Keith Hasson, 45, had been on the run since 2005 and was one of the U.S. Marshals Service's 15 most wanted fugitives.

Federal agents arrested a man in the San Fernando Valley on Wednesday accused of running a large-scale drug-smuggling operation.

Keith Hasson, 45, had been on the run since 2005 and was one of the U.S. Marshals Service's 15 most wanted fugitives. Authorities learned that he was living at an apartment in the 22000 block of Victory Boulevard in Canoga Park.

Hasson was arrested in the morning. Drug enforcement agents obtained a search warrant to enter Hasson's apartment, where neighbors said he had been living for at least a year.

Gaston Wurth, Hasson's neighbor, arrived home Wednesday afternoon to see the Los Angeles Police Department and the DEA swarming the apartment. Wurth said Hasson rarely had visitors and never cause disruptions.

"He was average, he didn't have a car or nothing like that, not blinged out," Wurth said. "He was a normal guy. I would have never guessed it."

Hasson has an extensive criminal history dating back to 1981 that includes arrests for violent crimes, including attempted murder, robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

Prosecutors said Hasson was the leader of a drug distribution enterprise in Albuquerque that distributed cocaine and marijuana throughout the U.S.

Authorities are looking for a man who was seen running from the apartment during the arrest. No word yet on a description or on his connection to this case.

Gangs clash at the California Men’s Colony

riot involving 120 inmates and two prison gangs occurred Wednesday morning at the California Men’s Colony West Facility in San Luis Obispo County.
The riot, which took place around 10:15 a.m., consisted of fighting between the Surenos and the Paisas. The Surenos, Hispanics who hail from south of Paso Robles, are the prison’s largest gang, and the Paisas are Mexican nationals.
Lt. Dean Spears said one inmate was punctured during the melee, but no staff was injured.
The West Facility, which is a dorm setting and cannot be locked down, has been placed under modified program, meaning inmates have restricted privileges and must primarily remain in their bunks, Spears said. No safety precautions have been taken at the East Facility.
A cause for the violence is yet to be determined.

 

The only female chain gang in the world was out Wednesday morning with a message

The only female chain gang in the world was out Wednesday morning with a message: drink and drive and you could be joining the chain gang.

You can't miss this crew cleaning up trash in a field in Phoenix, wearing black and white striped jail garb and sporting "Clean(ing) and Sober" pink shirts.

The 4th of July holiday is only days away, but Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is warning drivers about the consequences of drinking and driving.

"I hope that everyone driving by that sees the chain gang will think twice about drinking and driving..they will end up on this chain gang if they do," he said.

His female chain gang is out every day picking up trash, pulling weeds and helping to bury the bodies of indigents.

Now Arpaio is using them to prevent crime. Many of these women are behind bars because of DUIs.

"I went to prison on a felony DUI, driving on a suspended driver's license," said "Jill", a Tent City inmate.

A tough lesson to learn - Jill did not want to give us her full name, but she is ready to share her story.

"We brought this on ourselves, but then again, I am glad I am owning up to my mistakes and I am here trying to make my wrongs right," she said.

Inmates volunteer for the chain gang, but not because they like the work. They are trying to stay out of lock down.

It's hotter in the tents than it is outside. The Sheriff says he's doing the women a favor.

"It's only 113 today. In the tents..138 yesterday, so they are cooling off by being here," he said.

You'll see them all over the valley through the holiday weekend -- a bold reminder. If you get caught, you could end up on the chain gang.

Arpaio plans to put the chain gangs out in force for the MLB All-Star weekend. They will also be reminding baseball fans about drinking and driving.

The Sheriff started the all-female chain gang back in 1996. The program provides crews that clean up communities and save taxpayers money by working for free.

targeting members of two notorious Mexican gangs in the wake of the slaying of a three-month-old

Law enforcement officers launched a series of early mortning sweeps Wednesday, targeting members of two notorious Mexican gangs in the wake of the slaying of a three-month-old, authorities said.
East Palo Alto Police Sgt. Dave Carson told KTVU there were a series of raids being staged on the homes of known gang members.
“Today we are running probation and parole sweeps, mainly focusing in on gang members, specifically Nortenos and Surenos ” he said. “The death of a three-month-old was the impetus for this and that is the reason why we are focused on these two gangs.”
“We are making it absolutely obvious and absolutely certain to everyone who lives in town and everyone who is a gang member, especially associated with those two gangs, that that sort of behavior is not going to be tolerated.”
Fabian Zaragoza, 17, has been charged as an adult with murder for the June 5 shooting that killed 3-month-old Izack Jesus Jimenez Garcia and wounded his parents, Ivonne Garcia Lopez and Oscar Jimenez, of Redwood City.
Zaragoza and another person are believed to have targeted the family after mistaking them for Sureno gang members who had assaulted Zaragoza in Redwood City on May 31.
In addition to murder, Zaragoza has been charged with two counts of attempted murder with the infliction of great bodily injury, a special circumstance of lying in wait and use of a firearm in the commission of the crimes.
Zaragoza, who is being held without bail, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted.

Shots fired into a Winnipeg home - the second straight day a southeast Winnipeg home was shot up - are the result of an "active war" between rival gangs,

Shots fired into a Winnipeg home - the second straight day a southeast Winnipeg home was shot up - are the result of an "active war" between rival gangs, sources say, and it's feared the violence will escalate.

Neighbours noticed smoke pouring out of a St. Vital house around the time gunshots rang out about 4 a.m. Wednesday. Winnipeg police would not confirm the home was firebombed.

A man and a woman, reportedly the parents of a high-ranking member of the local Rock Machine chapter, made it out of the home unharmed and no injuries were reported. The man who was the suspected target wasn't home at the time.

A day earlier, no one was hurt when shots were fired into a home that is allegedly associated with the Rock Machine.

Sources suggested police are investigating whether the shootings are a retaliatory move after a string of recent attacks, including one that involved a flare gun being fired into the window of a home linked to a Redlined Support Crew associate, possibly in an effort to burn down the house, a source said.

"There is an active war between the Rock Machine and the Redlined," a source told QMI Agency.

Another source said the situation has "been building up to this."

"It's going to continue to escalate," the source said. "We don't know what point it's going to reach."

The Redlined are affiliated with the Manitoba chapter of the Hells Angels. The original Rock Machine - this latest incarnation launched about three years ago - and the Quebec Hells Angels were locked in a deadly, drug-fuelled feud in the 1990s that claimed about 160 lives.

Police have been warning about a possible eruption in violence between the rival gangs for more than a year after a Rock Machine member was lured to a south Winnipeg auto shop in January 2010 and badly beaten by Redlined members.

After that, all sides have armed themselves as retribution is expected, police wrote in a February 2010 affidavit. The document also suggested Redlined Support Crew members and other Hells Angels supporters have been ordered to seek out Rock Machine members or associates and "take care of them by any means necessary."

The Hells Angels really want you to know they’ve found a new home.

It’s already hard to miss the notorious biker club’s new digs at Gage Street North and Beach Road.

The big, decades-old sign that once welcomed patrons to the venerable Gage Tavern now shows off the distinctive death head logo of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.

A gate topped with barbed wire blocks the entrance to the former pub’s parking lot. The alley entrance on Beach Road also boasts a novel no-parking sign that warns off anyone but “angels.”

But if you miss all of those clues, club members are also making a point of meeting the neighbours.

“We’re introducing ourselves . . . . We’re letting people know we’re here,” said club member James “Bubba” Sherwood, in an interview outside the gated property Monday.

“We tried the other approach, by hiding in an industrial area and minding our own business, but they (police) didn’t seem to like that. They took that place away from us.”

“That place” was 269 Lottridge St., a thick-walled bunker of a building that served as the club’s last Steeltown hangout until 2009, when police raided and seized the building as part of a mammoth city-wide operation. The OPP-led operation seized guns, $215,000 worth of street drugs, vehicles, a home and three commercial sites as part of Project Manchester.

The Lottridge Street clubhouse was seized under proceeds of crime legislation, but the building has actually been seized twice. The first time was from pre-Angels biker club Satan’s Choice.

Sherwood thinks this time, the club will keep its hands on the new building, which he said is rented from an “acquaintance” who tried and failed to run the old tavern as a revamped bar and grill called Fat Boys.

“We’re not doing anything illegal,” Sherwood said, later adding “this is strictly a social place for us and our friends to meet, have a few beers and talk about bikes.”

In case you’re wondering, the security cameras and sealed up windows were “pre-existing,” according to Sherwood.

The barbed wire gates? Well, they’re new.

“But every building around here has fences, security cameras, bars on the window,” Sherwood argued. “That’s just the type of neighbourhood you’re in.”

Some of his new neighbours disagree, even if they didn’t feel safe giving their names Monday.

“This is a family neighbourhood. There are a lot of little kids — like my grandkids,” said Nancy Sayer, who lives around the corner from the new clubhouse.

Sayer was reluctant to say too much about her new neighbours, but admitted she’s worried.

“I haven’t met any of them, but you don’t usually hear a lot of good news associated with the Hells Angels,” she said from her yard, which is littered with kids’ tricycles and sports equipment.

Joyce Rattray hasn’t met any club members, despite their door-to-door plans.

“I don’t know anything about them. Their intentions might be good,” said Rattray, who lives in the neighbourhood. “But the stigma associated with a biker club is something we don’t need. End of story. This is a family neighbourhood, with a lot of low-income people who have struggles enough of their own without this to worry about.”

The city passed a “fortification bylaw” last year — dubbed the “motorcycle gang headquarters bylaw” by one councillor — designed to stop private homeowners from outfitting their buildings with things such as bulletproof shutters and steel.

John Lane, the city’s building inspections manager, said he’s received no complaints about the new clubhouse, or any other building, under the new bylaw.

Hells Angels brand Hamilton bar

The Hells Angels are back in their old Hamilton neighbourhood, and they're not being shy about it.
A former tavern on Gage Avenue and Beach Road now carries a sign with the unmistakable logo.
And as Lisa Hepfner tells us, the Angels say the location is a headquarters for their internet business, and a place for friends to hang out and talk about their bikes.

 

Bikie colours ban in Kings Cross

New South Government has intervened to ban bikie gang colours in Sydney's nightclub hub at Kings Cross.
Police made a submission last September to have bikie uniforms banned at all pubs and clubs in the inner city suburb.
But the state's Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing rejected the push, saying it was not warranted under the Liquor Act.
Instead it ruled that it should be left up to the owners of licensed venues to introduce the ban voluntarily.
The NSW Police Association described that decision as "staggering in its stupidity".
Now Premier Barry O'Farrell has stepped in and says he will overrule the office using the same legislation.
Mr O'Farrell says the ban will cover all clothing and accessories linked to bikies and gangs and will be introduced swiftly.

 

Police blast bikie base as ban looms

Baillieu government will move to introduce laws later this year that ban outlaw motorcycle groups in Victoria after a series of raids at properties linked to the Hells Angels in Melbourne's north yesterday.

But more than six months after the election and more than a year after the proposed laws were unveiled, the government will not set a date for when the legislation will be implemented and enforced.

The government confirmed it was still committed to the pre-election pledge just hours after four police raids netted drugs, a shotgun and ammunition.

 Police used explosives to gain access to Hells Angels headquarters in Thomastown yesterday morning. Photo: Jason South
In March last year the Coalition said Victoria had become a haven for motorcycle gangs because Labor had failed to follow the example of other states and propose tougher laws.

Then opposition leader Ted Baillieu accused the gangs of drug dealing, extortion and arson and said the Coalition's proposed laws would include new seizure provisions and the ability to demolish fortress-like compounds in the suburbs.

The laws would bring Victoria closer in line to South Australia, where the state government introduced laws making it harder for members of gangs to associate.

But late last year the High Court overturned a significant part of the law after it found the legislation undermined the independence of magistrates.

Former attorney-general Rob Hulls said Victoria's proposed laws were modelled on South Australia's and would be similarly rejected by the High Court, raising questions about the Coalition's commitment to tackling organised crime.

In statement yesterday, Robert Clark confirmed the laws would be introduced this year but would not say when they would be enforceable or how the government would overcome a High Court ruling.

''Years of inaction by the former government placed Victoria at risk of becoming the criminal bike gang capital of the country,'' Mr Clark said.

''The government was elected to take action against criminal bikie and similar gangs operating in Victoria and we're now getting on with the job of delivering on our commitment."

But Law Institute of Victoria spokesman James Dowsley said the laws undermined civil liberties. ''Making criminals out of a whole class of people is ill-conceived,'' he said.

''If these laws are introduced then any contact with a banned group through email or the like could leave otherwise … innocent people liable to a prison sentence. [Existing laws] are adequate.''

Detective Superintendent Doug Fryer said all four properties in yesterday morning's raids in Greensborough, Thomastown and Bundoora were linked to the Nomads chapter of the Hells Angels.

The raids, which were conducted with the Australian Federal Police, included the group's Thomastown headquarters.

A 42-year-old Greensborough man was charged with possessing and trafficking a drug of dependence and possessing the proceeds of crime.

A 26-year-old Thomastown woman was interviewed by police regarding drug-related matters and released pending further inquiries.

Police would not confirm if raids were linked to escalating tensions between the Hells Angels and the Finks, which recently established a Melbourne base.

About 25 people from the two gangs were involved in a savage brawl in Adelaide less than two weeks ago that left four bikies in hospital.But Superintendent Fryer said the raids were linked to at least two serious assaults, firearms offences and drug trafficking allegations.

Several Hells Angels members attended the clubhouse yesterday, but it was empty when police stormed the building at 8.30am.

Hells Angels members would not comment on the assaults that are being investigated but said they were disappointed police had blasted open the gates of their headquarters to gain entry.

''If they rang us up obviously we would have opened them up for them. We've got nothing to hide. But that's what happens,'' one member told The Age.

Superintendent Fryer said the fortification of the clubhouse had not been an issue for police because explosives gave them easy access to the building.

 

Man dies in high-speed crash Victim had close ties to White Rock Hells Angels

man closely associated with the White Rock Hells Angels was killed instantly when his Dodge Viper flew off the Trans-Canada Highway in Langley Saturday night, rolled over and pinned him.

RCMP have identified the driver as Jeremy Pinette, 32, of Abbotsford.

Sgt. Peter Thiessen said a Langley Mountie saw the Viper westbound on 56th Avenue "approaching 264th at a very high rate of speed" shortly before the accident around 10 p.m.

"The officer turned around and activated the emergency equipment. However, by this time the Viper was no longer in sight and had now entered Highway 1 westbound at 264th Street. The officer immediately de-activated the emergency equipment," Thiessen said, adding the officer did not pursue the vehicle.

The same officer came upon the accident scene near 248th Street "and observed the same Dodge Viper upside down in the ditch with the lone occupant pinned inside," Thiessen said.

He said witnesses at the scene estimated that Pinette's Viper was travelling about 160 kilometres per hour before it hit the ditch.

Pinette grew up in Langley across the street from the White Rock chapter clubhouse, but was living in Abbotsford at the time of his death.

His home had fortified gates and security cameras, police confirmed.

Records from Abbotsford city hall show that Pinette had recently received a permit to build a machine shed worth more than $118,000 on the property.

Three years ago, when hundreds gathered at the Hells Angels' Langley compound to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the biker gang in B.C., Pinette was one of the designated drivers taking guests to and from their accommodations to the bash.

A Vancouver Sun reporter chatted with him when he left the compound and crossed the street during the event to visit his parents, who live and run a business on 61st, just east of 216th Street.

Throughout the July 2008 event, Pinette's father Roger, who owns Ponds Beautiful, criticized police for blockading 61st between 216th and 224th in order to screen those attending the party.

He said he lost a lot of business as a result of police turning away customers.

Asked at the time about his son's link to the Angels, he said: "He knows them. We all know them. We've been here 30 years, with the clubhouse here for 20 of them.

"My son grew up across the street from them and cut the Hells Angels' grass when he was a kid."

Pinette's sister Monica is an elite athlete who twice competed for Canada at the Olympics in the modern pentathlon.

Angels they are not

Barrister Bottomley was making closing arguments to a jury in a case that saw the president and four members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club on trial for belonging to a criminal organization.

 None of these defendants were what you would call “choir boys.” All of them were well-known to law enforcement and all of them had previously been convicted of or even pleaded guilty to crimes including weapons possession and drug dealing.

But Bottomley told the jurors, at the end of a six month trial, that didn’t make the Downtown Toronto chapter of the Hells Angels a criminal organization.

“There’s a very significant difference between a criminal organization and an organization that has some criminals in it,” Bottomley told the jurors.

Apparently, the jury agreed with that suggestion. While finding the bikers guilty on multiple other criminal counts, they acquitted them of on the belonging to a criminal organization charge.

I know a place

where we can go ...

OK, I know a lot of the Falls finest hookers won’t be attending a Mensa meeting anytime soon.

Still, their ability to continually be arrested for the same crime, by the same undercover officers remains amazing to me. Every time Roving Anti-Crime Unit officers respond to community complaints about streetwalker traffic there are inevitably good stories that follow.

Cases in point, a recent RAC sweep in the North End that took two “ladies of the evening” off the streets.

RAC Officer Rick Fleck, who’s been on the streets awhile, spotted Evelyn Stewart at 13th Street and Pierce Avenue in the middle of the afternoon and watch as she loitered in the area and tried to flag down cars. When Fleck pulled to her, in plainclothes and an unmarked vehicle, she jumped into the car.

“She said, ‘Do you want to party?’ and I said, ‘Sure’,” Fleck said. “She said we could go to her place and I told her, ‘I got a nice little place on Main Street.’”

Of course, Falls Police headquarters is located at 1925 Main St., but that thought apparently didn’t faze Stewart.

As they drove toward police headquarters, Stewart offered Fleck oral sex for $25 or regular sex, without a condom, for $50. Fleck proceed to pull up to the read parking lot of the police station and activated the gate to allow him to enter the secure facility.

It wasn’t until the RAC officer reached for his handcuffs, that Stewart, who is no stranger to arrest or police headquarters, finally reacted.

“Oh, you do like to get freaky,” she exclaimed.

“No,” Fleck replied, “You’re under arrest.”

Adelaide police have arrested 12 men connected with two bikie gangs after a violent brawl at a city nightclub

Adelaide police have arrested 12 men connected with two bikie gangs after a violent brawl at a city nightclub was captured by security cameras.

Police said 13 members of the Hells Angels and 12 members of the Finks clashed violently about 5am on May 29 at the Hindley Street venue.

They attacked each other with bottles, glasses, metal bollards and heavy metal bar stools, with several members of the group suffering serious head injuries.

Detective Inspector Steve Taylor, from the Crime Gangs Task Force, said the incident showed the true nature of the relationship between bikie gangs.

While they had recently portrayed themselves as law-abiding citizens who were united in the fight against SA's anti-gang laws, the opposite was actually the truth, he said.

'These pictures show members of motorcycle gangs are not ordinary citizens who ride motorcycles on weekends as a fun get together,' Det Insp Taylor said.

'They are not unified, they are violent offenders who have no problem playing out their differences in public.

'This violence has included shootings, bombings and stabbings.'

Det Insp Taylor said it was lucky no one was killed in the latest incident.

No arrests were made on the night, with police launching a major investigation involving about 170 officers.

They raided clubrooms operated by both the Finks and the Hells Angels on Friday.

Those arrested included seven members of the Finks, including the club's sergeant-at-arms, one member of the Hells Angels and four people associated with the Hells Angels.

They were all charged with aggravated riot, a recently introduced offence which carries a 10-year maximum jail term.

The 12 were granted police bail on strict conditions and will appear in court at a later date.

self-professed career criminal and founding member of the area Warlocks motorcycle gang is being held without bail pending his possible extradition to New Hampshire

A self-professed career criminal and founding member of the area Warlocks motorcycle gang is being held without bail pending his possible extradition to New Hampshire, where he allegedly gave a false address on official documentation, a felony in that state.

James Domaingue, 64, of Orchard Street, Pittsfield, was arrested by the Pittsfield Police on Wednesday morning acting on a warrant issued by a New Hampshire court. The Cheshire County (N.H.) Sheriff's Office in Keene, N.H., requested Domaingue be picked up by local police.

Domaingue, a former West Stockbridge used car salesman, was indicted by a Cheshire County grand jury March 16, 2009. The indictment alleges that on Oct. 16, 2007, he used a "false address for a certificate of title" on a vehicle.

"The [title] process is a lot less complicated in New Hampshire than it is Massachusetts," said Cheshire County Sheriff Capt. Trevor Croteau.

Assistant Cheshire County Attorney Kathleen O'Reilly, who handled the case, did not return phone calls by press time.

The crime is a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison.

Domaingue was arraigned in Central Berkshire District Court on Wednesday and held without bail at the Berkshire House of Correction. His next court appearance is scheduled for June 14.

Croteau said someone from his office would be coming to pick Domaingue up in the near future.

In a 2008 Eagle interview, Domaingue

called himself a "career criminal." He has spent at least 17 years in prison for various offenses, including the 1976 stabbing of a man in Mundy's Bar in Great Barrington.
He is also listed as a Level 2 sex offender in Massachusetts for a 1983 conviction for incestuous marriage or intercourse.