The Vagos returned fire, wounding Hells Angel biker Kevin Christensen in the abdomen. If you are reading this message, youll know that Im gone. entrance to, and maintaining and increasing their position in the On June 11, 2009, five members of the Arizona Nomads a roving Hells Angels chapter with no official clubhouse allegedly mixed it up with a pair of Vagos at Lazy Harrys Sunshine Saloon in Bullhead City near the Colorado River. He marketed various Sonny Barger items, including his own salsa, and began writing books, including a biography, Hells Angel (2001), written with the twin brothers Keith and Kent Zimmerman. The volatile air-mixture of suspicion and tension almost certainly informed an incident Saturday morning when a group of three Hells Angels prospects later identified as Scott, Bruce Schweigert and Robert Kittredge crossed paths at a nearby Circle K with a pair of Vagos associates named Alfred Azevedo and Clay Messina. As dozens of Yavapai Sheriffs Office and DPS vehicles swarmed the neighborhood of Yuma Drive shortly after the shooting, a Vagos biker on the scene described the aftermath in no uncertain terms: Were not a gang, Michael Koepke, seated in his lawyers office, says evenly. Our expository features, narratives, profiles, and investigative features keep our 385,000 readers in touch with the Valley's latest trends, events, personalities and places. And Ive had the privilege to be part of an amazing club. Keep your head up high, stay loyal, remain free, and always value honor.. Hans G. Lehmann/ullstein bild via Getty Images. The information Atwell acquired for the police helped led to 31 people with ties to the Hells Angels facing 169 charges (not all of which stuck) and the seizure of $3 million in drugs, along with . A bearded Hells Angel waves from his bike as he and other members ride toward Bakersfield, Calif. 1965. Even with his wrist-to-wrist tattoos, the 28-year-old ex-Army infantryman and aspiring Muay Thai prize-fighter seems more Team America than Americas Most Wanted. Passaro was charged with murder but ultimately acquitted, with the jury having seen footage from the concert that showed Hunter raising his gun. At the opening on July 2019, more than 150 HA and supporters invaded the small town. Arizona - Hells Angels MC World It's not uncommon for charters to regularly participate in various charity rides in an effort to shake the negative publicity that has followed the bikers for decades. Ventura - California 1978. Though law enforcement saw the Angels as more of a gang than a club, in the 1960s the media latched on to Barger (pronounced Bar-gurr), selling the outlaw image to the world as a form of countercultural protest that took celluloid form in films such as Easy Rider (1969). For the rest of us, not so much. Moreover, Potter has four prior felony convictions and wasnt allowed to have weapons and yet had seven guns and an explosive device in his possession, McGinley said. Last November, Yavapai County Sheriffs Office Detective David Zavos the lead investigator in the Chino Valley case offered a grand jury the following impressionistic analysis of the combatants: The Vagos, for the most part, are not a real aggressive gang. Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew, the president of . By that time, Azevedo was no longer useful as an informant, having helped Morris execute a Vagos-related fraud case in Kingman. Oakland Hells Angels founder Sonny Barger lays back as a nurse stitches him up after a crash in California. Mora who was president of the Dirty Dozens Globe chapter at the time claims that the Bad Company bikers were harassing members of the community and acting like jerks., Mora summoned the two bikers to a popular roadhouse in Globe, where he laid out his ultimatum. Amsterdam - Holland 1978. Certainly, the Angels larger-than-life reputation can salt the impressions of law enforcement personnel. You have permission to edit this article. In 1967 he was consultant on, and had a cameo part in, Richard Rushs Hells Angels on Wheels, which starred Jack Nicholson, and graduated to a speaking part as himself in the movie Hells Angels 69 (1969). Between 2010 and 2012 he made three appearances on the biker TV drama Sons Of Anarchy. In October 1965 some Angels attacked an anti-war demonstration in Berkeley, California; six were arrested. Hells Angels MC Cave Creek - Facebook Michael Diecks and his wife, Leslie, had recently moved into the single-family home with their three children an unremarkable arrangement if not for the fact that Diecks, also known as Mad Dog Mike, was a full-patch member of the Vagos motorcycle club. That went nowhere, but the day before the march, Barger announced the Angels would stay away out of patriotic concerns that anti-American marchers might provoke violent acts by us and only produce sympathy for this mob of traitors. Upon hearing the news, he jumped in his car and high-tailed it to the scene of the crime, alerting the lead detective, Zavos, that he had an informant embedded in the Vagos. How the Hells Angels choose to handle the dilemma may well determine how close the turf battle comes to the Valleys doorstep.