged with pulling the trigger that put an exploding bullet into the 15-year-old Bronx Latin student's brain, is already in protective custody as part of standard procedure. The men might be getting the cold shoulder in prison, but they got a boisterous and warm welcome at their court appearance. While all five were stone-faced at their arraignments last week, they smiled and nodded yesterday at the more than 30 friends and relatives that packed the courtroom.
"I love you all," Clivie Smith, 19, yelled out as he was led back to jail.
"We love you, too," replied his cheering section.
Gentles had more than a dozen teenage friends in the courtroom who apparently cut school to be there. They swore at reporters who tried to ask them questions. Scylestina Smith, mother of Cleve and Clivie, was kicked out of the courtroom after yelling curses at a woman who apparently stepped on someone's foot.
The defendants will appear again on Dec. 2. Even as she struggles to recover from terrible brain injuries at Lincoln Hospital, Vada has become a potent symbol of the innocent toll of guns on New York streets. Mayor Bloomberg invoked her name yesterday when he announced the bust up of a massive Florida-to-New York firearms trafficking ring.
The latest incidents, which occurred early Monday morning, bring to eight the number of café-bars targeted since Oct. 28. Like the other incidents, there was little damage to the premises, but a lot of rattled nerves.
The Café Nouba on St. Laurent Blvd. in the heart of Little Italy, and the Café Vegas on Rue Jean Talon east, were both hit with Molotov cocktails, one at 6:18 a.m., the other at 7 a.m. As with the other firebombing attempts, the windows were broken and the flaming device thrown inside, only to quickly go out.
The owner of Café Vegas, who would not identify himself, told La Presse that his café does not have a problematic history. "I got no warning, and before this morning, nothing ever happened here. I have no idea who did this. It's a simple café where people come to play ... and drink."
It's the second time the Café Nouba has been targeted, the first time being Nov. 15.
Police have arrested no suspects and say they're trying to determine if the fire bombings are related. Police have also entertained the possibility that it could be a street gang trying to fill a vacuum left by biker gangs and the Mob, who have been severely weakened by successive police operations in recent years.
The incidents have the eerie hallmarks of the destructive biker wars in the 1990s when reprisal attacks, including arson, were common
One person was killed and two wounded about 11:30 p.m. Thursday in a shooting outside a liquor store in the 3600 block of Santa Fe Avenue in Long Beach, according to city police spokeswoman Jackie Bezart. The murder is believed to be gang-related, and the victim’s identity is being withheld pending notification of his family.
[Updated at 11:28 p.m.: The victim was identified as 19-year-old Frank Castro Jr. of Long Beach. A man approached him and the two other victims on foot and shot all three of them. Castro was hit multiple times in the upper body and torso and pronounced dead at the scene. The two other victims, ages 18 and 40, were treated at a local hospital and released.]At about the same time, a driver in the 6400 block of Rosemead Boulevard in Pico Rivera saw a body in the street and called police, who found a Latino with gunshot wounds in the upper torso, said Dep. Aura Sierra of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The victim, whose identity is being withheld until his family is notified, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Set Free Soldiers where arrested for attempted murder after they allegedly got into a bar fight with the Hells Angels. Seven members of the biker gang remained in custody on $1 million bail after their arrest for allegedly stabbing two Hells angels. In what is mostly thought of as an upper middle class naborhood in Newport Beach California late last month. Three members of the Hells Angels were also arrested.
Read More...Jean Joseph Violette, 58, was sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court to four years in prison for being the ringleader in the beating of Glen Louie, who Violette believed had been using the Hells Angels name while dealing drugs on Squamish Nation reserve.Violette got an additional two years for weapons offences. In handing down the sentence, Justice Selwyn Romilly described the assault as "a particularly callous, vicious, brutal and unprovoked attack" on Louie, who had no opportunity to defend himself.Romilly said Violette used his power and status as a full patch member of the Hells Angels to inflict the beating and intimidation. He also noted that in wiretapped conversations after the beating, Violette showed a total lack of remorse."This type of hooliganism must be deterred," said the judge.
At the time of the beating, Louie was loosely associated with low-ranking members of the East End Chapter of the Hells Angels. A police informant who had infiltrated the chapter told the jury at Violette's trial Louie had visited the clubhouse and been seen with Hells Angels members. But Louie wasn't a member of the club.Violette later told the police informant Louie had been going to the native reserve in North Vancouver to deal drugs and had been using the Hells Angels name. Violette arranged a meeting in North Vancouver with someone from the reserve who said Louie had threatened him, using the Hells Angels name.Violette later told the police informant he wanted to send Louie a message.On Jan. 20, 2005, Violette and two lower-ranking members of the club -- including the police informant -- lured Louie to a road on Burnaby Mountain. When Louie got out of his vehicle, Violette began slapping, punching and kicking him.Sounds of the beating were captured by a secret listening device worn by the police informant. Violette cut the beating short after a passing driver saw them. At the end of the assault, Violette ordered Louie to hand in all of his Hells Angels paraphernalia before driving off, leaving Louie on the ground.
During the drive back, Violette told the two lower-ranking Hells Angels that Louie was lucky to still be walking.In a later wiretap between Louie and the lower-ranking club member who was present during the assault, Louie said the 12 days after the beating were among the toughest in his life, adding he was "pissin blood . . .'cause I got kicked."In sentencing Violette, Romilly said an aggravating factor was his "businesslike impersonal attitude toward this heinous crime."Violette was also sentenced to two years consecutive jail time for possessing a loaded Beretta semi-automatic pistol and a Ruger revolver -- seized along with a bulletproof vest from his home.The lower-ranking Hells Angels member involved in the beating -- Sal Jonathan Bryce Jr., who had previously been roommates with Louie -- was previously sentenced to three years in jail for his part in the extortion.
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Estimates put the number of gang members in the Westside United Crips at 20 to 30 individuals, mostly juveniles. The gang is one of about 40 gangs that call Pueblo home. One of its suspected leaders, Louie Romero, also known as "Gooey," was arrested along with four other members of the gang near the end of October by a special task force. The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Gun Task Force is made up of two ATF agents and two Pueblo Police Department detectives. They work in conjunction with Pueblo Police Departments Gang and Narcotics units to infiltrate gangs, make arrests, and take guns and drugs off the streets. They've been doing this in Pueblo for 13 months, and they've been successful.With at least five arrests resulting in Federal charges, and each of them resulting in convictions, as well as several other arrests on state charges, the task force has been quietly busy. Now, as word has spread through Pueblo's gang world of their existence and very real presence, the task force is opening up about what they are doing in town.The Westside United Crips bust is just an example of the kind of work they're doing. Since April, undercover officers have purchased an SKS rifle, an AK-47 rifle and a stolen handgun. Crack cocaine was sold to the officers on several occasions, including one where an underage boy was allegedly told to sell the drugs to the officer by the gang leader.This disturbing trend is more often the rule, not the exception in Pueblo gangs. Authorities explain, older gang members use the juveniles to carry their drugs and weapons because if caught the child faces a more lenient punishment than adults would. It's a trend Pueblo Police Chief Jim Billings hopes to turn around. But to do so means the community must step up and work with the authorities. "Many times law enforcement and even school teachers are not getting involved in the problems until the mold has kinda been set; and that comes from kids who grow up in homes where maybe it's not the healthy lifestyle that we would all hope for, for our children," says Chief Billings.To give community members options on how to combat gangs in their own way, Chief Billings and Pueblo County Sheriff Kirk Taylor hosted a community meeting Tuesday night where after-school programs like the Boys and Girls Club were discussed. As for the ATF Gun Task Force; they spent the evening doing what they have done for 13 months. They, and dozens of other officers, worked the streets looking for opportunities to make Pueblo a safer town.
Read More...Ian Grant was eligible for accelerated day parole because he has served one-sixth of his first federal sentence for what are considered non-violent crimes. But the National Parole Board quickly rejected his bid earlier this month, according to documents obtained by the Winnipeg Free Press.“The board is satisfied there are reasonable grounds to believe that, if released, you are likely to commit an offence involving violence before the expiration of your sentence,” the board wrote.
Police arrested Grant and 12 other biker associates in February 2006 based on the work of career criminal Franco Atanasovic, who was paid $525,000 to infiltrate the Hells.Grant wasn’t even an original target when police began their investigation in early 2005, but he quickly came on the radar when he began extorting an old drug debt from Atanasovic. Police ended up giving their agent thousands of dollars to pay to Grant to buy him more time. Grant eventually sold two kilograms of cocaine and one kilo of crystal meth to Atanasovic, although he was never actually caught in the act. He used lower-level couriers to do his bidding, but jurors clearly accepted the agent’s word they were acting on Grant’s directions. More than $6,000 in marked police money used in the drug buys was found inside Grant’s safety deposit box, along with nearly $60,000 in other cash from drug proceeds.Grant insisted his crimes were not connected to his involvement with the Hells Angels. Grant was ordered at his sentencing hearing to pay a $118,000 fine, which is the amount he pocketed from three major drug deals he was caught doing. However, he recently chose to have an extra two years added to his overall sentence.The 17-year total penalty is one of the stiffest ever given for drug crimes in this province.
William Hynes and John Mangan were key figures in the organised crime group run by Martin 'Marlo' Hyland, who was shot dead in Finglas.
Two senior members of one of the country's biggest criminal gangs have been sentenced to 12 and 14 years in prison after they were caught overseeing the delivery of over €2m worth of drugs.Mangan was on bail when he was caught, so today's 14 year sentence is consecutive to another 14 years he was given last year for drug trafficking.Hynes also has a previous conviction for drug trafficking and was only out of jail one year when he was caught for this offence.The two are among 28 people targeted by the garda operation 'Oak' who have been brought before the courts.At the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court today Judge Pat McCartan congratulated the gardaí on the success of what he called 'a very carefully orchestrated undercover operation'.
Jason Brown, 35, and his girlfriend Terra George, 24, are facing numerous drug and weapons-related charges following a co-ordinated police raid on Brown's Aldergrove residence Nov. 12, but so far the two have not surrendered to police.The multi-jurisdictional bust took place in the 26900 block of 26A Avenue and nabbed a 9mm handgun, a loaded magazine, boxes of ammunition, $80,000 worth of cocaine, $12,000 in cash, body armour and an RS-logoed jacket along with one kilogram of methamphetamine valued at $25,000.George and Brown are charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking methamphetamine, possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine, possession of a restricted weapon and the additional charge against Brown of possession of a firearm while prohibited.Brown has a 10-year-ban from owning a firearm following his arrest in a 2007 police biker investigation dubbed "E-Pandora," and was pegged as an associate of the Angels.He was convicted for conspiracy to commit an indictable offence at the time and given a four-year sentence.The Abbotsford Police Department, Langley RCMP, the Integrated Gang Task Force and the Lower Mainland Emergency Response Unit were all involved in the raid as Brown is "very well known" to police in several jurisdictions and has a long history of interaction with authorities for drugs, weapons and violence, according to APD Const. Ian MacDonald."This individual was probably on multiple radar screens," MacDonaldd said, adding that police intelligence indicated a seizure of this scope was indicative of a mid- to high-level gang operative.MacDonald said that Brown's arrest shows that the Scorpions are still active in the Fraser Valley and do not seem to be suffering any ill effects from the incarceration of high-profile members involved in the Surrey Six slayings
gang member who escaped from a Sunnyside jail in 2006 has been captured in Manzanillo, Mexico.The U.S. Marshals Service said Saturday that Aaron Lopez Garcia, 31, was arrested Friday at an ice cream factory by Colima State Police, assisted by U.S. Marshals.Garcia and three other inmates escaped from the Sunnyside city jail in November of 2006. Garcia's accomplices were captured soon afterwards. He was in jail for illegally possessing a firearm.Garcia is a member of the Nortenos gang with a long history of convictions, the Marshals Service said.He has been flown back to the U.S. to face charges.
Read More...Several people were arrested Friday after an alleged kidnapping and dispute about gang affiliations took place last month at Red Hawk Casino.The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office said on Oct. 14, several Hispanic men and women confronted two white men and one woman at the casino and asked them if they were “Placerville Peckerwoods.”The group told the others that they weren’t part of a gang, the office said. Investigators said they didn’t find any gang ties to that group.Officials said one of the Hispanic men insulted the woman from the other group, and she got angry and attacked him. When one of the white men tried to break up the fight, deputies said he was punched and hit with a beer bottle.As casino security guards broke up the fight, some members of the Hispanic group went to an elevator and grabbed a woman who wasn’t involved in the fight, officials said.According to the sheriff’s office, the group “told the victim that she was going to get them out of the casino (using her vehicle) and they would let her go once they were at the freeway.”
Once inside the parking garage, the woman got away and contacted casino security.
She escaped without injury.Detectives from the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office said they identified six Hispanic men on security cameras who were involved in the kidnapping as known gang members.Arrest and search warrants were obtained, and several law enforcement agencies arrested five people who were allegedly involved in the incident.On Friday, officials arrested Jesse Madrigal, Steven Santiago, Ricky Mora, Stephen Lizotte of Riverbank, and Ernie Lizotte of Riverbank.Officials said several guns, gang indicia, ecstasy, marijuana and a large amount of money were seized in the investigation.Lt. Bryan Golmitz said gang activity at the casino is rare.
Salisbury police investigators believe Height associates with West Main Chain Gang members and its affiliates and that the bus and cafeteria fights were part of an "ongoing gang war" between two rival gangs in the city: Bloods and Crips. Police allege the planned shooting by Heist was 48 assaults in Wicomico County public schools this school year, according to the Wicomico County Sheriff's Office. Last year there were 259 assaults and one firearm incident.About seven hours before the bus left Thursday, several students were involved in a fight in the school cafeteria. By the afternoon, a sheriff's deputy learned the fight wasn't going to stop with the cafeteria brawl and informed city police that bus No. 70 was going to be "shot up" in the Delaware Avenue and West Main Street area by the same males who seized the bus and assaulted a student, according to court documents.By 3:30 p.m., two city officers were on a stakeout close to a convenience store located near the area where the shooting was supposed to occur when they saw the two males. One fled when the officers approached him. The .22-caliber handgun in his waistband could be seen while he was running, according to officers.After tackling and struggling with the suspect, the officers were able to take him into custody. Police charged Damien Maurice Height, 18, of the 800 block of Booth Street with assault, disorderly conduct and two handgun violations."This is another handgun that we were able to get off the streets that's not out there now," said Cpt. Mark Tyler, head of the Salisbury Police Department Criminal Investigation Division.
Read More...Hells Angels, converged on the scene as paramedics tended to the injured 45-year-old man and his 46-year-old female pillion passenger. The pair, both from Craigieburn, were travelling north along La Trobe Tce at the intersection of Roebuck St in Geelong just after 4pm, when witnesses say the man was catapulted above the height of the purple Honda, which was heading east through the intersection. It is believed the pair had been travelling as part of a motorcycle club convoy around the bay when the crash occurred. Both were rushed to Geelong Hospital, where the man was last night in a serious but stable condition, while the woman was considered stable. The elderly female driver of the other vehicle appeared to walk away unscathed. About two dozen motorcycle gang members, including members from the Iron Horsemen, Vigilantes and Hells Angels, were beside the road consoling one another at the scene after the incident. Several held vigil outside Geelong Hospital last night. A police spokesperson could not confirm if the pair were members of a motorcycle gang. Witnesses told the Geelong Advertiser part of a larger convoy of riders had successfully made it through the intersection before the crash.
"I noticed a few bikies went through before the change (of lights)," one witness, who was stopped at the intersection travelling southbound, said.
"One body flew up in the air a bit above the height of the car and another one went on the ground. The first guy didn't look like he was moving and the second one looked like they just clipped it."
The Honda had a broken window and damage to the driver's side, while the motorbike, with a mangled front wheel, was towed away by a private vehicle after being lifted into a trailer by several club members. The accident blocked northbound traffic along La Trobe Tce, which was diverted along Myers St for more than 15 minutes, while ambulance officers stabilised the two riders and firefighters dusted the road with dirt to soak up oil spilled from the accident.
