State authorities have banned the Hell's Angels motorbike gangs in Frankfurt, on the grounds that they were engaged in criminal activity. Boris Rhein, interior minister for the state of Hesse, accused the gangs of running drug and prosecution rackets through which they had seized control of the streets. "This is a clear signal that we won't allow a state within the state," said Rhein, adding that the gangs were disciplined by a vow of silence. All assets of the outlawed Westend and Frankfurt chapters of the Hell's Angels were seized under the ban. Each chapter is believed that have around 90 members. Two other Hell's Angels groups were banned in other parts of Germany in June and last year, although gangs in the rest of Germany remain legal.
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Montreal police believe a firebombing in the east-end borough of Pointe-aux-Trembles Wednesday night may be linked to street gangs. Police are investigating after someone threw a Molotov cocktail between two vehicles parked behind and apartment building on the corner of Marien Avenue and De la Gauchetière Street at around 8:30 p.m. “It's a citizen who was near the scene who put out the fire,” said Const. Danny Richer of the Montreal police. “So far the investigation seems to indicate that the vehicle targeted is linked to street gangs. That's why the investigation has been transferred to the Montreal police arson squad.” One of the vehicles belongs to a suspected member of a street gang, he said. No one was injured in the attack. Arson investigators are now speaking to witnesses.
At least two people have been wounded by the gunfire since Tuesday. Police say there have been multiple fights and shooting incidents involving two South Side gangs, "Wag Block" and "J Block," over the past several months, but this is the first time two people have been shot within a 24-hour period. Kenneth Fox was arrested in connection with Wednesday night's shooting. The shootings have occurred in four-block area between Madison and Jackson avenues west of U.S. 41. "Pretty soon, somebody's child is going to get shot," said Jerry Dejarnett, 58, one of the few residents of the area willing to talk about the shootings. Dejarnett said this is the most violent period he's witnessed in his three years of living there. In the most recent shooting Wednesday night, two women and two girls — ages 3 and 4 — were targeted. No one in that incident was injured, police said, and the two people shot earlier are recovering fine, according to police, but officers doubt the retaliations they suspect are happening are over. "I think things may be quiet for a day or two," said Sgt. Larry Nelson, "but you can always expect more violence when you have drugs and you have gangs." Nelson wouldn't disclose how police plan to respond, but he noted that there has been a "heavy concentration" of marked and unmarked police cars in that area. Police arrested Kenneth Fox, 25, early Thursday in connection with Wednesday night's shooting. He remains in Vanderburgh County Jail without bond on preliminary charges of attempted murder with a firearm and criminal gang activity. Police are looking for David "Buck" Burge, 30, and Rayshaad L. Bushrod, 23, both of whom reportedly accompanied Fox and are reportedly in the "J Block" gang, according to an Evansville Police Department probable cause affidavit. According to Fox's arrest affidavit, Wednesday's drive-by shooting happened in the 1000 block of Jefferson Avenue about 9:42 p.m. Police found multiple shell casings in the street. One of the women, who lives on that street, told officers that Fox, Burge and Bushrod were in a gray Chevrolet Avalanche when they fired handguns from the vehicle at her, another woman and the two children. Police found the gray Chevy Avalanche abandoned with its motor running in the 300 block of West Oregon Street near Harriett Street. Officers learned Fox had a girlfriend who lived in the 1200 block of North Harriett St. about two blocks from where the vehicle was found. Officers surrounded the house and Fox surrendered without incident.Sgt. Larry Nelson said that victim "knew of" the three men, and according to Fox's affidavit, she told 911 dispatchers, "It was the same subjects who were shooting last night." That earlier shooting occurred near the intersection of Jackson and Evans avenues about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday when a man was shot in the right shoulder. Three black males were reported to have been seen running away from the area. Lt. Monty Guenin said the 26-year-old man who was wounded in the shoulder, had refused to cooperate with police. Fox has not been charged in connection with that incident, but police believe Wednesday's incidents are related. The victim of Tuesday's afternoon shooting was also uncooperative, police on scene said. This shooting happened in the 700 block of Madison Avenue about 12:30 p.m., and, responding to a report of shots fired, police initially didn't know there was a victim. The shooting suspect, 20-year-old Royce Oneal Calvin, was located and arrested a short while later. Then officials received a call from St. Mary's Hospital about a 23-year-old man from that area man who had been shot in the leg. He told police he had seen some men arguing, heard gunshots and then got shot. He got a ride to the hospital, police said, and he refused to press charges when police mentioned they had arrested Calvin. Calvin admitted to shooting in that area around that time and said he possibly had shot someone, according to his arrest affidavit. He remains in Vanderburgh County Jail in lieu of $10,000 cash bail and was preliminarily charged with criminal recklessness, possessing a handgun without a license and battery with a firearm resulting injury. According to that police report, Calvin has a tattoo on his arm that reads "300 WNG BLOCK." Nelson said they've been tracking several other gangs on the city's South Side, and he said the fights, shootings and bullets that have struck homes and vehicles in that area are all likely gang-related. "They're not random," he said. "I can tell you that." "I'm very scared and nervous," said Hazel Hooker, a 60-year-old woman who lives in the 700 block of Madison Avenue. "I'm worried about the small children for one thing," she said, "because bullets don't have eyes."
Mario A. Prado, 19, of the 400 block of St. Charles Street, Elgin, was arrested by Elgin police on charges of unlawful possession of a firearm by a street gang member, possession of a firearm without a firearm owners identification card, possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number, possession of a firearm under the age of 21, unlawful contact with a street gang member and resisting a police officer following an arrest Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2011. Updated: September 29, 2011 2:23AM Gun charges filed: A known gang member was charged with several gun violations including aggravated unlawful possession of a weapon by a gang member, after officers found a loaded sawed-off shotgun up his sleeve Tuesday night, police said. Mario A. Prado, 20, of the 400 block of St. Charles Street, Elgin, was stopped by police at National and Raymond streets about 7 p.m. while driving with another known gang member, police said. Prado also was charged with possession of a firearm without a firearm owners identification card, possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number, possession of a firearm under the age of 21, unlawful contact with a street gang member and resisting a police officer. “The Elgin Police Department will continue to aggressively pursue gangs — especially with our gang and drug units,” said Police Chief Jeff Swoboda. “We’re sending a very clear message: Gangs and gang activity will not be tolerated in our city.” Prado was in the Kane County jail Wednesday in lieu of $250,000 bond; he is to appear in court Oct. 6.
Winnipeg's street-gang war took another tragic turn this week when police announced a 14-year-old boy is the suspected shooter in the city's 32nd homicide of 2011. The teenage is facing a first-degree murder charge in a homicide Sunday morning that police say was sparked by tension between rival gangs. David Michael Vincett, 20, was gunned down while walking on the city's Boyd Avenue around 3 a.m. Police arrested the 14-year-old suspect Tuesday evening. He has been detained at the Manitoba Youth Centre. He cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Const. Jason Michalyshen, spokesman for the Winnipeg Police Service, said police believe the homicide is tied to another recent killing. Clark Stevenson, 15, was stabbed to death as he rode his bike Sept. 10, in what police say was a gang-related confrontation. Days later, an 18-year-old man and 14-year-old boy were arrested and charged with second-degree murder. Before his death, Stevenson had boasted online about being a member of a local street gang. After the arrests, police acknowledged the homicide was motivated by gang tensions. "These groups appear to be in conflict with one another right now, and we're aware of that . . . and unfortunately we have two incidents where we have openly acknowledged that's the case," said Michalyshen. The boy accused of shooting Vincett was affiliated with gangs and may have had "similar associations" as Stevenson, police said. "These don't appear to be random acts, certain individuals appear to be targeted," Michalyshen said. He said before the shooting, Vincett and another teenager traded words about belonging to rival street gangs, before, it's alleged, a gun was pulled out and fired. Police said Vincett was dead by the time officers arrived. There was no indication the two knew each other before the shooting, police said. Michalyshen didn't describe Vincett as a gang associate, but did say "at the time he may have associated himself or verbalized that he was associated to a particular street gang." Winnipeg has had 10 more homicides this year than in all of 2010. On Wednesday, a woman whose own teenage son was shot to death 16 years ago said nothing has changed in the city since the day he died. Nancy Flett, the assistant executive director of the Indian Metis Friendship Centre, is also the mother of Joseph Beeper Spence, a 13-year-old who was slain in 1995. She said the violence in the city "sickens her." "People don't want to be out on the streets, people don't want to walk around on the streets. The only ones you see are a bunch of youth either on bikes, or people driving around," said Flett. "They just randomly go after people. They don't care if they're innocent or not, or if they're not connected in any way." She said society has to be concerned because "all the youth involved in gangs are getting to be younger and younger." Vincett's sister, Judith Ree, described him as a "good kid" in a message to the Winnipeg Free Press. Vincett, the father of a 10-month-old baby, had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. "He was the kind of person who would give the shirt off his back to keep (you) warm or his last five bucks to feed (you)," Ree said. "Everyone makes mistakes in life . . . he just wanted everyone to like him."
teenage girl was shot in the street with two friends while clutching her baby son in her arms. Jessica Chrichlow, 18, collapsed to the ground alongside two sisters – named locally as Sammy, 17, and Alex, 19 – after being caught in the crossfire of a botched gangland attack, witnesses said. Police said it was “hugely fortunate” that the 11-month-old baby escaped injury. Detective Chief Inspector Mick Foote said: “It was a random, reckless act and we are fortunate we are not dealing with a fatal shooting here.” The three victims had been outside in John Fearon Walk, North Kensington, west London, enjoying balmy temperatures on Thursday evening when the attacker got off a bike and screamed “mother f****r” at the group, a neighbour, who did not want to be named, said. Police said the child may have been missed by inches as the bullet hit his mother. Mr Foote added: “I do not believe the girls were the intended targets. What’s particularly devastating is that the young girl was carrying a young child. This was totally unprovoked.” As a hunt was launched for several young men seen on bicycles on the west London housing estate on Thursday night, the officer said he was “working on the basis” that the shooting was gang-related. One neighbour said her 12-year-old daughter saw the shooting from her bedroom window. Jacky Cinesey said: “I have sent her to school in tears today. These girls were just outside enjoying the sunshine. It’s horrifying.” The girls had been enjoying the weather in a back garden when they began talking to a “large group” of boys outside, Mr Foote said. “It appears that a man on his own has gone towards the crowds and discharged a single shot from a shotgun,” he said. The gunman fled the scene and joined three other hooded males on bicycles, he added. Miss Chrichlow’s mother Isabel, who lives nearby, spoke only to confirm her daughter had been shot. Another local, Jenny Kantinda, 30, said she knew the three victims. “They were just sweet girls, we have had enough,” she said. Neighbour Leslie Arandi, 55, added: “The gangs are always cycling around here smoking drugs. I’m fed-up with it. Hopefully now the authorities will take notice.” Sammy has been discharged from hospital while the other two victims remain in a stable condition. The investigation is being led by Trident detectives, who deal with gang crime in the black community. Karen Buck, MP for Westminster North, expressed her concern as she visited the troubled Mozart Estate where the attack took place.
FBI agents and Honolulu police took Stephen Sanders, former head of the San Diego Hells Angels, into custody without incident in Ala Moana Park on Thursday, Agent Tom Simon said. The 42-year-old Sanders was wanted in California in connection with a 2007 robbery and kidnapping. The Hawaii arrest comes the same day that more than two dozen members of the Hells Angels and their associates were apprehended in a series of San Diego County raids. FBI spokesman Darrell Foxworth told the San Diego Union-Tribune (http://bit.ly/rmikpu ) that the 26 arrests came at the end of a violent crimes task force investigation. Simon said Sanders' arrest on the same day of the raids was a coincidence.
University of California, San Francisco police have arrested the suspect in the slaying of the president of a Hells Angels chapter at a Nevada casino. UCSF Assistant Police Chief Paul Berlin says 53-year-old Ernesto Manuel Gonzalez was taken into custody after he was spotted by an officer just a block from campus police headquarters around 8:20 p.m. Thursday. Gonzalez was apparently in a parked 2011 Chevrolet Malibu. He is being held pending the arrival of police from Sparks, Nev., where he is accused of killing Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew inside a casino on Sept. 23. Authorities say Gonzalez is an alleged member of the Vagos gang and shot the 51-year-old Pettigrew four times in the back. Pettigrew was the president of the San Jose chapter of the Hells Angels.
The jury in the trial of seven men charged over a fatal bikie brawl at Sydney Airport has retired to consider its verdict. Hells Angels associate Anthony Zervas died after being bashed and stabbed during a fight between rival bikie clubs at the airport domestic terminal in March 2009. Six Comancheros stood trial for his murder, while a Hells Angels member stood trial for riot and affray. After a four-month trial that heard evidence from airport staff and passengers, Justice Robert Hulme summed up the Crown and defence cases. He directed the jurors to reach a unanimous verdict. The judge told them to be fearless and impartial in reaching it and to make their own assessment of CCTV footage and witnesses. The jurors retired this afternoon and will continue their deliberations in the morning.
Prosecutors are demanding long prison sentences for those suspected of involvement in an international drug smuggling case. The proceedings got underway on Thursday at the Helsinki District Court. Nine defendants, all of whom belong to the Hell’s Angels motorcycle gang face a variety of charges. Eight are accused of aggravated narcotic offences. Other offences include drug offences, money laundering, and the importation of illegal goods and firearms offences. One of the accused is a member of the Rogues Gallery group while two others belong to the 1-800 gang. The proceedings are taking place in a secured court room. Prosecutors are demanding jail terms for the accused and financial compensation to the state for losses incurred. In one case, a 12 year prison term is being demanded. It is thought one of the accused is the president of the Hell’s Angels Finnish organization. The gang is suspected to have made millions of euros on drug trafficking over a period of several years. Earlier this month, police confiscated several kilos of amphetamines and cocaine with a potential street value of 800,000 euros. Officials also seized illegal weapons and 200,000 euros in cash.
In a news conference Thursday morning, Ottawa police, Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP announced they had worked together in a yearlong investigation called "Project Finale." The culmination of that work ended up in all three tactical units executing 16 search warrants, including one at the Hells Angels clubhouse at 5416 8 Line Rd. in south Ottawa. Police were seen taking away a Harley Davidson motorcycle and revealed they also confiscated illegal drugs, cash and weapons. There were 107 charges laid against 12 people including a 37-year-old Ottawa man police say is a full patch member of the Hells Angels. He faces five charges. "It's going to have a major dent in the Ottawa region and eastern Ontario region. The numbers seized yesterday, we're very pleased with the numbers," said Insp. Samir Bhatnagar from Ottawa police. "This group is known to potentially move $300,000 to $400,000 a month of illegal substances."
Police towed away this Hells Angels motorcycle from a clubhouse Wednesday after a raid also found drugs, weapons and Hells Angels paraphernalia. Ottawa police
Police are preparing for hundreds, perhaps thousands of bikers expected to ride into Oak Hill Memorial Park in San Jose sometime next month to honor the memory of Jeff "Jethro" Pettigrew, the president of the city's Hells Angels chapter who was shot to death in a gun battle at a Sparks casino. There will be Henchmen, East Side Riders Car Club, Devil Dolls, Top Hatters and more. Alongside them, also paying their respects, will be members of the South Yard Heavy Equipment Crew. That is not a motorcycle club. It is the San Jose Department of Transportation's pavement repair team. They knew Pettigrew from his day job. To them, he was not the local president of a biker club that law enforcement sees as a violent criminal motorcycle gang. He was as a veteran backhoe operator who paved potholes. Hans Larsen, director of the city's Department of Transportation, said he was not even aware that Pettigrew was a Hells Angel. Nor did he care. "We have many employees who are motorcycle enthusiasts. What they do in their private lives doesn't concern us as long as it doesn't affect their work,'' Hansen said. "From what I am hearing he was a nice person with a good attitude, very professional in his work and he did it well.'' Funeral arrangements are still being made. And Pettigrew's shooting death Friday night at John Ascuaga's Nugget Casino, which has law enforcement on high alert for a brewing bloodshed between outlaw Advertisement motorcycle clubs, is still under investigation.
Danish court has sentenced 15 motorbike gang members to jail for six murder attempts on rival gang members. The court said Thursday the bikers would spend from three to 15 years in prison, following the country’s biggest biker-related trial. Loading... Comments Weigh InCorrections? Copenhagen’s city court ruled earlier this month that members of the Hells Angels and their support group, AK81, were guilty of a series of shootings in the Danish capital in 2009. No one was killed but one victim had his leg amputated. The gangs have been feuding over control of criminal markets, including drug trade.
Missouri National Guard soldiers and airmen were still on "alert" Saturday afternoon to "avoid wearing a military uniform in public" because of a "direct threat" in retaliation to a gang-related shooting around Fort Sill, Okla., earlier in the week. The cautionary warning was issued Friday. According to an internal memo leaked to the Columbia Missourian, "soldiers ... shot Crips gang members; in retaliation Crips has asked its members to shoot any soldiers on sight." MoreStory Related Articles Oklahoma shooting leads gang to threaten Missouri National Guard According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Crips is a collection of gangs throughout the U.S. with an estimated membership between 30,000 and 35,000 operating out of 221 cities in 41 states. Missouri is one of those states. Lt. Col. Levon E. Cumpton, who issued the memo, said the message "came out through Army channels"; Fort Sill is an Army base in Lawton, Okla. He called the action a "precautionary measure." According to Cumpton's memo, National Guard troops were instructed not to "wear a military uniform out for evening dining, shopping, and other personal matters." Full-time members were cautioned to "consider commuting to/from work in civilian clothes — specifically, if they need to make personal stops between home and work." Spokesmen for the Missouri National Guard and Fort Sill declined to elaborate on the incident, saying the investigation is in the hands of the Lawton, Okla., Police Department. Yet as of Saturday afternoon, "the alert has not been rescinded," said Maj. Tammy Spicer, the public affairs officer for the Missouri National Guard. The decision to call off the alert will come from the Joint Operations Center in Jefferson City. "As far as we know, and even the Lawton Police Department know," the gang’s threat is "just an unsubstantiated rumor," said Fort Sill Public Affairs Officer Keith Pannell during a phone call late Friday night. KSWO-TV 7 News in Lawton reported two Air Force bases in Oklahoma, Tinker and Altus, issued similar orders to enlisted soldiers. The Altus Air Force Base Facebook page commented Friday night on receiving "information on a criminal threat to military members in the Lawton-Fort Sill area." The incident that sparked the direct threat seems to be tied to a "brutal” home invasion in Lawton earlier in the week, with the four main suspects in the invasion being Fort Sill soldiers. They are believed to be responsible for shooting four people and injuring two others early Tuesday morning who, according to rumors circulating in the city, were gang members with ties to the Crips. The Missourian was unable to reach the chief of police who is handling the case.
One person has been killed and two others wounded in a shooting at a hotel-casino in Sparks that witnesses say involved members of rival motorcycle gangs, the Vagos and Hells Angels. Sparks police confirmed the fatal shooting at John Ascuaga’s Nugget about 11:30 p.m. Friday but they have not identified any of the people involved. 0 Comments Weigh InCorrections? inShare Daniel Sharp of Stockton, Calif., told the Reno Gazette-Journal he was in the dance area at the Nugget for the Street Vibrations biker festival when a group of Vagos club members came in. He says a single Hells Angel then entered, soon followed by several more. Within five minutes he says a fight erupted and shots rang out. Police Lt. Pete Krall says they are investigating different motorcycle clubs but declined to name them.
Police stepped up patrols at a motorcycle festival in Reno and Sparks on Saturday after a gun battle between two rival gangs at a hotel-casino left one Hells Angel dead and two members of the Vagos club injured. The fatal shooting at John Ascuaga's Nugget on Interstate 80 in Sparks happened at about 11:30 p.m. Friday as thousands of motorcyclists descended on the area for the annual Street Vibrations celebration, police confirmed. Sparks police Lt. Brian Allen said officers were investigating whether there was any connection between that fatal incident and a drive-by shooting at about 10:30 a.m. Saturday about a half mile from the Nugget. Allen said police arrested one Hells Angel in connection with Friday night's fatal shooting. He said officers made a number of other arrests but provided no details. "We're trying to minimize any other potential violence," Allen said. Officials in neighboring Reno said they too were increasing patrols and would request assistance from federal law enforcement if necessary. "Local law enforcement is working with federal agencies in a coordinated effort, including increased patrol, tactical teams and undercover officers," Reno city officials said in a statement Saturday afternoon. Authorities in Arizona arrested more than two dozen members of the two gangs in August 2010 after a shootout between them wounded five people but none seriously in the small community of Chino Valley, north of Prescott. On Friday night at the Nugget, Daniel Sharp of Stockton, Calif., told the Reno Gazette-Journal he was in the dance area near Trader Dick's restaurant just off the casino floor when a group of Vagos club members came in. Sharp said a single Hells Angels member then entered the area, soon followed by several more. He says that within about five minutes a fight had erupted and shots rang out. "It was mayhem," he said. Other witnesses told the newspaper they heard between a dozen and two dozen gunshots. The casino was evacuated and put on lockdown at about midnight. The Nugget said in a statement that the casino and all its restaurants had reopened by midday Saturday. It said that in addition to its own "extensive security force," uniformed officers would patrol inside the casino the rest of the weekend. Joe Franco, of Reno, said he saw one man in Hells Angel garb pull out a gun after he was knocked to the ground in a fistfight with a rival. "He was down with the bloody nose, gets up and pulls out the gun and that's the first shot," apparently at the man who punched him, Franco said. "Then he turned the gun toward the south of the building and that's when he started firing into the crowd," Franco told the Gazette-Journal. "The guy who was doing the shooting was an older man. He must have been 50, 55." Everyone started ducking as soon as the first shot was fired, Franco said. "By the third shot we were already running," he said.
Gangster whose associate was critically wounded in Surrey last week has been remanded in custody until Wednesday on an alleged breach of his court conditions. Sukhveer Dhak, 27, appeared via video link in Surrey Provincial Court Friday. Dhak was with his pal Jujhar Singh Khun-Khun in the 10100-block of 144th at around 9: 30 p.m. on Sept. 16 when gunmen opened fire, hitting Khun-Khun several times before fleeing. Khun-Khun remains in hospital in critical condition. Dhak was picked up Sept. 18 for allegedly violating court conditions on a drug conspiracy charge laid in 2008. He is due to go to trial on that case in November. Earlier this week, the head of the Gang Task Force warned that anyone associated with the Dhak and Duhre crime groups could get caught in an escalating gang war. Supt. Tom McCluskie said gang investigators "have reason to believe these people are being targeted by other criminal groups." And he said his team is probing possible links between the Khun-Khun shooting and the fatal shooting in Kelowna on Aug. 14 of Red Scorpion Jonathan Bacon. Hells Angel Larry Amero and Independent Soldier James Riach were also wounded in that incident. Since the high-profile public shooting outside a busy lakeside tourist hotel and casino, tensions have been escalating between associates of the victims and those they believe are responsible. On one side is an alliance consisting of the Duhres, Dhak and some United Nations members. On the other are some Hells Angels, the Scorpions and the Independent Soldiers. McCluskie said the investigation into Bacon's death is going well, though no one has yet been charged. The Duhre group is headed by three brothers - Balraj, Sandip and Paul - who grew up in North Vancouver and were once associates of the late Bindy Johal. Eldest brother Balraj was shot in a Vancouver restaurant in August 2005, but survived. Sandip escaped injury when his car was sprayed with gunfire at a Surrey convenience store in May 2005, but his friend Dean Mohamed Elshamy was killed. And both Balraj and Sandip were shot at in July 2005 as they drove through east Vancouver. Their bulletproof sedan saved their lives. Sukh Dhak is the younger brother of Gurmit Dhak, who was gunned down outside Metrotown Mall in October 2010. Gurmit Dhak, then 32, was also shot in 2007 in a crowded Kitsilano restaurant. Both Dhaks have been associated with a criminal organization dubbed "Billy's Crew."
FALKLANDS war veteran went on a lavish £1million spending spree after ripping off two gangsters. Ex-Royal Navy officer Dean Priestley had been asked by the crooks to drive the used notes across the Channel to Spain. But instead of sticking to the plan the 47-year-old went on the run and set about leading a life of luxury for six months. Advertisement >> Priestley splashed out on holidays, homes, cars, boats and jewellery as he hid from the villains who put out a hit on him. A court heard the furious crooks, known only as Mull and Steve, vowed to spend £5million hunting him down. The extraordinary case emerged as wife Derry, 48, was convicted of conspiracy to launder money. Her husband was jailed for three and a half years earlier this year after pleading guilty to conspiring to convert criminal property. Detective Constable Graham Duncan said: “This is the first case I have come across in 25 years of someone who allegedly stole £1million from criminals and has not given it back. “Dean Priestley was spending money like it was going out of fashion. He has shown a brass neck to the criminals he stole money from and shown no remorse.” Dad-of-two Priestley fled his £900,000 home in a water mill in Bielby, East Yorks, after stealing the cash. He called his wife to say: “I’ve done something really bad. I’m going to have to stay away for a long time.” He opened bank accounts in his privately-educated son’s names before depositing thousands of pounds in stolen cash. Priestley quickly splashed out on a luxury £230,000 Sealine S48 motor cruiser on Lake Windermere to hide from the villains. He also bought a £162,000 stone cottage for son Nathan, a semi-pro rugby player, in Wilsden, Bradford. He blew £20,000 on a Land Rover Defender 90 to drive between Lake District marinas and two £23,000 Audi A3s for cash from showroom dealers. He soon traded in one of the Audis, swapping it for a £32,000 black BMW 630 cabriolet picked out by his wife. At the time, Priestley was also being hunted by the police as he was wanted for extradition to France after being convicted in his absence of cannabis smuggling in his lorry. Wife Derry told Hull crown court she was threatened by two men from Manchester’s underworld to tell them where her husband was. She was told to take his birth and medical certificates to them just before they attacked his two sons with spray paint and an iron bar at their home. She said: “I got very depressed and suicidal. I was very low for a long time. I fled my home.” She remained in contact with her husband by mobile phone and made repeated visits to the Lake District to see him. The court heard Priestley bought a £5,000 diamond and 18 carat gold pendant from a jeweller for his wife’s birthday. He then paid for holidays to Spain, Amsterdam and a £4,000 trip to Australia. He even roped in his nephews, paying them £1,000 for every £10,000 they could put into banks. Mrs Priestley stopped using her Range Rover after finding a tracking device put on it by the Manchester criminals. It was Mrs Priestley’s call to the police saying the gangsters had told her that her husband had stolen £1million which started the investigation. Twice-married Mrs Priestley denied joining him when he ran up credit card bills on shopping trips. Prosecutor Timothy Capstick said her husband’s empire came crashing down when he was arrested by police coming out of a Leeds Hotel. They knew criminals had put a price on his head. The jury took less than 60 minutes to find Derry Priestley guilty. As well as the money laundering charge, she was also convicted of attempting to convert criminal property and converting criminal property. She will be sentenced at a later date. Her luxury home in Bielby, which the family had a mortgage on, has since been repossessed and sold on. Dean Priestley along with sons James, 23, Nathan, 22, and nephews Simon Taylor, 35, and Christopher Taylor, 32, all pleaded guilty to conspiring to convert criminal property before the start of their trial in March. His sons and nephews got suspended prison sentences. Priestley now faces an assets recovery hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act to seize any criminal cash he has left.
An alliance of Dhak, the Duhres, and some United Nations gang members may be facing off against the Red Scorpions, the Hells Angels, and the Independent Soldiers.
shooting in Surrey last week that left a gang member critically injured may be linked to the slaying of Jonathan Bacon in Kelowna last month, police say. “We are investigating links between the two incidents,” he said. Khun-Khun remains in hospital in critical condition and is a known as a member of the Dhak gang group, which Whalen said are in locked in a battle with the Hells Angels. Police received a call of a shooting at 9:30 p.m. Friday in the 10100-block of 144 Street. They arrived to find Khun-Khun shot. He was taken to hospital where he remains in critical condition. On Aug. 14, four people were shot outside the Delta Grand Hotel in Kelowna. Red Scorpion Jonathan Bacon was killed and others were injured, including Larry Amero of the White Rock Hells Angels. A Gang Task Force media release on Sept. 7 indicated police had information that something retaliatory was going to happen. “To date, intelligence and information indicates that tensions amongst rival gangs have increased exponentially since the Kelowna shooting and it’s no longer a question of if retaliation will occur, but when,” the task force said. “The potential for a violent reprisal is not restricted to any one community, and can occur anywhere at anytime.” The release revealed the Gang Task Force had assigned 65 officers to the tensions arising from the Kelowna shooting. On August 20 2011, Nanaimo RCMP stopped a gray 2008 Acura near the intersection of Victoria Rd and Highway 19A. Khun-Khun and two other men were remanded into custody and charges of Trafficking in a Controlled Substance under the CDSA were laid after officers detected marijuana odors in the car. A search revealed 27.5 grams of crack cocaine, 7.5 grams of marihuana, 108 pills of suspected ecstasy, a radio jamming system, scales and $1,700 in Canadian currency in the car. Another known gangster, Sukh Dhak was also at the scene when Khun-Khun was shot
Sgt. Bill Whalen with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit — Gang Task Force said police are looking for a connection between Bacon’s assassination and the Friday 16 shooting of Jujhar Singh Khun-Khun, 24.
Khun-Khun is no stranger to the media. In 2007 his 19-year-old fiancée was killed when she fell from the moving SUV he was driving. No charges were laid in that case. Later that year Khun-Khun was sentenced to three years in prison for kidnapping and robbing a truck driver. males from the Lower Mainland,
Dhak, 27, is the brother of gangster Gurmit Singh Dhak, who was gunned down in October 2010 outside Metrotown Mall in Coquitlam. In the ensuing round of retaliation 10 people were wounded in a shooting spree at the Neighbors Restaurant on Oak Street in December 2010. A party attended by gang affiliates was taking place inside the restaurant at the time. Sukh Dhak had been warned several times by police that he was a target.
Two men have been arrested in a shooting that stemmed from a botched drug deal in southeast Portland earlier this summer. After a lengthy investigation, Portland police officers took Robert Collins and Jonell James into custody Thursday. Police say they shot 21-year-old Sean Hamm at Glenwood Park near Southeast 89th Avenue and Cooper Street, where the suspects and victim met to deal marijuana in the early morning hours of July 14. Officers say Hamm suffered a gunshot wound to the chest and nearly died. Collins and James are making their first court appearance Friday afternoon.
Nakerrick Dierrie Mosby, who is a known associate of of the Rolling 20's street gang, is being charged with two counts of first degree attempted murder—one count being for the benefit of a gang—along with four other felonies after shooting a man multiple times in Minneapolis Sept. 16, 2011. The shooting left the victim paralyzed from the neck down. According the criminal complaint, witnesses said they saw Mosby get out of a minivan. Mosby shot the victim in the back after walking past him on a sidewalk and saying something to him. After shooting multiple times, Mosby alledgedly fled in the same minivan. The victim was shot at least four times. The shooting happened in an area "claimed" by the Bloods street gang, according to the complaint. The Rolling 20s and Bloods are rival gangs. The complaint also said Mosby had witnessed a murder two hours before he alledgedly shot the victim. Along with the two first degree attempted murder charges, Mosby is also being charged with first degree attempted murder for the benefit of a gang, assault and assault for the benefit of a gang. Each count carries with it up to 20-25 years in prison.
Despite intense security for a national meeting of Mexico's state prosecutors and tough talk from top cops, criminals dumped more bodies in Veracruz three days after gunmen left 35 corpses on a major avenue during rush hour. An official said Friday that police found 11 bodies around town Thursday, even as this Gulf of Mexico port city ramped up security for the prosecutors meeting by deploying hundreds of soldiers, sailors and police on the streets. It was unclear who left the most recent group of bodies. Officials believe the New Generation gang was behind the dumping of 35 bodies Tuesday on a busy street just a half-mile (kilometer) from the convention hall as a grim message to the Zetas drug cartel, which dominates the region. Authorities had established a security perimeter around the metropolitan area, with soldiers in trucks stopping people in town they considered suspicious. The prosecutors meeting was Thursday and Friday. Residents in Veracruz said this week's horrors had only deepened the fear scaring visitors away from the tourist destination and keeping some residents at home at night. In August, panicked parents rushed to fetch their children from Veracruz schools after a couple posted Twitter messages warning of nonexistent drug cartel attacks on banks and schools.
United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Demond Hayden, 30, of Bakersfield, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill to six years and five months in prison for being a felon in possession of firearms. According to his guilty plea, Hayden admitted that he possessed a Hi-Point .45-caliber handgun, a Glock Model 22 .40-caliber handgun, and a Mossberg 500 shotgun with a pistol grip. In sentencing Hayden, Judge O’Neill rejected Hayden’s claim that his criminal history was overstated. Hayden is a documented member of the East Side Crips, one of Bakersfield’s most notorious criminal street gangs. He has prior felony convictions for possessing cocaine for sale in 2003 and being a felon in possession of a firearm in 2006.
The man described as the founder of one of Anderson County’s largest criminal street gangs impressed a judge during a hearing Friday. Judge Dan Sharp ruled that there is probable cause to move ahead with the armed robbery and burglary charges against Jesse Lee Oliver III. Jesse Lee Oliver III But Sharp also praised Oliver for asking “lucid and intelligent” questions of a detective during a preliminary hearing. Oliver represented himself at the hearing. Law enforcement officials say that Oliver, 21, is the founder of the Brick City Boys. The charges against Oliver stem from a June 10, 2010, home invasion at 100 Wedgefield Court in Anderson, sheriff’s detective Rob Gebing testified Friday. Gebing said an armed group of four men stole about $400 in cash, some of which was counterfeit, and a cell phone from the home’s occupants. One member of the group, a 15-year-old juvenile, later implicated Oliver in the crime, Gebing said. Investigators also spoke with a juvenile witness who saw Oliver and one of his accomplices counting the money taken during the home invasion on the day after the crime, Gebing said. Oliver is being held without bail at the Anderson County Detention Center, a jail spokesman said Friday. Court records show that Oliver pleaded guilty on Sept. 15, 2010, to seven different charges that included assault, attempted robbery, lynching and a pair of drug offenses. Oliver was classified as a youthful offender and sentenced to serve not more than six years in prison, according to a clerk of courts spokeswoman.
THE mother and girlfriend of slain gang boss 'The Panda' wept last night at his removal mass. More than 100 people turned out to mourn notorious criminal Michael 'Micka' Kelly, who was gunned down in broad daylight as he left his girlfriend Caoimhe's apartment in Clongriffin last week. Silence surrounded St Benedict's church in Kilbarrack yesterday evening, as the 30-year-old's remains were brought inside. There was a strong garda presence outside the church with officers on high alert given the gangster's serious criminal connections. During a service that lasted fewer than 10 minutes, parish priest Fr David Lumsden spoke of the "horrific" effect the death had on Kelly's family. "This has been a horrific time for you as a family. And we know even to this day that there was a little gap to when he died but it is still a great shock to the family." At no point did the priest speak about the victim, or mention his criminal past. Following the service, he privately offered his condolences to Kelly's mother Ann and the rest of his family. His distraught partner Caoimhe was visibly upset as she held her son -- the baby boy who Kelly had come home to see before he died in a hail of bullets. Gardai maintained a strong presence outside the church to ensure the mass passed off peacefully. The father-of-three's execution has been dubbed the most significant gangland killing since the shooting of Eamonn 'The Don' Dunne outside the Faussagh House pub in Cabra on April 23 last year. Gardai were today expected to mount a much larger operation in anticipation that some of Kelly's criminal associates would attend. It has emerged that two gunmen used an AK47 assault rifle to shoot the gangsterat 1.15pm last Thursday afternoon. Kelly -- who made a fortune from drug dealing -- is understood to have a major property portfolio which includes apartments in Dubai and Spain. He had spent most of the last year living in Spain's Costa-Del-Crime but had returned home in recent weeks after his girlfriend gave birth to a baby boy, the thug's third child. Gardai believe Kelly's murder was well planned and that his killers had very accurate information about his movements. They suspect that a former bank worker and close associate of Kelly, known as 'Jewie', was with him when he was killed. Officers were working on the theory that pals of drug dealer Anthony Foster -- murdered by the Panda's mob in 2008 -- enlisted the Real IRA to carry out yesterday's murder. Less than an hour after he was shot dead and his body driven over, the home of a female associate of Foster was raided by armed detectives. No arrests have yet been made.
Poor Frankie. A whiny wiseguy told a federal judge that he wants to stay clear of the criminal life, but it's just too tough while living on Staten Island, what with all the mobsters everywhere. Frank "Frankie Steel" Pontillo made the statements at a sentencing in Brooklyn federal court -- before the same judge he asked leniency of because the FBI traumatized his Yorkie puppy during a January 2010 raid. The Daily News reported the Wednesday exchange between Pontillo and Judge I. Leo Glasser: "I didn't invite the Five Families to gather at the opening of a bar," said Pontillo said, referring to On The Rocks, where, the paper reports, he runs the grill. "Staten Island is very small. There's lots of felons on the island... Every time I go somewhere, I see someone from my past." Glasser responded, "That's a problem with people who grew up in Bensonhurst or Staten Island, spent a good part of their life in prison... People they've known actually their whole adult life [are] convicted felons and members of one organized crime family or another." Pontillo, 41, was arrested back in January 2010 as part of a 100-suspect takedown. His part was buying stolen TVs and electronics from an FBI informant in New Jersey. In a July letter to Glasser, Pontillo's lawyer, George A. Farkas, described the raid: "It was an otherwise tranquil winter morning at about 6 a.m.... when several black SUVs, 2 unmarked minivans and other similarly ominous vehicles converged upon Frank Pontillo's snow covered home." After a further description of the "elite forces" present, Farkas continues: "In an operation worthy of an honorable mention next to the recent and well-publicized Navy SEAL commando raid in Pakistan, the front door of the Pontillo home was blown off its hinges. Then, percussion grenades were tossed into the home, the resulting blast propelling a 4 pound puppy across the room into a wall... The little dog has not been the same since." Farkas pleaded that Glasser not subject his client to supervised release: Pontillo's "weakness" means he'd slip up sooner or later and violate the terms of that release. "It is not hyperbole to suggest that he will serve a life sentence on an installment plan," Farkas wrote. Nevertheless, Pontillo ended up getting six months house arrest and two years of probation. Pontillo was convicted on murder conspiracy in 1993 -- he and four others hatched a scheme to dress as Hasidic Jews in an aborted plan to gun down William (Wild Bill) Cutolo during the Colombo crime family's civil war.
The longtime girlfriend of former Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger has renewed her request to be released on bail while she awaits trial for allegedly helping Bulger elude authorities. A lawyer for Catherine Greig filed a notice in court Thursday asking a judge to consider releasing her. Greig's lawyer, Kevin Reddington, said he plans to file "voluminous documents" to support his request, including real estate appraisals. Reddington has said Greig and her sister would put up their homes as collateral. Prosecutors say Greig helped Bulger escape capture for 16 years. Her lawyer says she was in love with Bulger and didn't know the extent of his alleged crimes when she fled with him. Bulger is accused of participating in 19 murders. The couple was apprehended in Santa Monica, Calif., in June.
The body armour worn by gangster Sanjeev Mann stopped some of the bullets fired at him by masked gunmen, a Calgary court heard Wednesday. Det. James Hands, of the Crime Scenes Unit, detailed the exhibits he seized in connection with the 2009 New Year's Day massacre of Mann and two others. Among the items collected by the officer was the Kevlar body armour Mann regularly wore after he had been shot at months earlier outside his parent's home. Hands showed jurors the back panel of the three piece vest Mann was wearing when two assailants opened fire at the Bolsa restaurant, on Macleod Tr. S. He said the vest, seized during Mann's autopsy, showed he had been hit in the back three times. "We found (the bullets) and cut them out," Hands said, as he showed jurors three holes in the outer lining of Mann's vest. Turning the panel around, Hands showed how the inside of the body armour remained unaffected. "The vest stopped the three bullets from penetrating," he said. Both the inside and outside of the panel, which Hands handled wearing gloves, appeared stained with blood. Charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the Jan. 1, 2009 deaths of Mann, his associate Aaron Bendle, and bystander Keni Su'a are Michael Roberto and Nathan Zuccherato. Crown prosecutor Shane Parker had earlier told jurors in his opening address that Mann was struck by four bullets. Meanwhile, despite arriving moments after emergency calls from Bolsa restaurant, Calgary cops could do nothing to save the gunned down victims, court was told. Const. Kory Gash was one of the first officers on the scene of the New Year's Day massacre and the first to enter the south Calgary eatery. Gash said he checked Su'a for signs of life and tried to help put pressure on his bullet wounds, but to no avail. Once he and other officers charged into the restaurant he found both Mann and Bendle on the floor. "I could observe two individuals down and an Asian female crouched down over the individual who was at the back of the restaurant," he said, referring to Mann's girlfriend, Annie Tran. "I checked for a pulse on the individual and based on no pulse and the magnitude of the blood that was there, he had passed," Gash said, adding he did the same with Bendle.
Hustla Squad Clicc, once defined as a “play group” of young African American males, is according to San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael A. Ramos one of the region’s most dangerous criminal street gangs. Ramos says since its inception in 2005, the Rialto-based gang has been responsible for a reign of terror and violence in a four square mile area bounded by sections of Merrill Avenue, Sycamore Avenue, Cactus Avenue, Rialto Avenue, Maple Avenue, Etiwanda Avenue, and Easton Street. Last week San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge David Cohn granted the County’s request for a preliminary injunction against what court records describe as an association of unlikely suspects. Prosecutors say what makes this gang so formidable is not their colors, tattoos and monikers, rather their unlikely association. Hustla Squad Clicc is a combination of Bloods and Crips two of the largest and most violent associations of street gangs in the United States. Founded in Los Angeles during the late 1960’s the Bloods and Crips have been known for their fierce rivalry. Hustla Squad Clicc decided to unite for common purposes, said Deputy District Attorney Grace B. Parsons. Their joint association she says can be summed up in one word: ‘strength’. “Strength in numbers against increasingly violent rival gangs for the control of narcotics sales, territory, and the use and acquisition of firearms, instilling fear and intimidating victims and witnesses of their crimes,” said Parsons. Parsons said in a written statement the preliminary injunction will provide temporary relief to the residents of Rialto and to the businesses in the surrounding area as the lawsuit against Hustla Squad Clicc proceeds through the courts. Gang members will be forbidden from engaging in several public nuisance acts in an area known as the Safety Zone, such as carrying deadly or dangerous weapons, congregating and loitering, and displaying the gang's name, signs, or symbols to commit or promote any criminal or public nuisance act. Rialto’s gang warfare problem is nothing new. In 2008 the city’s South Side was the target of San Bernardino County’s first gang injunction, an increasingly popular legal tactic to restrict activities of identified members of a street gang within certain neighborhoods, sometimes called safety zones. Restrictions can range from littering to congregating with each other. Los Angeles pioneered civil gang injunctions in the 1980s, and San Bernardino's city attorney issued the Inland regions first in 1997. That injunction has served its purpose, said San Bernardino County sheriff's officials who enforced it. Gang members know not to hang out within the zone. San Bernardino and Riverside Counties now have several injunctions covering hundreds of gang members. On Feb. 23, 2007 Michael McCoy II was slain by members of the South Los gang. According to police records, gang members had gone to the heart of South Side Rialto territory set on revenge from a shooting days before. Gunfire rang out when the smoke cleared the shooter hit the wrong person: a Renaissance fair volunteer who cared for his disabled father. McCoy and a friend were parked in front of a Riverside Avenue convenience store, when a young man approached. He asked them a loaded question: "Where are you from?" “This question usually has no correct answer,” wrote Rialto police gang Sgt. Dean Hardin in his declaration supporting the 2008 injunction. “An assault is in the works, no matter what.” Court records explain McCoy innocently answered “Rialto”. The South Los member, believing it to be a reference to his rival gang, shot McCoy at close range as he was trying to explain he wasn't a member of a gang. Prosecutors say the latest gang injunction is continuing law enforcement’s approach toward ending gang activities, with the same message: “gang violence will not be tolerated in this community.” Some analysts question the effectiveness of the injunctions on the neighborhoods they're intended to protect, and on nearby communities. Identifying people as gang members and forbidding them from doing certain things also raises concerns. A groundbreaking report released in 2007 by the Justice Policy Institute argued that the billions of dollars spent on traditional gang suppression activities, which include the enforcement of gang injunctions, have failed to promote public safety and are often counterproductive. Gang Wars: The Failure of Enforcement Tactics and the Need for Effective Public Safety Strategies, written by Judith Greene and Kevin Pranis, said in cities like Los Angeles where gang activity is most prevalent, more police, more prisons and more punitive measures haven't stopped the cycle of gang violence. The report concluded the public face of the gang problem is African-American and Latino, but whites make up the largest group of adolescent gang members; · Gang control policies make the process of leaving more difficult by continuing to target former members after their gang affiliation has ended. · Heavy-handed suppression efforts can increase gang cohesion and inflame police-community tensions. The report said gang injunctions are particularly worrisome since none of the people who the enforcement agencies intends to enjoin have actually been adjudged gang members by the court – generally they have simply been identified by law enforcement as gang members. However, because there is no right to a lawyer, and they cannot afford to hire one, these individuals have no choice but to submit to the injunction. Most would agree gang violence remains one of the most stubborn problems for law enforcement at all levels. For nearly six years, said DA Ramos, “the people of Rialto and the surrounding communities have had to suffer numerous crimes at the hands of criminal gangs,” adding that the county DA will continue working with Chief Mark Kling and the Rialto Police Department to rid the City of these 'local terrorists’.”
GUNMEN used an AK47 assault rifle to shoot notorious gangster 'The Panda' in Dublin, gardai believe. Michael 'Micka' Kelly was gunned down in a hail of bullets in Marrsfield, Clongriffin, last Thursday afternoon. He was hit up to six times by bullets from a rifle and handgun -- and reports today said one of the gunman used a Kalashnikov, the rifle favoured by IRA dissidents, to kill him. The Russian-designed assault rifle is the most widely used in the world, carried by everyone from Osama bin Laden to Mexican drug gangs. The gun can be bought for as little as €300 in eastern Europe, according to Europol, the European police organisation. Gardai have seized a number of the weapons over the past few months and last year recovered two of the deadly 7.62mm automatic weapons, which fire at a rate of 600 rounds per minutes, in counties Wicklow and Kildare. The rifle's 30 shot magazine can be emptied in just a couple of seconds when fired on full automatic. Two gunmen lay in wait for the gangster nicknamed 'The Panda' at his girlfriend's home. He was first hit by shots from a car then his killers jumped out and fired more bullets into him before driving over his body. His heartbroken family are still waiting for his body to be released. Last Thursday's execution is considered the most significant gangland murder in Ireland since Eamon 'The Don' Dunne was shot dead last year.
Two brazen, targeted shootings of known British Columbia gangsters in less than a month may be the kindling that sparks renewed gang warfare in the Lower Mainland, say police. The officer who heads the province's gangs task force issued an "unusual" alert Tuesday to anyone with links to two notorious crime families after a known gangster was shot and wounded last week in Surrey, B.C. Supt. Tom McCluskie told reporters both that incident and the high-profile slaying of Red Scorpions' gang boss Jonathan Bacon in August amount to a high expectation by his 80 investigators that more attacks are on the way. "We're anticipating retaliatory violence, yes," he said at a news conference held at an office of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit in Delta, B.C. "I'm not trying to instill fear in the citizens, but certainly there's enough tension in there that we're concerned there will be a retaliation, that there will be further violence." The 24-year-old man shot in his car on Friday was a known member of the Dhak crime group, which police say runs an illegal drug ring throughout the Lower Mainland. One member of that family, Gurmit Dhak, was shot dead in his BMW at a suburban Burnaby mall last October, in another scenario police said was planned. Anyone with ties to either the Dhak or Duhre crime families are currently believed to be in heightened danger, and hanging around with such people could result in peril, McCluskie said. He said he's especially concerned for the members' girl friends and those who are simply connected on the social scene. Members of both groups have been linked to criminal activity on numerous occasions by police in B.C. in the past. While the public is not the intended target, McCluskie said, there's no telling where or when the tension will flare up again as gang rivalries rear their ugly head. It means bystanders could even get caught in the crossfire, he said. Thirty-year-old Bacon was shot to death outside a posh hotel in Kelowna. The gunfire that put the latest gangster in hospital broke out on a city street. "It's the fact these guys don't care where it is, they have no regard whatsoever for the general public," McCluskie said. Officers are examining the possibility the two incidents are directly linked, although at this point it's too early to draw conclusions, he said. "As of right now we haven't made any confirmed connection." The news conference is the most vocal and direct police have been in declaring expectations around the possibility of more bloodshed since Bacon died. Tit-for-tat clashes became a weekly occurrence for several months back in 2009, as turf battles played out in the Lower Mainland. There were at least four dozen shootings that year in the Vancouver area alone. Tensions were reduced to simmering, however, as police changed their strategy, made arrests of prominent players and conducted more behind-the-scenes enforcement. Police say alarm bells went off for many dealing with the organized crime world when Bacon was unexpectedly taken out. A full-patch member of the Hells Angels and another alleged gang member were hit by the mid-day volley of gunfire on Aug. 14, while two others accompanying them in a luxury SUV were also wounded. McCluskie said he's "pleased" with how his team is progressing in that investigation, but couldn't say when any arrests may be made. McCluskie wouldn't give any details about the new "intelligence" his team has gathered suggesting people tied to the two families are in danger, in order to protect the investigation. He said officers have already conducted several "duty-to-warns," telling known gang members they have reason to believe they might be next. "I'm not confident it reaches all those individuals, I'm hopeful," he said, noting he's less concerned about giving the groups credence by putting out the warning than letting the public know the risks. "Quite often the gangs don't listen to us very well."
Gang violence moved from West Bay to George Town on Monday night when teenager Jason Christian became the fourth fatal shooting victim of the week. A second victim, 22-year-old Keith Montique, was also shot but survived. Police Chief Superintendent John Jones described how a police patrol officer had been answering an unrelated incident around 9.30pm Monday in Birchwood Drive, off Crewe Road, when an obviously injured Mr. Montique staggered up to the police car and opened the door, saying he had just been shot. As the officer was transporting the gunshot victim, who had been shot four times, to the Cayman Islands Hospital, the wounded man told him his friend had also been shot and was still in nearby Cranbrook Drive. When police went to Cranbrook Drive, they found 18-year-old Jason Christian in the driver’s seat of a white Toyota LiteAce van. He had suffered a gunshot wound to the head. Mr. Jones said he was “barely alive” when police arrived, but died very shortly afterwards and was pronounced dead at the scene. Mr. Jones described Monday night’s killing, and three earlier fatal shootings in West Bay, as “assassinations”. All four victims who have been killed this week were shot in the head. Mr. Montique underwent emergency surgery at the Cayman Islands Hospital on Monday night and was airlifted off island for further medical treatment Tuesday. He had also been shot in the head, receiving an injury to his ear. Medical staff at the hospital described his condition as “serious, but stable”. Police said no suspects were found at the scene in Cranbrook Drive, but officers recovered a loaded revolver inside the van. It had not been fired. At least 10 spent shells have been found at the scene of the killing. Police said Monday night’s shooting may be related to the three killings in West Bay, but said it was too early to say definitively if that was the case. “There are connections between the individuals who were victims of this shooting and with certain people affiliated to gangs or groups in the West Bay area,” Mr. Jones said. “Given the timing, so close to the other three shootings that we’ve had, we think there is a strong possibility that it may be connected.” Preston Rivers, 18, was shot dead near Thatch Palm Villas on Andersen Road in West Bay about 10.30pm Saturday. On Thursday, Andrew Anthony Baptist, 24, was gunned down shortly before 9pm Thursday in a yard of a house on Sand Hole Road in West Bay. Two days earlier, Robert Macford Bush, 28, was shot in the head as he sat in his car on Captains Joe and Osbert Road on Tuesday night. “To have four murders in such a short period of time is unprecedented for the Cayman Islands,” Mr. Jones said. Crimestoppers has offered a $50,000 reward for information on these killings and other robberies and gun-related crimes seen in Cayman recently. He said Mr. Montique had told police that he and Mr. Christian had gone into Cranbook Drive to visit a premises there, but when they got there, the person they were looking for was not there. “After that, it would appear that a gunman approached from bush and fired several shots at Mr. Montique and his friend, who attempted to drive away,” Mr. Jones said. Police said the white van at the scene had featured in their investigations into an armed robbery at Tortuga Liquor Store in Pasadora Place on Thursday, 15 September. “Whilst that vehicle was not seen to be used by the suspects in that robbery, it did feature in a line of inquiry,” Mr. Jones said. The shootings in George Town Monday occurred just hours after Commissioner of Police David Baines said gang members who they were seeking in West Bay had moved out of areas they usually frequented. Police continue to appeal to the public to give them information relating to the shootings, but also to let them know who has weapons in their possession and if further attacks are planned. Mr. Jones said police were rounding up known members of gangs. They mounted an operation on Monday afternoon to target those who they suspect are involved in gangs and have arrested four people in connection with gang affiliation. A further two people also remain in custody who were arrested in connection with the West Bay murders. A third person who had been arrested in connection with the killings has been released. Detective Superintendent Marlon Bodden said he was angered that people were now sending police photographs that had appeared on social media like Facebook, of victims of the killings holding firearms. “We are inundated now with various photographs, various emails, various bits of information extracted from social media, pictures of individuals holding guns. Now, if we had this information before that, I’m very certain we could make some interventions and saved some lives,” Mr. Bodden said. He said police were pushing for legislation under which they could prosecute people for brandishing firearms in photographs. “We want legislation to be enacted that those individuals prove, the burden of proof is shifted for them to say I was not holding a real firearm... We want to be able to charge them and deal with them because they are the individuals causing the havoc here in the Cayman Islands,” he said.
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