1 killed, 2 wounded in shooting at Sparks, Nev. casino; witnesses saw rival motorcycle gangs

 

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.

Biker gangs eyed in fatal Sparks casino shooting

 

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.

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.

 

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

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.

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.

“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.
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,

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
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.

Hawi trial nears end

 

THE four-month trial of former bikie leader Mahmoud "Mick" Hawi, who is charged with murdering a man at Sydney Airport in 2009, entered its closing phase on Wednesday. Mr Justice Robert Allan Hulme began summing up the case to the jury in Sydney West Trial Courts, Parramatta. Hawi, 31, of Bexley, once one of the heads of this area's Comanchero Motorcycle Club, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Anthony Zervas, whose brother was a Hells Angels member. Justice Hulme was expected to continue his summation of the case until Friday, after which the jury will retire to consider its verdict. Five other Comanchero members or associates are also standing trial co-accused of the same murder. During the trial, medical experts gave evidence that bollards, a pair of scissors and a knife found in a drain might have played a part in the death of Mr Zervas. The court heard the injuries he suffered included internal bleeding, stab wounds and a fractured skull and that his head might have been stomped on or hit by a bollard. Justice Hulme said most of the available closed-circuit video footage of the attack was "average" and "quite poor". The jury should not draw any inference from the fact that a particular camera was not working during crucial moments, he said. Justice Hulme said part of the Crown case was that the Comancheros intended to inflict grievous bodily harm on Mr Zervas, who was one of five Hells Angels or associates at the airport. The jury had to decide if there was a joint criminal enterprise. The trial continues. Hire-car driver was drunk A CRONULLA father-of-six who pleaded guilty to a mid-range drink-driving offence allegedly told police who pulled him over for a random breath-test he knew he had had too much to drink. Graeme John Purcell, 58, of Cronulla, was stopped by police in August after attending Cronulla Bowling Club with his wife. His solicitor said the couple had four children still at home and his client relied on the success of a Cronulla car hire business to get "the whole family out of a financial quagmire".

Police step up watch on Hells Angels

 

Police in Massachusetts are closely watching a local chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle club as one of its high-ranking members sits in jail accused of triple murder. Adam Lee Hall, who court records list as the third in command of the Berkshire Hells Angels, has been charged with three counts of murder in connection with the Aug. 28 deaths of David Glasser, Edward Frampton and Robert Chadwell. Hall, 34, of Peru, Mass.; David Chalue, 44, of North Adams and Springfield, Mass.; and Caius Veiovis, 31, of Pittsfield, Mass., formerly of Augusta, each face three counts each of murder, kidnapping and witness intimidation in connection with the triple slaying. Police haven't linked the homicides to the biker club. But over the weekend they stepped up surveillance of its clubhouse in Lee, Mass., using a "high visibility patrol operation" Saturday that coincided with the Berkshire Hells Angels' annual Lobster Fest. Police from the central Massachusetts towns of Lee, Great Barrington, Pittsfield, Lenox and Dalton assisted Massachusetts State Police as motorcyclists from across the region descended on the biker club's headquarters Saturday near October Mountain State Forest in Lee. Also on the scene were the state's environmental police and a county special response team. Police took pictures of everyone entering and exiting Woodland Road leading to the Angels' clubhouse. Many of the bikers seen in the area wore patches identifying themselves as members of the Hells Angels and other regional motorcycle clubs. Massachusetts State Police Lt. David Buell, commander of the troop's Lee barracks, said police have monitored the club's Lobster Fest event the past five years. He cited an increase in the number of police patrols this year in light of the recent homicides but declined to say how many officers were in the area. Buell reported no arrests or incidents Saturday. Several neighbors walked up to police in the area, he said, and thanked them for being there. The Berkshire Hells Angels Facebook page indicated that tickets to the Lobster Fest were $30. It warned visitors to expect heavy police presence. Meanwhile, the Berkshire District Attorney's office disclosed that the bodies of Glasser, Frampton and Chadwell were found buried on private property in Becket, Mass. Authorities declined to be more specific; they previously had refused to discuss any information about where the bodies of the three men were dumped. Glasser, Frampton and Chadwell went missing sometime between Aug. 27 and 28 from Glasser's apartment on Linden Street in Pittsfield. Police say the men killed Glasser to keep him from testifying against Hall during an upcoming trial in Berkshire Superior Court. Police said neither Chalue nor Veiovis -- formerly known in Maine as Roy Gutfinski Jr. -- are members of the Hells Angels. Court records filed last week said the men's bodies had been dumped together in a deep trench that had been covered with large boulders and dirt, with digging equipment found nearby. According to the report, Hall had inquired about the availability and location of excavation equipment in the weeks prior to the homicides. Gutfinski had been convicted in 2000 of elevated aggravated assault in Kennebec County Suprior Court, and served 71/2 years of the 10-year sentence. He changed his name to Caius Domitius Veiovis in 2008. Veiovis, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, faces the possibility of three life sentences without parole.

$1M bail for NY man over Mass. triple slaying

 

A Canaan, N.Y., man is being held on $1 million bail for allegedly helping a ranking Hells Angeles member and others dispose of three murder victims in Berkshire County. A plea of not guilty was entered on behalf of 62-year-old David Casey in Central Berkshire District Court on Monday. He is charged with accessory after the facts of murder, kidnapping and intimidation of a witness. It was not immediately clear if he has an attorney. Authorities say 34-year -old Adam Lee Hall, 44-year-old David Chalue and 31-year-old Caius Veiovis were involved in the disappearance and killing of David Glasser, Edward Frampton and Robert Chadwell. They were discovered Sept. 10. Glasser was expected to testify this month in the robbery, assault and kidnapping trial of Hall, the reputed sergeant at arms of the Berkshire County chapter of the Hells Angels.

Missing Pittsfiled men were found buried in Beckett

 

New details are emerging in the case of three Western Massachusetts men whose deaths are allegedly linked to a Hells Angels member. Police say the bodies of the three Pittsfield men had been buried by boulders in Beckett. David Glasser, Edward Frampton and Robert Chadwell were found last week, nearly two weeks after they disappeared. Ranking local Hells Angels member Adam Lee Hall and two friends, David Chalue and Caius Veiovis, have pleaded not guilty to charges. Authorities say they killed the men because Glasser was set to testify against Hall.

Dhak Gang Member Targeted in Surrey Shooting

 

ujhar Singh Khun-Khun is fighting for his life after being shot several times Friday night. And his shooting could be linked to the dispute between his gang and a group of Hells Angels who have been doing a lot of finger-pointing since the Aug. 14 Kelowna attack that killed Jonathan Bacon and wounded Hells Angel Larry Amero and Independent Soldier James Riach. Khun-Khun, at 24, has a long history with police already. And he is a close associate of Sukh Dhak, brother of the late Gurmit Dhak. When Gurmit was gunned down outside Metrotown Mall last October, it was the beginning of a series of tit-for-tat shootings. Sukh Dhak was close by Khun-Khun when he was shot. Dhak has now been picked up on a breach and is in custody. Police are concerned about the escalating tension. On one side is Dhak, the Duhre brothers and their associates and some United Nations gang members. On the other are some Hells Angels, the remaining Red Scorpions, the IS and other associated individuals. It is a constantly-shifting mess that is disturbing to police. And they are working hard to prevent more violence and to make arrests in the Bacon death and now the Khun-Khun shooting.

Hells Angels guilty of murder attempts

 

Copenhagen's city court has found 15 Hells Angels guilty of six murder attempts on members of other biker gangs. The court said that members of the Angels and their support group, AK81, were behind a series of shootings in 2009 in Copenhagen. No-one was killed, but one victim had his leg amputated in a series of escalating criminal feuds.