Outlaw biker ranks growing in Alberta

EDMONTON - Seven years ago, Shannon Trottier was left with a gaping hole in her life when she watched her 34-year-old son die in her arms.

Joey Campbell, also known as Joey Morin, was rushed to hospital after he was sprayed with bullets outside a west-end strip club, but his injuries were too severe to overcome. A second man, Robert Simpson, died at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds.

Both men were affiliated with outlaw motorcycle gangs -- at that time the Bandidos -- and the killer has yet to be brought to justice.

The shooting marks the last time any significant violence among bikers erupted on city streets and police are holding their breath it will stay that way given the province's changing biker club scene.

According to Sgt. Marc Labonte of the Edmonton Integrated Intelligence Unit for the RCMP, during the last two years, Alberta has seen one of the largest increases in outlaw motorcycle gangs across the country.

Labonte wouldn't name the specific clubs that have set up shop in the province, but he said there are now four main clubs referred to as "one-percenters" -- a term given to outlaw motorcycle clubs that aren't always just out for a good time -- as opposed to one main group with four chapters.

Two new one-percenters showed up in the last year, and each one has one to three chapters.

In addition, police have identified at least eight "puppet " clubs or associate clubs, which consists of members aspiring to become part of the main clubs, so they conduct certain business to prove themselves worthy. In early 2009, Labonte said there were maybe two or three associate clubs in the province.

The bikers are also spreading their wings.

Two or three years ago, Labonte said the one-percenters were limited to Edmonton and Calgary, but they have since spread to cities throughout the province, and it's largely attributed to the booming economy.

"The economy was good, so there was money. Where there's money, there is always a criminality," said Labonte.

Police are closely keeping tabs on the most recent outlaw motorcycle clubs to arrive in the province.

But Labonte isn't expecting an all-out turf war to erupt any time soon -- like the one going on between the Hells Angels and Rock Machine in Winnipeg, which experienced a series of firebombings and shootings, including one that put a 14-year-old boy in hospital with gunshot wounds.

In the past, some of the biker gangs in Alberta have been responsible for homicides, home invasions, drugs, prostitution, money laundering and extortion.

Labonte said there has been an increase in criminality among the clubs in recent years -- the most notable were home invasions where "somebody didn't pay up."

But often crimes such as those go undetected, making it difficult for law enforcement to get involved.

"The victim, who's a criminal usually, will not report it to police because they know what these guys can do," said Labonte, who noted biker gangs try to keep violence from spilling onto the street.

"They don't want to make a big scene. They will be very low profile because they don't want the public against them. They are like a business. They don't want to be known as bad guys."

Although police aren't concerned there will be an all-out turf war in Alberta, Mounties are cognizant things could change since many of the clubs are connected regionally and nationally.

In 2004, Criminal Intelligence Service Canada listed the Hells Angels as the largest and most powerful outlaw motorcycle gang in Canada, with approximately 500 members belonging to 34 chapters across the country, in which at least three were in Alberta.

The following year, the director of the Criminal Intelligence Service of Alberta told the Sun that the Hells Angels wouldn't allow any competitors to set up shop in Alberta.

But police believe the momentum has changed since then.

Labonte noted there are about five or six one-percenters in the U.S.

Alberta now has four of them -- and they seem to be talking to and negotiating with each other.

Police have heard of instances where one group has stolen another group's patch, which sends a message they are not allowed to be here.

So far the bikers seem to be using the gesture as a way to start talking to one another and lay grounds for respect, said Labonte. Whether those talks are peaceful remains to be seen.

"It's always troublesome. It happened in Edmonton and a small rural community, so now we have to be careful because that could escalate," said Labonte. "Some of them are into criminality. It doesn't mean they are all into criminality."

MEMBER SAYS NOT ALL BIKER CLUBS ARE BAD

He's a Warlock, and he's proud of it.

Sporting a shaved head and goatee, arms filled with tattoos, a wristband with spikes and a black leather vest with the club's patches, he looks the part of a tough biker you don't want to have on your bad side.

But the biker, who did not want to reveal his true identity, is trying to shed the stereotypes associated with being part of a motorcycle club and insists it's about the brotherhood more than anything else.

"We're not a gang, we're a motorcycle club. We are not criminals. You can't be a Warlock if you're a criminal," said the biker. "It's like any organization. Yes, we have our bad apples, everybody does. But we take steps to ensure that you are thrown out or stripped of your patch. Not everybody is bad."

The Warlocks have been on police radar since at least 2005, but didn't officially establish their first Canadian chapter until last November.

The club is known as a "one-percenter" with roots that trace back to the U.S., particularly Pennsylvania and Orlando, and with chapters in Germany and England.

The Alberta chapter is the first and only Canadian chapter thus far. The club's website states "the Warlocks motorcycle club is a strong brotherhood of serious motorcycle riders and is not for everyone. We are not a social weekend riding club, we are a brotherhood of bikers that take riding and flying our colours very serious."

Although the biker is pleased the Warlocks are now established in Canada, he said existing motorcycle clubs have not all been receptive to their arrival.

"We have no problems with nobody," he said. "We told them that we were here, we're not involved in anything, we're not doing anything."

According to the biker, members of the club get together to ride and to raise money for charity. He spends his days working in construction and does volunteer community service during some of his off hours.

The biker said he's always been part of the motorcycle club community. When he retired from the military, he missed the friendship and camaraderie, so he sought out others who had like interests and he found a brotherhood in the Warlocks.

His most prized possession, of course, is his Harley. And there's no greater feeling than riding down the highway on his "baby" with his buddies at his side, he added.

"When you ride you feel free. There are no worries. Just the wind in your face, everything is great," said the biker.

"It's a sense of belonging. It's a network of brothers that will do anything for you and it's a nice feeling. You know that no matter what, no matter where, there's a brother there.

BY THE NUMBERS

4 main "one percenter" or big motorcycle clubs.

8 "puppet" or associate clubs have also been identified by police.

14 leisure riding clubs have been identified.

* According to police, most outlaw motorcycle clubs require at least six to eight main patch-wearing members. Usually an aspiring biker has to know somebody for five years before they become a one-percenter. The main clubs in Alberta have anywhere from six to 15 members, who have strict rules to obey.

* Biker clubs that have surfaced in Alberta in the past include Hells Angels, Warlocks, Bandidos and Rock Machine.

Cops probe biker war's link to report of gunshots

Police rushed to an east Winnipeg neighbourhood early Thursday after reports of shots being fired, and police are investigating whether it has any ties to the biker feud in the city.

Officers were called about 4:50 a.m. to the area of Simpson and Moncton avenues in East Kildonan, police said. So far, there is no evidence shots were actually fired, police said.

Recent tensions between the Rock Machine and the Hells Angels-affiliated Redlined Support Crew saw more than a dozen shootings and firebombings over a one-month period. Although the conflict has not been in the spotlight for nearly a week — roughly since the arrests of two men with ties to the Rock Machine — police acknowledge the public has a heightened awareness every time shots are fired.

“Until we can decisively say it’s not linked, that’s something we’ll need to explore,” said Const. Natalie Aitken, a Winnipeg police spokeswoman.

No arrests have been made.

Manitoba on verge of Quebec-style biker war, court hears

July 05, 2011

WINNIPEG - Justice officials have publicly admitted for the first time what has become obvious to many - tensions are high on Winnipeg's biker front.

``There's a gang war going on,'' Crown attorney Mike Desautels told provincial court Associate Chief Judge Mary Kate Harvie on Monday. ``It has reached a fever pitch.''

Desautels made his candid comments during a bail hearing for a high-ranking member of the Rock Machine. He also shed new light on a wave of recent shootings in Winnipeg.

Jean Paul Beaumont was arrested late last week by police officers who had been conducting video surveillance of his home through a camera they had secretly installed in early May, court was told. Beaumont, the sergeant-at-arms of the Rock Machine, has a long criminal record and has been charged with repeatedly breaching conditions of his previous bail and probation, including a curfew and a driving prohibition.

The authorities claim Beaumont was caught on the hidden camera leaving his home and driving away in a vehicle on several occasions.

The Crown is fighting to keep Beaumont in custody, citing the ongoing battle between the Rock Machine and their rivals, the Redlined Support Crew.

Desautels filed a detailed report on the city's gang situation, authored by members of the Winnipeg police organized crime unit, to boost his argument that public safety is at stake. He told court police have been closely monitoring Beaumont, along with other gang members, because of the ongoing tensions in the biker world.

Beaumont's bail hearing was adjourned until Tuesday to allow the judge to read the report.

There was no publication ban on the proceedings.

The Hells Angels created the Redlined Support Crew last year to stand up to other criminal networks that might muscle in on their former drug turf after many of their members were arrested and jailed following a recent trio of undercover police operations. At the top of that list was the Rock Machine, which waged war with the Hells Angels in Quebec during the 1990s but has never had much of a presence in Manitoba until recently.

Multiple sources have told the Free Press the Rock Machine slowly has gained power in Manitoba, with some former Hells Angels associates even joining its ranks in recent months. Just recently, a founding member of the ``Game Tight Soldiers'' gang in British Columbia moved to Winnipeg and joined the Rock Machine ranks, according to a source.

Desautels told court Monday how Joseph Strachan, the Rock Machine president, had his Winnipeg home shot up last week. A home in Winnipeg's St. Vital neighbourhood belonging to Strachan's parents was then hit with gunfire and Molotov cocktails the following night. There were no injuries in either incident, and no arrests have been made.

Desautels said a member of the Redlined gang was also targeted last week when a ``flare'' was shot through the window of his home.

Police also are investigating whether two other recent shootings are linked to the ongoing hostilities. A 14-year-old boy was wounded early Monday morning after a townhouse was sprayed with gunfire. Police said the boy is lucky to be alive and may have been an innocent bystander. There were eight people inside the residence at the time, including a baby. No arrests have been made. Members of the organized crime unit are continuing to investigate.

Sources told the Free Press on Monday there may be other recent incidents that either haven't been reported to police or haven't been released to the public.

Last November, a former high-ranging associate of the Hells Angels was shot ``execution-style'' inside his own home.

No arrests have been made in the slaying of Daniel Kachkan, which was believed to have been connected to Kachkan's alleged role in a previous homicide. However, police distributed an internal memo around the time of the killing, warning that members of the Rock Machine motorcycle gang are believed to be armed and may be planning attacks against those affiliated with the Hells Angels.

Winnipeg biker war firebombings net charges

Two men are charged with arson in connection with a firebomb attack on a Winnipeg tattoo parlour that police say is the latest violence in an ongoing biker war.

The Osborne Village tattoo shop, 187 Ink, was targeted Wednesday morning. The damage was minimal and the business opened its doors the same day.

Taylor Brett Morrison, 23, and Shaine Gerald Stodgell, 33, have been charged with arson and possessing an incendiary device.

Morrison has also been charged with possessing explosives while prohibited.

Stodgell is also charged with arson for Sunday's firebomb attack on DC Automotive shop on St. Mary's Road.

The two incidents are part of a wave of violence that police have attributed to a turf war between the Rock Machine and Hells Angels biker gangs.

The attack at DC Automotive was the first of four firebombs between Sunday and Wednesday.

Hours after the auto shop was hit, a residence on Royal Avenue in West Kildonan also was targeted the same day.

Then on Tuesday afternoon, a home on Mighton Avenue in the city's Elmwood neighbourhood was left with scorch marks where a molotov cocktail shattered on the stucco siding. That same house was the target of a police weapons raid last fall.

The Winnipeg Police Service on Wednesday listed 13 recent incidents that are part of the biker war:

Fire – June 14, 1800 block of Logan Avenue.
Shots fired – June 26, 100 block of Mighton Avenue.
Shots fired – June 27, 1500 block of Roy Avenue.
Shots fired – June 28, 100 block of Canberra Road.
Shots fired – June 29, 100 block of Stranmillis Avenue.
Firearm located – June 29, 100 block of Kingston Row.
Male shot – July 4, 100 block of Taft Crescent.
Fire – July 6, 1800 block of Logan Avenue.
Fire – July 10, 200 block St. Mary’s Road.
Fire – July 10, 200 block of Royal Avenue.
Fire – July 11, 1700 block of King Edward Street.
Fire – July 12, 100 block of Mighton Avenue.
Fire – July 13, 100 block of Osborne Street.

The biker conflict is all about a battle for "supremacy" of the local drug trade, said police service spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen.

Attacks 'personal'

There's a reason certain homes and businesses have been attacked in the past month, a Winnipeg gang expert says.

Melanie Nimmo, a faculty member in the school of justice at the University of Winnipeg, says many of the new members of the Rock Machine in Winnipeg battling with the Red Lined Support Crew, who are affiliated with the Hells Angels, are former Zig Zag members.

"There's some old beefs there … so it's not just business. There's some personal vendettas that may likely be going on," Nimmo said. Because the attacks are targeted at gang members or businesses with connections to gangs, Nimmo said, the general public shouldn't be worried about becoming victims.

But Mayor Sam Katz says people understandably are concerned.

"When you hear it on the radio, see it on TV, read it in the newspaper, you should be concerned," the mayor said Thursday. "And I think it's important to make sure the public is aware."

He said the city is responding to the situation by adding resources to the Winnipeg Police Service's gang unit.

Biker war vigilance urged by Winnipeg police

Jul 15, 2011 12:25 PM CT

Police are stepping up public vigilance of biker violence in Winnipeg by alerting residents who live in a neighbourhood with a known gang member.

They will not identify any specific house, but will tell residents they could see an increase in police patrols.

"Officers will also be asking for the public’s assistance in reporting any suspicious activity in their neighbourhood," spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen said Friday.

"Our goal is to create a heightened awareness in an effort to combat these recent events."

Michalyshen would not say which neighbourhoods the police are monitoring, noting the violence is not confined to certain areas.

A wave of violence — shootings, firebombings — has erupted in Winnipeg during the past month and police have attributed it to a battle between the Rock Machine and Hells Angels biker gangs for "supremacy" of the local drug trade.

Over the course of four days this week, four firebomb incidents were being investigated by police. Two business and two homes were hit with molotov cocktails but no one was injured.

Meanwhile, CBC News has obtained court documents that provide a little more information on one side of the war: the Redlined Support Crew, a Hells Angels puppet group.

Members of the RSC, the street enforcers for the Hells Angels, operate out of a building in an industrial park on Bowman Avenue in Elmwood, court documents state.

People who work in the area are reluctant to talk about their neighbours but told CBC News there is always a lot of action around the club, and plenty of police presence.

Security cameras monitor the doors of the clubhouse, which share space with auto shops and small warehouses.

Biker war brews in Winnipeg 2

Monday, July 11, 2011 3:11:48 EDT

WINNIPEG - A biker war is brewing in Winnipeg and is about to boil over as the Rock Machine attempts to take over turf once dominated by the Hells Angels, sources and experts say.

The street-level enforcers of the outlaw motorcycle gangs are suspected over the past two weeks in a series of firebombings and shootings, including one that put an innocent 14-year-old boy in hospital with gunshot wounds, sources say.

“Bikers are very territorial and when their territory is breached, that’s when violence happens,” Det.-Sgt. Len Isnor, with the Ontario Provincial Police biker enforcement unit, said.

The Rock Machine and Hells Angels clashed in a drug-trade feud in Quebec during the 1990s that left about 160 people dead.

When the original Rock Machine folded in 2000, most remaining members moved over to the Bandidos, but some defected to the Hells Angels.

In 2008, Sean “Dog” Brown relaunched the Rock Machine, using the same eagle-head logo but different colours.

At the time, Brown claimed the group is no threat to any other gang, particularly the Hells Angels, and was reportedly staying clear of drugs and Quebec. He was ousted in November and has reportedly joined the Vagos, a biker gang that’s relatively new to Canada.

In Winnipeg, the Rock Machine has operated quietly for several years, suspected of having a small presence as it was in start up stages in 2008, moving in to fill the vacuum left by the demise of the Bandidos and a series of police projects that jailed dozens of Hells Angels associates, a source said.

The Rock Machine flew under the radar, for the most part, until a then-member was lured to a south Winnipeg auto body shop in January 2010, and badly beaten by members of the Redlined Support Crew and prospects of the Hells Angels.

Recently, the Rock Machine has been growing its ranks, say sources and online postings.

“The last little while, they’ve expanded and they were feeling very comfortable,” another source said.

Some of the latest Rock Machine additions include former members of the Zig Zag Crew and individuals formerly aligned with the Hells Angels. That means for some members, the problems with the Hells Angels are “personal,” the source said.

Not unlike the Rock Machine’s former leader, the local chapter is going to pains to deny involvement with the recent violence. The lawyer for Jean Paul (J.P.) Beaumont, an alleged Rock Machine member, told QMI Agency his client is “disgusted” that children and women have been put at risk — a reference to a shooting in which bullets ended up hitting a 14-year-old boy and sailing right past the bed of a sleeping mother of two.

“He completely denies the Rock Machine motorcycle club’s involvement. In fact, he also feels the Rock Machine have been targets, as opposed to the aggressors,” Eric Wach said earlier this week.

In a rare move, members also spoke this week to a local TV station and echoed the sentiments.

“We want to ride our bikes and wear our patches. We don’t want our kids walking down our front lawn and taking a bullet,” CTV quoted a Rock Machine spokesman as saying.

Recent violence in the feud between the Rock Machine and the Redlined Support Crew

JULY 4

A 14-year-old boy is shot inside a townhouse. He survives but spends days in hospital. The bullets spray a second property, flying through the wall right next to a bed where a mother of two was fast asleep.

JUNE 29

A St. Vital home connected to reputed Rock Machine president Joseph “Jay” Strachan is shot up and firembombed. No one is hurt.

JUNE 28

A Windsor Park home is struck by bullets. No injuries were reported.

JUNE 27

A flare is shot through the window of an Elmwood home belonging to a Redlined member, possibly in a bid to burn the place down.

Sources say there are other violent acts — including shootings and firebombings — that police have not made public.

I'm a victim of biker war: shop owner

Dealership firebombed Sunday Posted: 07/12/2011 1:00 AM

The owner of a Winnipeg used-car dealership says his firebombed business and personal reputation are both casualties of a biker war being fought across the city.

Svenn Tergesen, owner of DC Automotive on St. Mary's Road for 17 years, told the Free Press he's been inaccurately linked with the Hells Angels.

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"I'm being crucified as being a biker, which I've never been (in) my entire life," Tergesen, 53, said Monday. He called the suggestion he's a biker "ridiculous."

"I'm the one that's getting the bad name. I'm the one that's getting my business destroyed that I've worked my entire life for, for something that I'm not part of," he said. "I've never owned a Harley-Davidson, don't want to."

A Winnipeg Police Service spokeswoman said Monday there have been no arrests made in connection with the blaze, which broke out just after midnight Sunday. Witnesses parked at a convenience store across the street from DC Automotive said two men wearing bandanas ran by with "fireballs" in their hands. One man threw a Molotov cocktail though the dealership's office windows, while the other threw one at a door, and it bounced off.

The arson strike force and organized crime unit are also investigating a fire that happened Sunday at about 4:20 p.m. at a home on Royal Avenue in West Kildonan. A police source told the Free Press the home is linked to a member of the Redlined Support Crew, who are affiliates of the Hells Angels.

The two attacks are the latest in a string of crimes including shootings and fire-bombings that police say are part of an ongoing turf war between the Hells Angels and Rock Machine gangs. The president of the Rock Machine had his home shot up last month, as did another full-patch member of the gang. A Redlined member had a flare shot through his window, and a Logan Avenue business that employs several Hells associates was firebombed.

In the most serious incident to date, a 14-year-old boy was wounded by gunfire last week when a townhouse on Taft Crescent in Lord Roberts was sprayed with gunfire. Police said the boy, who may have been an innocent bystander, is lucky to be alive. There were nine people inside the residence at the time, including a baby. Sources said the home was targeted as part of the ongoing gang hostilities.

Tergesen's business made headlines in January 2010 when a member of the Rock Machine was beaten at the dealership, allegedly by members of the Redlined Support Crew. Tergesen said police tried to speak with him about that incident, but he refused.

"It's something I don't want to talk about because I value my life," he said Monday. The victim of the attack suffered extensive injuries but has also refused to co-operate with police.

Tergesen said police tried to "squeeze" him for information after the beating at his dealership -- an event he said was a "chance deal" where the parties ran into each other.

"The police kept coming after me and after me as if I had done something. I had never done anything, and I don't know what I would gain from it," he said. "Even one of the officers that had been here a couple times, said to me... 'I wouldn't say a damn thing either.' "

Tergesen said he's dealt with clients from different walks of life, including bikers he considers friends. Tergesen said he doesn't hang out with the bikers but they're customers who appreciate his "honest" approach.

"The same way Autopac sells them insurance, I sell them parts," he said.

Tergesen said police haven't told him who's responsible for the fire this weekend, but he turned over camera footage to police in hopes it could crack the case. He estimated the fire caused about $200,000 damage to his business and he believes it's connected to a gang.

"(The police) said 'You can probably figure out who did this,' " he said.

Police released a prepared statement about the investigation into the St. Mary's Road and Royal Avenue fires.

They did not provide an interview.

"We believe that the two incidents... are connected, and are connected with the current conflict between the rival groups," said the statement by Insp. Rick Guyader of the Winnipeg Police Service. "(The) organized crime unit and arson strike force unit are investigating."

Biker war wracking Winnipeg

Wed Jul 13 2011

WINNIPEG — Winnipeg police say they are cracking down on an escalating outlaw motorcycle gang turf war after a rash of firebombings and shootings.

Police say rival biker gangs are attempting to corner the Winnipeg drug trade and they worry there will be more innocent victims after a 14-year-old boy was injured recently in crossfire.

“It’s about drugs, it’s about illegal activity,” Const. Jason Michalyshen said Wednesday.

“They are trying to get a foothold in our communities and our city for the sale of those drugs. They are doing everything in their power to intimidate one another.”

Police know of seven attempted firebombings in the last few weeks — five in the last four days — including a tattoo parlour that was hit Tuesday morning. Five other homes and businesses have been riddled with bullets.

Some people have been arrested on lesser charges and two people are in custody for the most recent attempted firebombing, Michalyshen said.

“We are concerned that these incidents are occurring,” he said. “We have homes that are being targeted. We have shootings where houses are being struck by numerous bullets ... When we have firearms being discharged in our community, it’s putting a lot of people at risk.”

Michalyshen wouldn’t name the gangs involved, but the conflict is said to involve affiliates of the Rock Machine and Hells Angels.

Previous crackdowns and mass arrests of gang members in recent years have created a “void” in the city, he said. Police are beefing up resources to quell the violence, even if it means bringing people into custody for minor infractions, he added.

Attorney General Andrew Swan said the province is doing whatever it can to make Manitoba a hostile environment for biker gangs. The NDP has made it possible for the province to seize the homes and cars bought from the proceeds of organized crime, he said.

“It is a constant fight in Manitoba, as it is in other provinces, to take on organized crime and make sure that crime does not pay,” he said. “It’s a concern when events like this are happening. People are entitled to be safe in their homes, in their neighbourhoods, in their businesses and in their communities.”

In 2009, police agencies from Manitoba and British Columbia made sweeping arrests following drug-related raids in Winnipeg and elsewhere in the province, including a Hells Angels clubhouse. Some 31 people were arrested as part of the long-term investigation into organized crime called Project Divide.

Those convicted in the sweep now face a total of 160 years in jail, Swan said.

“We’ve taken all the measures we can do to try to deal with organized crime,” he said. “But we know there is always more to do.”

With an election looming in October, the Progressive Conservative opposition is expected to make crime and gang violence a ballot box issue. Leader Hugh McFadyen said it’s a blight on the NDP record that Winnipeg is still the violent crime capital of Canada.

Although some are sounding the alarm again about escalating organized crime, not everyone has noticed a change.

David Moxley, who owns a business in the same building as the tattoo parlour that was vandalized Tuesday, said the area is home to several raucous bars, so some overnight violence is not unheard of.

“There’s a few nasty people doing some nasty things,” he said. “There’s a small element of people intent on doing things that cause trouble.”

Winnipeg police blame violence on biker gang war

Date: Wed. Jul. 13 2011 7:55 PM ET

Hours after yet another suspected firebombing of a Winnipeg business, city police announced Wednesday they are cracking down on violence they blame on a war between rival motorcycle gangs.

Police said they have linked 13 separate violent incidents, including seven firebombings and a rash of shootings, to outlaw biker gangs in Manitoba's capital.

Const. Jason Michalyshen, speaking to reporters at a news conference, would not name the gangs. However, it is believed the battle is between the Rock Machine and the Hells Angels' Redlined Support Crew over control of the city's drug trade.

"I don't think it's a secret. It's about money, it's about drugs, it's about illegal activity," Michalyshen said. "They are trying to get a foothold on our communities and our city for the sale of those drugs. They are doing everything in their power to intimidate one another."

The latest incident occurred Wednesday morning, when a tattoo parlour on Osborne Street was hit by a suspected firebombing. Two men are in custody in connection with the incident.

In addition to the firebombings, five homes and businesses have been targeted by gunfire in recent weeks. In the early morning hours of July 4, a 14-year-old male was shot when bullets were fired into a home in the Lord Roberts neighbourhood.

Biker expert and author Yves Lavigne says the bikers in Winnipeg can be deadly to innocent bystanders because they are indiscriminate in their actions.

"You are not looking at the brightest people in the biker underworld," Lavigne said. "They are even dumber than the Maritime Canada Hells Angels.

"These are the kind of people that when throwing a Molotov cocktail, will stop to read a text and burn themselves."

Michalyshen said Wednesday police are ramping up their efforts to get a handle on the violence, which has plagued the city since mid-June.

"Our goal is to monitor very closely individuals involved in this type of criminal behaviour who have associations with gangs in our city such as outlaw motorcycle gangs," Michalyshen said. "And we're not going to let up in any way, shape or form."

So far, police have made 15 arrests in connection with the incidents.

Police brass have directed the organized crime unit, drug unit and street crime unit to divert resources to investigating and solving the crimes.

Attorney General Andrew Swan said the province will also ramp up efforts to make Manitoba a "hostile environment" for motorcycle gangs.

"It is a constant fight in Manitoba, as it is in other provinces, to take on organized crime and make sure that crime does not pay," Swan said.

"It's a concern when events like this are happening. People are entitled to be safe in their homes, in their neighbourhoods, in their businesses and in their communities."

Rock Machine vowed to heed law

THEY vowed to come in peace, claiming they would bring a law-abiding alternative to the Hells Angels.

Yet the arrival of the Rock Machine motorcycle gang in 2008 has only led to increasing turmoil on Winnipeg streets.

Police sources told the Free Press this week the Rock Machine expanded to 17 full-patch members following a chapter meeting this summer. They have also recruited new members from outside the province, including a high-profile gangster from Vancouver.


They are trying to become the top criminal dogs in the province -- a fact they made crystal clear to police after most members and associates of the Hells Angels were arrested in December 2008 as part of Project Divide, which used an undercover agent to record dozens of drug deals on video. It was the third major bust in five years.

"Thanks for handing us the province," a Rock Machine member told gang-unit officers following the bust, a source told the Free Press this week.




Now the Rock Machine is locked in an ugly street battle with members of the Redlined Support Crew, the new gang on the block recently formed by the Hells Angels to try to maintain their status at the top of the drug-dealing food chain.

It wasn't supposed to be this way -- if claims by the Rock Machine were to be believed.

Their 2008 resurgence in Canada -- eight years after they vanished following a long and bloody war with the Hells Angels in Quebec -- was no reason for police or the public to be alarmed, the group's spokesman told the Free Press at the time.

They claimed to be more interested in selling houses than pushing drugs in neighbourhoods. "There's lots of money to be made legally. The real estate market is looking really good right now," longtime biker "J.D.," told the Free Press from his Saskatchewan home. "We're just trying to be a law-abiding alternative to the Hells Angels. We're not going to be competing with anybody. If you get caught selling drugs, you're kicked out. Losers sell drugs."

The Rock Machine had been off the national radar until two members of its Australian chapter showed up at Richardson International Airport in September 2008, claiming they were headed to the Interlake for a weeklong fishing trip.

However, the Sydney residents had flown here at the invitation of western Canadian bikers who had visions of setting up a Rock Machine chapter in Manitoba. They were planning to meet in Gimli to map out the process, but plans were scuttled when customs agents searched their luggage. They found several biker vests, flags and other paraphernalia.

Michae l Xanthoudakis and Eneliko Sabine were detained after it was also learned both men had criminal records in Australia. They were quickly deported.

A government lawyer told court at the time that Canadian police circulated a bulletin warning of the impending resurrection of the Rock Machine and the rumoured meeting in Gimli. Police were told to be on guard for foreign bikers who may be travelling to Canada. The government cited the Rock Machine's dark history, which included links to 150 murders in Quebec during a turf war in the 1990s. Among those victims were two prison guards and an 11-year-old boy who was hurt after a car-bombing.

The Rock Machine was absorbed into the Bandidos in 2000. Several members joined the Hells Angels when the Bandidos refused to grant full-patch status to them immediately. The Rock Machine was reborn after the fall of the Bandidos, which ended in the slayings of eight members in Ontario in 2006.

Hells Angels, vengeance dominate

WINNIPEG has the reputation of being the second-most-deadly city in Canada for outlaw motorcycle gang violence after Montreal.

Violence between warring gangs, under different names and allegiances, goes back to the early 1970s and until this month saw its peak in the mid-1980s.

During the past 40 years, one theme has been a constant -- the influence and the role of the Hells Angels.

Much of what's happened over the past four decades hasn't been so much over turf -- there's more than enough money to be made by everyone selling drugs and performing criminal favours in Manitoba -- than it is personal grudges.

Here's a snapshot of what's happened since Winnipeg's outlaw bikers first took to the streets:

-- Winnipeg's first biker gangs were the Spartans and the Los Brovos, which both started in the late 1960s.

-- Both gangs coexisted peacefully for about a decade -- both had their own clubhouses in St. Vital -- under the watchful eye of city police. In October 1973, police shot and wounded a Los Brovos biker in a gunfight that started when police raided the gang's clubhouse.

-- In June 1975, three Spartans gang members -- including its co-founder, Graham Sylvester -- were charged with the rape of a 16-year-old girl. They were later convicted.

-- Seven years later, the Los Brovos and the Spartans merged -- the Spartans were led by Darwin Sylvester, Graham's younger brother.

The reason for merger was to present a united gang the Hells Angels could take over. With the merger, the Spartans ceased to exist.

-- The merger unravelled in late 1983 when two Los Brovos were arrested for the rape of 27-year-old woman. The crime made headlines after a deputy police chief was brought in to mediate between the bikers and the victim's angry brothers and father. A van the rape victim's sister owned was found rigged with dynamite.

-- Sylvester and his fellow former Spartans wanted the accused kicked out of the merged gang, feeling they were bad for publicity and brought too much heat. The Los Brovos refused. Sylvester left the gang.

-- In July 1984, former Los Brovos member Ron Gagnon was slain in his Alexander Avenue yard by a shotgun blast. He was wearing a Silent Riders T-shirt. Later, police learned Gagnon was one of the founding members of the new gang, along with Darwin Sylvester. Gagnon's death remains unsolved.

-- In September 1984, the Silent Riders' Washington Avenue clubhouse was damaged in an early-morning dynamite attack. No arrests.

-- In November 1984, four bombs exploded at property connected to the Los Brovos. Damaged are the Los Brovos' city clubhouse and a cottage outside Winnipeg, a company owned by a member's father and a member's home. No arrests.

-- In May 1985, Los Brovos member Stanley Potter was shot and wounded. Police affidavits showed they suspected

the Silent Riders.

-- In August 1985, a North Winnipeg home and garage connected to two Los Brovos members were torched. No arrests.

-- In September 1985, David Gagnon, brother of Ron Gagnon, was stabbed to death in a fight with a Los Brovos member. The slaying was later determined to be one of self-defence.

-- The gang war continued with police raids, dozens of arrests and bikers from both sides being sent to jail -- including Darwin Sylvester.

-- In 1986, the gang war officially ended in the back lot of a West End autobody shop when the remaining Silent Riders burned their gang colours in front of the Los Brovos.

-- In 1990, Darwin Sylvester was released from jail and returned to gang life, renewing connections with the Hells Angels in Eastern Canada, specifically gang kingpin Walter Stadnik, in a bid to woo the gang to Winnipeg.

-- On New Year's Eve 1991 at the Continental Motor Inn on McPhillips Street, Sylvester and a bunch of other ex-cons, independent bikers and longtime local hangers-on resurrected the Spartans.

-- Less than two months later, Darwin's younger brother, Kevin, a fellow Spartan, got into a gunfight with a Los Brovos striker at a McPhillips Street nightclub. Both Kevin Sylvester and Darren Hunter were hit -- Hunter once, Sylvester seven times. Two other people were shot. Hunter later received a 12-year prison sentence despite testifying the shooting was in self-defence. Charges against Sylvester were dropped.

-- The incident kicked off another round of drive-by shootings, including the targeting of Hells Angels associate Donny Magnussen, Stadnik's bodyguard, outside a Winnipeg hotel, the shooting up of the Spartans' clubhouse and the gunshot wounding of a Los Brovos member in River Heights.

-- In late 1994, Stadnik flew to Winnipeg and demanded a truce between the two gangs. He set up a third motorcycle gang, the Red Liners, of independent bikers and known drug dealers. The thinking was that by throwing a third gang into the mix, the pot would really start to boil. Whoever rose to the top would become a Hells Angel.

-- In May 1996, longtime Los Brovos member David Boyko was murdered in Halifax while attending a Hells Angels event. It's believed Magnussen shot Boyko to death to move up the Hells Angels' ranks.

-- In May 1998, Magnussen's bound, decomposed body was pulled out of the St. Lawrence Seaway. He had been beaten to death, wrapped in plastic and dumped in the seaway.

-- By 1998, it was clear Stadnik and the Hells Angels were going to put down roots in Winnipeg. Those plans did not include Darwin Sylvester. Ever the plotter, Sylvester started talking to Hells Angels rival Rock Machine in Quebec about a possible alliance.

-- In late May, Sylvester left a Regina halfway house after serving a year-long jail sentence for extortion and returned to Winnipeg, expecting to head up the Spartans once again. On May 29, a week after leaving Regina, he vanished, shortly after leaving the Spartans clubhouse to go to a meeting. It's rumoured his body was chopped up for animal feed. One of the men who's thought to have participated in the killing, Robert Rosmus, was himself executed in January 1999, shot in the head and left face-up in the middle of an access road near a construction site east of the Perimeter Highway.

-- The Hells Angels established a Manitoba chapter in the summer of the next year, absorbing the Los Brovos. It's believed six of the original members were still in the gang, supported by the addition of new blood.

-- A year later, another gang war erupted when former Spartan Kevin Sylvester, Darwin's younger brother, shot Hells Angel Rod Sweeney several times as he sat in a tow truck near Grey Avenue and McCalman Street with his young son beside him.

-- That set off several retaliatory shootings, including the wounding of a former Spartan on Harbison Avenue and a July 31, 2001 drive-by shooting attempt on Portage Avenue, apparently targeting Kevin Sylvester. Rod Sweeney's brother Dale was later convicted.

-- Ten years later the violence has renewed, and at the centre of it is the Hells Angels, which despite three high-profile police stings that led to numerous arrests of members and associates, have yet to suffer a knockout blow.

Missing Person (Foul Play Suspected)

SYLVESTER, Darwin Randall
Date Last Seen: 1998-05-29
Winnipeg, Manitoba

Age at Disappearance: 42
Date of Birth: 1955-11-24
Race: Caucasian
Gender: Male
Height: 5'10" (177.8cm)
Weight: 215lbs (97.52kgs)
Hair Color: Brown
Eye Color: Hazel
Distinguishing Features: Unknown
Clothing Worn at time of disappearance: Unknown

File #: MB30011 1998-1520153
Agency: Brandon Police Service

Additional Information:
Darwin Sylvester was last seen on 1998-05-28 at approximately 2300 hrs. He had been driven into Winnipeg from Brandon by several acquaintances earlier that evening. He was dropped off by his friends at a residence on Chalmers Avenue, Winnipeg at approximately 23:00 hrs. He called his girlfriend shortly after midnight on 1998-05-29. He had plans to meet with an associate for breakfast however he never showed for that meeting. His belongings and luggage were all located at the residence on Chalmers however he has not been seen or heard from since the phone call to his girlfriend.

MYSTERY PLANE CRASH - Dead pilot accused of two biker murders

The plane crash of gang member Joel Maguet may end any hope of solving the 1998 disappearance of one of Manitoba’s most colourful bikers — Darwin Sylvester.

A gang source told the Free Press that it’s well known in the outlaw gang community that Maguet murdered Sylvester in a bid to take over the now-defunct Spartans motorcycle gang.

“I’m glad Joel died doing something he loved,” said the source, who was a close friend of Maguet.

“Because by rights he should have been doing a life sentence.”

Maguet died Monday when the small plane he flew to traffic drugs crashed into West Hawk Lake.

The source said it’s also common knowledge that Maguet killed a second Spartans gang member, Robert Rosmus, in January, 1999.

“He couldn’t be trusted to keep his mouth shut (about Sylvester’s killing),” said the source.

The source’s claims mark the first time anyone has publicly named a killer in the two high-profile Manitoba biker slayings.

Both Sylvester and Rosmus were murdered as the Hells Angels aggressively expanded into Manitoba and, in some circles, the two murders were always blamed on that expansion — not friends killing friends.

When Sylvester vanished, he had just been released from prison and was head of the Spartans, which had an on-again-off-again relationship with the Los Brovos since 1967.

Sylvester was known to many. Flamboyant with his trademark beret and PR savvy, he once did media interviews promising to clean up crime and graffiti around the gang’s Chalmers clubhouse.

Back then, Sylvester and Maguet were supposed confidantes. Maguet even ran the Spartans when Sylvester was in jail.

“He was the only other person who knew what the hell they were doing,” a police source said Thursday.

Sylvester and Maguet also wanted to become Hells Angels. Maguet even did a stint as a guard for the HA in Sherbrooke, Que., where he was photographed while under police surveillance, a police source said.

Maguet also spoke French, which went a long way in building relationships with the Quebec Hells Angels, at that time a powerhouse of organized crime in Canada.

Sylvester’s brother, Kevin — no stranger to the biker world himself — told the Free Press this week that Maguet had a great deal to gain by Darwin’s disappearance.

“Maguet was power hungry and he didn’t want to relinquish control of the Spartans when my brother got out of prison,” Sylvester said.

“Maguet had the most to gain by my brother’s disappearance, but I don’t think he was the trigger man.”

Kevin Sylvester isn’t saying who he believes killed his brother — although he waged a violent war against some members of the Hells Angels back in the summer of 2002, shooting full-patch member Rod Sweeney in the head. Sweeney survived, and there were months of retaliatory attacks towards Kevin Sylvester with plenty of close calls but no deaths.

On the day of his disappearance in 1998, Darwin Sylvester had just left the Spartan’s East Kildonan clubhouse on Chalmers Avenue for a meeting.

The gang source said two of the last people to see Darwin Sylvester alive were Maguet and Rosmus. Rosmus drove the car that picked Darwin Sylvester up and took him to meet with Maguet. Maguet then killed Sylvester, said the source.

On Jan. 19, 1999, Rosmus was found dead lying face up on a road east of Winnipeg. He’d been shot in the head. His body was left for all to see, as if sending a message.

That same month, on Jan. 29, Hells Angels from Western Canada met with the Los Brovos and remaining Spartan gang members at the Ichi Ban Japanese Steakhouse in downtown Winnipeg.

The Angels and the Los Brovos sat together. The Spartans sat at another table. One of the Spartans was Dan Atkinson, who was the second person killed this week in the West Hawk Lake crash. Atkinson also had full knowledge of who killed Sylvester and Rosmus, according to the gang source.

At the end of the dinner meeting it was agreed the Los Brovos would turn in their gang colours in exchange for the red and white of the Hells Angels, under the wing of the West Coast HA. The Spartans no longer existed.

Within hours the Spartans’ clubhouse on Chalmers was turned over to the new gang in town.

Los Brovos to formalize ties with notorious organization

Angels' wings shelter local bike gang

Sat, Jul 22, 2000

WINNIPEG'S gang scene is to change dramatically tonight as the notorious Hells Angels take the Los Brovos motorcycle gang under their wing.

Members of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang are to accept 12 remaining Los Brovos members as prospects or strikers in a "patchover" at the Los Brovos clubhouse on Chalmers Avenue in East Kildonan.

"The Los Brovos as a club is finished," a source said. "They're going to burn their (gang emblem) colours. By burning their colours it means the club is finished and you'll never hear from them again."

The ceremonial party tonight means that starting tomorrow, the Los Brovos will sport only the lower portion, the Manitoba bottom rocker, of the Hells Angels patch. They will continue in the prospect stage until fully "patched over" in the next year or two.

Tonight's ceremony officially raises the Los Brovos to Manitoba's top gang.

It also means local hard-core bikers, who've had close contact with the Hells Angels both in Quebec and Vancouver for more than a decade, now have a voice in one of the world's most infamous networks.

Welcoming the Los Brovos into the fold are about 55 Hells Angels bikers, some from each chapter across Canada. The Hells Angels are staying at the Howard Johnson Hotel on Ellice Avenue, where they partied last night.

They were met by the Winnipeg Police Service, who showed their own colours.

As of 10 p.m. last night, some Hells Angels had been charged with a handful of Highway Traffic Act offences.

Six charges in total were laid for offences including speeding and driving an unregistered vehicle.

"Otherwise, everything is going smoothly," said (police liaison officer Bob) Johnson.

Officers spent the better part of yesterday afternoon and evening monitoring the comings and goings of each biker, pulling them over for spot checks and traffic infractions at every opportunity, both outside the Ellice Avenue hotel and the Los Brovos clubhouse.

City police even pulled over Los Brovos president Danny Rogoski's car.

At an afternoon press conference, J.P. Levesque of the RCMP's Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada defended the practice of constant, in-your-face spot checks.

"We've been paid to assure the security of the public and our way to do it is to be proactive and ensure there is no problem in town," Levesque said.

Police added they're also checking for outstanding warrants and whether some of these men are allowed to be in Canada.

Sgt. Guy Ouellette, a member of a national task force on outlaw motorcycle gangs who flew in from Quebec to brief police here on the convention, predicted the former Brovos will have a higher profile after the patchover.

He predicted the Brovos will also be sitting at the table with street gangs like the Manitoba Warriors "and establish the rules" as they firm up control over them.

"There's a place for everybody," he said. "There's a lot of money out there (to be made)."

The courting of the Hells Angels by local outlaw bikers has been in the works off and on for about a decade. During that time there has been a biker war, which claimed the Silent Riders, the Redliners and the Spartans gangs, and two high-profile murders, plus the 1996 disappearance of Spartans leader Darwin Sylvester.

Former Brovos president David Boyko was killed in Halifax in May, 1997. Boyko's killers have not been found, but Boyko was attending one of their events when he was shot in the head.

Also shot in the head was Spartan Robert Rosmus in January, 1999. His body was dumped face-up on a snow-covered road just past the Perimeter Highway in Transcona.

As well, three men, including two associated with a local biker gang, were killed in a West Kildonan home in 1996.

The net result is that weak links were eliminated, old scores settled and the way paved for the Hells Angels to move in.

"The Los Brovos have spent the last while weeding out the weak links,'' a source said. "No Hells Angels chapter has more than 10 or 12 guys. That's because you can still do business, but there's less mouths that can open.

"What the Brovos have done is get those people out. What you got now are solid, capable guys who are willing to do anything."

Tonight's patchover brings to six the number of provinces where the ever-expanding Hells Angels have a firm presence.

Standing guard outside the hotel lobby yesterday, a black-vested member of the Brovos coolly eyed a reporter through a pair of dark sunglasses.

"What do you want, man?" the biker asked in a bemused tone as the reporter gingerly made his way into the hotel.

Sitting behind his desk, manager Tony Eyer said he had no qualms about booking his hotel to the bikers, known for their sometimes boisterous behaviour.

"As long as they behave, they're fine with me," said Eyer.

After all, he said, "we get all kinds of groups here."

The enlistment of the Los Brovos comes at a time when the Hells Angels are at war with rival gang the Rock Machine in Quebec -- more than 35 people have been killed since it started in 1994. The Angels have also made rumblings about expanding into Ontario.

Ronald Gagnon - Unsolved Murders (Winnipeg 1984)

April 06, 2007, 12:35:14 AM »
The Ronald Gagnon Murder
At the time of his death, 27-year old Ronald Gagnon was a member of the newly formed Silent Riders Motorcycle Club. He had previously been a member of the Los Brovos Motorcycle Club, but left the group 2 months earlier due to alleged infighting. His murder occurred just 2-days after he first wore the ?colours? of his new club in public.

Ronald Gagnon was last seen alive by his neighbours at 9:30 p.m. on the Monday, July 30, 1984, when he arrived home to 1942 Alexander Avenue on his motorcycle.

At about 11:30 p.m. Gagnon?s neighbours heard his two dogs barking in the back yard and then heard Gagnon open his back door and yell at them to be quite. Shortly after this a loud bang was heard (described as a backfire).

Gagnon?s body was found laying by his back door the following evening (July 31). He had been hit once in the chest with a blast from a 12-guage shotgun. As Gagnon had not been seen or heard from since the night before, it is believed that he was shot about the time his dogs were barking and the neighbours heard the ?backfire?.

A canvass of the area located several witnesses who had seen three males walking toward the back lane behind Gagnon?s house around 11:40 p.m. Minutes after the loud bang was heard the same three individuals were seen running from the area and getting into a beige or beige over dark brown, late 70?s model, full size, 2-door car, possibly a Ford product. The car was observed to speed off down Pacific Avenue with its headlights off and turn south onto King Edward Street.

The murder remains unsolved to this day, however it is believed to have been connected to his involvement in the Silent Riders Motorcycle Club. In a possibly related incident, Ronald Gagnon?s brother, David, also a member of the Silent Riders, was killed a year later during a fight with a member of the Los Brovos. The charges in that case were stayed by the Crown in 1987.

NOTE: Darwin Sylvester, another former member of the Los Brovos and the founding father of the Silent Riders (and later President of the Spartans Motorcycle Club) disappeared on May 29, 1998, after leaving the group?s clubhouse on Chalmers Avenue. However, other than their affiliation with the Silent Riders, there is no known connection between the murder of Ronald Gagnon and the disappearance of Darwin Sylvester.
If you have any information about this case, please contact Crime Stoppers at 786-TIPS (8477), or e-mail Sgt. Al Bradbury and Det. Jon Lutz of the Cold Case Homicide Unit.

DRUGS, BIKERS AND DEATH 24 Jun 2007

How A Hells Angels Associate Took Wings, Met Disaster

A few days ago, RCMP divers pulled the wreckage of C-GKGY out of the cold water of West Hawk Lake, closing the book on the life of Joel Maguet.

The fuselage and wings of the small plane were ripped apart when rookie pilot Maguet and passenger Dan Atkinson hit a power line and crashed into the lake around the dinner hour June 11.

Maguet, 33, and Atkinson, 42, were killed instantly. They were longtime friends, bonding more than a decade ago when they were members of the long-gone Spartans motorcycle gang. With them died any answers as to why they were flying so low over the Whiteshell and the Lake of the Woods.

A drug run? Pilot inexperience? Or just outright stupidity?

Maguet, a pilot for only two months, may have simply been showing off his so-called flying skills for Atkinson when his Mooney Mark 21 hit the cable, according to Atkinson's family. They say that day was Atkinson's first ride in Maguet's single-engine plane.

What didn't die in the lake were the roles Maguet and Atkinson played in Manitoba's outlaw motorcycle gang world and the courting of the Hells Angels during the 1990s.

You could say both had a hand in deciding who got to be chosen to be Hells Angels when the world's largest outlaw motorcycle gang finally came calling.

And if you believe what some say, one of them also had a hand in who didn't.

THE BEGINNING

THE Spartans were created in 1967 in Elmwood by Graham Sylvester, the older brother of Darwin and Kevin.

One of the Spartans' rules was you had to be 21 to join.

Soon after, the Los Brovos sprang up in St. Boniface, with no age requirement. It was created by two men who soon went into other things. One is now a respected businessman in Winnipeg.

Both gangs started off more as a lark, mirroring what was happening south of the border and in pop culture at that time. Bikers, like hippies, were anti-establishment, but more focused on motorcycles, women and beer.

But even then, some bikers had an eye on something bigger. The Hells Angels were a decade old by then, created in Oakland, Calif., in 1957 by gang godfather Sonny Barger.

Jump forward about 20 years and it became obvious to everyone in Winnipeg that the Spartans and Los Brovos weren't just about bikes, babes and beer anymore.

THE 1980S

THE Los Brovos and the Spartans merged in 1982 -- when Joel Maguet, growing up in western Manitoba, was only eight.

The Spartans were led by Darwin Sylvester, a biker who had dreamed of being a Hells Angel since he was a boy.

Sylvester was 25 years old.

The reason for the biker merger was to present a united gang that could be taken over by the Hells Angels.

"They're the big boys. They're the No. 1 motorcycle gang in the world. If you want to advance your career in this business, that's where you go," Sgt. Ken Shipley, head of the city police biker unit, said in a 1996 interview.

By then, the Hells Angels had expanded from California up the West Coast to British Columbia, and east across the United States and up to Quebec.

The Hells Angels have a rule about not expanding into areas where rivals are fighting -- they only want one gang to worry about. Nice and easy. No fuss.

With the merger, the Spartans ceased to exist.

There was peace for a while, but it was uneasy.

A faction within the Los Brovos didn't care about the Angels. They believed by being independent, they had power. They didn't have to answer to anyone in another province or state and could better control the local drug market.

That tension between the two sides flared up when a Los Brovos member was charged with rape in 1983.

The crime made headlines after a deputy police chief was brought in to mediate between the bikers and the victim's angry brothers and father. A van owned by the rape victim's sister was found rigged with dynamite.

Sylvester and his fellow former Spartans wanted the accused man kicked out of the merged gang. He was bad for publicity and brought too much heat. The Los Brovos refused.

In disgust, Sylvester turned in his gang patch. The merger was over, but Sylvester was far from out of the picture.

The Silent Riders

On Aug. 1, 1984, police got a report of a man being shot to death in the back yard of an Alexander Avenue home.

Police and ambulance arrived to find Ron Gagnon's body. He was wearing a Silent Riders T-shirt. Few people had heard of the club.

Later, police learned that Gagnon was one of the founding members, along with Darwin Sylvester. The Silent Riders was Sylvester's answer to the refusal of the Los Brovos to see things his way.

The Los Brovos didn't like the fact there was a new gang in town made up of old enemies.

What followed was Winnipeg's only real gang war. Bombings, shootings and death were the order of the day.

Sylvester, in particular, was singled out for retribution; a bomb blew off the roof of his house Sept. 30, 1984. Two months later, four bombs exploded at properties connected to the Los Brovos.

A year later, Silent Rider member David Gagnon, the brother of Ron Gagnon, was stabbed to death by a Los Brovos member, a killing later accepted in court as an act of self-defence.

Despite a massive police raid, dozens of arrests, and bikers from both sides being sent to jail -- including Sylvester -- the gang war continued for another year.

It then petered out, quietly ending in the back lot of a West End autobody shop when the remaining Silent Riders agreed to burn their gang colours in front of the Los Brovos.

Spartans Rise Again

It was 1990 and Darwin Sylvester was out of jail. Everything that had happened until then had not diminished his dream of being a Hells Angel.

In his attempts to woo the gang, he had come to know Hamilton's Walter Stadnik, national president of the Hells Angels and a frequent flier to Winnipeg. Stadnik also worked closely with the Quebec Hells Angels and saw it as his mission to unite the gang from coast to coast. By working as one, the gang could control the movement and street price of drugs, guaranteeing the Hells Angels and their associates a tidy profit. ( Stadnik's vision would come to pass: Police now say Hells Angels and Asian gangs dominate the drug business in Winnipeg. )

Sylvester knew Stadnik and the Hells Angels wanted Winnipeg, and that they wanted to do it by taking over an existing gang.

Trouble was, some in the Los Brovos viewed their independent status as a trump card. Along with Satan's Choice in Ontario, the Rebels in Saskatchewan and the Grim Reapers in Alberta, many bikers in Western Canada didn't believe signing up with the Hells Angels was a smart move.

Sylvester decided to stir the pot. On New Year's Eve 1991 at the Continental Motor Inn on McPhillips Street, Sylvester and a bunch of other ex-cons, independent bikers and longtime local rounders partied the night away.

When they woke up, they called themselves Spartans. There was another new gang in town and again Sylvester was their leader. They started out slowly in Brandon before moving on to Winnipeg and the Los Brovos.

Spartans Fall Again

Less than two months after the Spartans were reborn, Darwin's younger brother and fellow Spartan Kevin walked into a McPhillips Street nightclub and got into a gunfight with a Los Brovos striker. Both Sylvester and Darren Hunter were hit -- Hunter once, Sylvester seven times. Two other people were shot.

Hunter drew a 12-year prison sentence despite his testimony the shooting was in self-defence. Charges against Sylvester were dropped.

Following the bar shooting, the city faced another violent biker war. If Sylvester was counting on Stadnik and the Hells Angels helping him, he was mistaken.

In late 1994, Stadnik flew into Winnipeg and demanded a truce between the two gangs. By then, the Angels were making money in the local drug trade and didn't want anything to change that.

At that time, Winnipeg was the second most violent place in Canada for biker bloodshed. In Quebec, the Hells Angels were about to battle the Rock Machine in what would prove to be a long, murderous gang war claiming more than 150 lives.

Stadnik's truce didn't solve the problem of setting up a Hells Angels chapter in the city.

So in time he set up a third motorcycle gang, the Red Liners. It also consisted of independent bikers and known drug dealers. The thinking was that by throwing a third gang into the mix, the pot would really start to boil. Whoever rose to the top would become a Hells Angel.

The decision hurt Sylvester, and by the spring of 1995, the Spartans were in disarray.

Key members quit as they saw their chances of becoming Hells Angels evaporate.

Each day Sylvester and his Spartans had less influence than the day before.

Sylvester soon retreated to Brandon, where he worked at a motorcycle repair shop.

Two Spartans still close to him were Joel Maguet and Dan Atkinson. Or so Sylvester thought.

The Housecleaning Begins

In May 1996, long-time Los Brovos member David Boyko was murdered in Halifax while attending a Hells Angels event.

There was a knock on his hotel room door and he left with a man he had met years earlier, Walter Stadnik's bodyguard Donny Magnussen.

Boyko was part of the old guard who believed staying independent was the best way to go for the Los Brovos.

It's believed Magnussen shot Boyko to death to move himself up the ranks of Hells Angels.

He went the other way instead.

On May 23, 1998, Magnussen's bound, decomposed body was pulled out of the St. Lawrence Seaway. After killing Boyko, Magnussen became the bodyguard for Scott Steinert, a flamboyant, high-ranking Montreal Hells Angel and would-be porn star.

It's believed on Nov. 4, 1997 Steinert called on Magnussen to go to a meeting. Both were later beaten to death with a ballpeen hammer, wrapped in plastic and dumped in the seaway. Steinert's body wouldn't surface until about a year later. No one knows why the two were killed, although it's believed to have been part of an internal gang purge.

The Next To Go

By the 1990s, Joel Maguet had grown up and knew all about the Hells Angels.

He and Dan Atkinson were players in the Spartans, which by this time was essentially a spent force, save for the aspirations of Darwin Sylvester. Maguet and Atkinson had been around the gang for several years. Despite his youth, Maguet had racked up a longer criminal record than Atkinson, nine years older.

Maguet was convicted in 1992 of assault causing bodily harm, possession of a weapon in 1994 and improper storage of a weapon in 1998.

Charges against him of assault, sexual assault, assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon were dropped in 1994.

Atkinson, on the other hand, had only a traffic violation on his rap sheet -- a sheet that listed his address as being on Chalmers Avenue, about a block away from the Spartans' clubhouse at 650 Chalmers.

By the spring of 1998, it was becoming clear Stadnik and the Hells Angels were going to put down roots in Winnipeg. Those plans did not include Darwin Sylvester.

Ever the plotter, Sylvester did the unthinkable -- he started talking to Hells Angels rival Rock Machine about a possible alliance.

A Hells Angels source recently told the Free Press Maguet was doing some plotting of his own.

Maguet had served as president of the Spartans while Sylvester was in jail on a year-long jail sentence for extortion.

In late May, that sentence was up. Sylvester left a Regina halfway house and returned to Winnipeg, expecting to head up the Spartans once again.

On May 29, a week after leaving Regina, Sylvester vanished, shortly after leaving the Spartans clubhouse to go to a meeting.

The Hells Angels source said two of the last people to see Sylvester alive were Maguet and fellow Spartan Robert Rosmus. Rosmus is said to have driven the car to take Sylvester to his death. Whether Sylvester knew he was going to see Maguet is not known.

What is known, the biker source said, is that Maguet killed him and with Rosmus's help, got rid of the body.

It's long been rumoured Sylvester was ground up for animal feed.

The same source also said it's common knowledge in the biker world that Maguet killed Rosmus in January 1999, shooting him in the head and leaving him face up in the middle of an access road in a construction site east of the Perimeter Highway.

"He couldn't be trusted to keep his mouth shut ( about Sylvester's killing )," said the source.

There was also the possibility Rosmus planned to break from the Spartans and head up a new gang to compete against the Los Brovos and its plans to become Hells Angels.

Whatever the reason, the killings of Sylvester and Rosmus effectively ended any chance for the Spartans to ever become a farm team for the Hells Angels.

One of those present in January 1999 when a decision was made by the West Coast Hells Angels to accept the Los Brovos ( and one Red Liner ) as Canada's newest Hells Angels was Dan Atkinson. The same meeting saw the disbandment of the Spartans. ( Stadnik was now out of the picture as he was busy dealing with the gang war in Quebec ).

The decision did not prevent Maguet from working for the Hells Angels. In fact, by the time the Los Brovos were accepted into the Hells Angels' fold in July 2000, at a weekend ceremony at the former Spartans Chalmers clubhouse, Maguet was already gearing up to grow marijuana for them.

At least until October 2001.

That's when a tip led RCMP to Maguet's massive underground pot bunker on a farm near Dauphin. Also found inside were membership lists of the Hells Angels in Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

RCMP said the pot-growing scheme, involving eight buried railway boxcars, took at least two years to plan and build and could produce $1.4 million worth of weed a year. Police seized about 2,000 plants and believe the operation had been running for about one year.

Maguet was described as the "governing mind" of the elaborate operation and was sentenced to five years, three months in prison. He got day parole by September 2002 and full parole a year later under Ottawa's accelerated review process.

"During your incarceration, there has been no indication of or evidence of violent behaviour," the National Parole Board said in September 2002.

"Your case management team continues to support your release as they do not feel that you have the potential to become violent."

Maguet also acknowledged his involvement with the bikers, but said since the Spartans had disbanded, he had had no contact with any gang members.

The Hells Angels source told the Free Press Maguet never left the drug world.

He had recently got his pilot's licence and bought his plane to transport drugs for the bikers around the country because moving it along the Trans-Canada Highway had become too risky.

"He knew taking up that plane would equal a hell of a lot more money," the source said.

Loose Ends

This summer, the Hells Angels will celebrate seven years in Manitoba.

In those seven years, a lot has changed.

Of the 12 original Manitoba Hells Angels, one has been deported, one has retired and at least three have been expelled by the gang.

Two more are in prison, convicted of drug trafficking after RCMP placed an undercover mole within the club. A third is waiting for his trial.

Police raids and arrests over the past seven years have also revealed some gang members aren't well organized; they'd just as soon undercut one another than outside rivals.

Younger bikers, moved up the ranks from puppet club the Zig Zag Crew, are trying to change that. They're slowly changing how the club operates, bringing in more top-down control. The Manitoba club now also has an alliance with Regina's Hells Angels.

Though the gang remains one of the primary sources of cocaine in the province, some say the local Hells Angels are a spent force and ripe for picking if a rival gang, like the Bandidos motorcycle gang, were to set up shop.

They point to the recent stabbing of a 34-year-old Hells Angel in a Corydon Avenue bar as an example, but that might be stretching things. It turns out the assailant was the same man who was beaten with a baseball bat by two Hells Angels in June 2000 outside the Chalmers clubhouse. Bad blood doesn't mean full-out gang war.

The fact is, the Hells Angels have adapted themselves to work with whomever they need to get the job done.

And until the plane hit the lake, two of them included old foes Joel Maguet and his pal Dan Atkinson.

Police going door-to-door in biker war Friday, July 15, 2011

Winnipeg police are taking the unusual step of sending officers door-to-door to talk to residents about the biker war.

As early as today, uniformed officers will start dropping by neighbourhoods throughout the city in which bikers or their associates living nearby, although a police spokesman said officers won't be naming the gang or pointing out exact addresses.

The goal is creating a "heightened awareness" of the situation, police said, and also ask for the public's help reporting any suspicious activity.

"We don't want to create panic. We don't want to create undue stress on individuals. We want to empower them," said Const. Jason Michalyshen, a city police spokesman.

He reiterated earlier comments that the vast majority of the violence — firebombings and shootings — has been targeted at homes or businesses with links to outlaw motorcycle gangs.

Street-level associates of the Rock Machine and the Hells Angels in Winnipeg have been locked in a battle over turf for at least a month, resulting in more than a dozen firebombings and shootings.

Fire damages used car shop in St. Boniface Sunday, July 10, 2011

Fire crews managed to extinguish a fire that broke out just after 12:00 a.m. Sunday morning.

The fire was contained to the office area of a used car dealership in the St. Boniface neighbourhood.

No injuries were reported.

Some windows in the building sustained damage, but no vehicles appear to be affected.

A damage estimate is not available at this time.

The Winnipeg Police Arson Unit and the Office of the Fire Commissioner are investigating.

Police investigate suspected firebombing : Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Police investigate suspected firebombing : Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Winnipeg police are investigating a suspected fire bombing in Elmwood.

Around 2:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, officers were called to Mighton Avenue.

Reports from the scene suggest the resident arrived home to find the house fire-bombed.

Police spent hours marking a number of spots around the home, as evidence.

Officers are not commenting Tuesday evening, only calling it a "fire-related incident." The Arson Strike Force is investigating.

Whether this is related to the simmering biker gang war is unknown.There have been a series of fire-bombings, which police recently confirmed is the result of a brewing battle between two rival gangs. The Rock Machine Motorcylce Gang and a puppet club of the Hells Angels.

On Sunday, a used car dealership DC Automotive was hit by the latest firebombing, it's the same dealership where a Rock Machine member was beaten last year, the owner of the business denies any gang ties.

And before that, three shootings in one week occured in south Winnipeg, they're all believed to be tied to gangs.

One drive-by shooting in fort rouge, sent a 14-year-old boy into emergency surgery, after he was shot in the hip.

Simmering biker war fueling firebombings, shootings: Winnipeg cops Wednesday, July 13, 2011 3:02 PM

WINNIPEG - Winnipeg police say they are cracking down on an escalating outlaw motorcycle gang turf war after a rash of firebombings and shootings.

Police say rival biker gangs are attempting to corner the Winnipeg drug trade and a 14-year-old boy has already been caught in the crossfire.

"It's about drugs, it's about illegal activity," said Const. Jason Michalyshen. "They are trying to get a foothold on our communities and our city for the sale of those drugs. They are doing everything in their power to intimidate one another."

Police know of seven attempted firebombings in the last few weeks, including a tattoo parlour that was hit early Wednesday morning. Five other homes and businesses have been riddled with bullets. A 14-year-old was injured last week.

Some people have been arrested on lesser charges and two people are in custody for the most recent firebombing, Michalyshen said.

"We are concerned that these incidents are occurring," he said. "We have homes that are being targeted. We have shootings where houses are being struck by numerous bullets ... When we have firearms being discharged in our community, it's putting a lot of people at risk."

Michalyshen wouldn't name the gangs involved, but the conflict is said to involve affiliates of the Rock Machine and the Hells Angels.

Previous crackdowns and mass arrests of gang members in recent years have created a "void" in the city, he said. Police are beefing up resources to quell the violence, even if it means bringing people into custody for minor infractions, he added.

"Despite this violence, we are working hard," Michalyshen said. "We are monitoring these individuals extremely carefully and if we are in a position to make an arrest, as minor as it might be, we will move forward."

Attorney General Andrew Swan said the province is doing whatever it can to make Manitoba a "hostile environment" for biker gangs.

"It is a constant fight in Manitoba, as it is in other provinces, to take on organized crime and make sure that crime does not pay," he said. "It's a concern when events like this are happening. People are entitled to be safe in their homes, in their neighbourhoods, in their businesses and in their communities."

In 2009, police agencies from Manitoba and British Columbia made sweeping arrests following drug-related raids in Winnipeg and elsewhere in the province, including a Hells Angels clubhouse. Some 31 people were arrested as part of the long-term investigation into organized crime called Project Divide.

Two men in custody after firebomb attempt at Osborne Village tattoo parlour : Wednesday, July 13, 2011 1:59 PM

Before sunrise Winnipeg police raced to investigate yet another incident in the city’s escalating biker gang warfare, ultimately taking two men into custody.

Around 5:00 a.m. it’s believed 187 Ink, a tattoo shop in Osborne Village was targeted with a firebomb, but no blaze broke out and no one was hurt.

“This is violence in our city, we should all be concerned,” said Cst. Jason Michalyshen Wednesday morning.

Police released the following long laundry list of incidents tied to the growing rivalry.

· Fire - June 14 – 1800 block of Logan Ave.

· Shots – June 26 – 100 block of Mighton Ave.

Shots – June 27 - 1500 Roy Ave.

· Shots - June 28 – first 100 of Canberra Rd.

· Shots – June 29 – 100 block of Stranmillis Ave.

· Firearm located – June 29th – 100 block of Kingston Row

· Male shot – July 4 – first 100 block of Taft Cres.

· Fire – July 6 – 1800 block of Logan Ave.

· Fire – July 10 – 200 block St. Mary’s Rd.

· Fire – July 10 - 200 block of Royal Aven.

· Fire – July 11 - 1700 block of King Edward St.

· Fire - July 12 – 100 block of Mighton Ave.

· Fire – July 13 – 100 block of Osborne St.

Police say they’ve made15 arrests dealing with the biker conflicts. A variety of breaches, drug possession and outstanding warrants are the alleged charges.

Shooting in Fort Rouge Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Shooting in Fort Rouge Wednesday, July 6, 2011
A teenager was wounded when a Fort Rouge house was riddled with bullets early Monday morning.

Police rushed to the 100 block of Taft Crescent at 3:45 a.m. after the shooting. Holes from at least 22 shots could be seen in the house.

A 14-year-old boy was shot in the hip and is currently in stable condition in hospital.

The house next door was also hit by the gunfire. Neighbour Margaret Morrisette was shaken up from the early morning incident.

“We were lucky… the cops said we’re lucky to be alive,” said Morrisette, “They just missed the mattress by two inches, like our heads are right there where the bullet holes are.”

Last week, a home on Stranmillis Ave. in St Vital was shot up and set on fire. Police said that attack was likely connected to rising tensions between rival motorcycle gang – but Police wouldn’t say whether they thought Monday’s attack was also connected or what may have motivated it.

Police also wouldn’t say what type of weapon could have sprayed so many bullets in a short time.

The investigation is continuing by members of the Organized Crime Unit

Winnipeg on verge of biker war, police say March 9, 2010

WINNIPEG — Winnipeg police say the recent collapse of the Hells Angels has created a toxic environment that has the city on the verge of a dangerous biker war.

"Tensions are extremely high . . . violence is imminent," a veteran Winnipeg police officer with extensive knowledge of the organized crime scene wrote last month in newly released court documents obtained Monday by the Winnipeg Free Press.

Police explain in detail why they believe the relative calm of the past few months is about to be broken — including evidence of gang members stockpiling weapons in preparation to take out their rival "by any means necessary." The document was used to obtain a search warrant for a home in the city's East Kildonan neighbourhood, where a loaded handgun was found hidden in a backyard last month.

Police say a pair of newly arrived gangs are at the centre of the brewing battle as they try to fill the "vacuum" created by a major undercover sting operation dubbed "Project DIVIDE" that ended last December. Police used a career criminal turned secret agent to infiltrate the Hells Angels, resulting in the arrests of 34 high-ranking members and associates.

Police say every member of the Zig Zag Crew — the Hells Angels so-called "puppet club" — was put behind bars while only a handful of Hells Angels remain free. With the demand for drugs as high as ever, the criminal underworld was thrown into turmoil.

Police say two major events occurred earlier this winter which have set the stage for an ugly spring.

"The Rock Machine has been attempting to establish a foothold in the province of Manitoba due to the arrests in DIVIDE. Members of the Rock Machine have been capitalizing on the fact the Hells Angels members and supporters are low in number and have been 'flying' their colours throughout the city of Winnipeg, enraging members of the Manitoba Hells Angels," police wrote in their court affidavit.

The Rock Machine have a long history with the Hells Angels in Quebec, especially during the 1990s when dozens of gang members were killed. But they are new to Winnipeg.

The Hells Angels responded quickly despite their diminished state, according to police.

Two long-time members of the gang assembled a new group in January to stand up to Rock Machine members trying to take over Winnipeg's drug scene. The "Redlined Support Crew" is comprised entirely of imposing young men who are free in the community and have previously shown their allegiance to the Hells Angels — at least informally.

The Redlined Crew made their first big impression in mid-January when they allegedly lured a Rock Machine member to an auto repair shop which has connections to the Hells Angels.

"He was attacked by several members of the Redlined Support Crew and suffered a vicious beating. Two members of the Hells Angels were also present," police wrote.

The victim was rushed to hospital in serious condition and required emergency surgery. He has not been co-operative with police and the case remains under investigation with no charges laid.

"As a result of this altercation, members of the Hells Angels, Redlined Support Crew and Rock Machine have all armed themselves as retribution is expected from both sides," police wrote. "There is imminent violence being planned . . . it is unknown at what time or place this violence could or would occur."

Police used the search warrant they were granted to raid a home on Feb. 3. Members of the heavily-armed Tactical Support Team found a loaded, 9-millimetre gun hidden under some snow in a "dog run" protected by a large, angry animal.

"The dog was going buck," a Winnipeg Crown attorney told court last Friday at a bail hearing for the homeowner, Justin MacLeod.

MacLeod — described by police as six foot three, 300 pounds — is allegedly one of the men recruited by the Hells Angels for the Redlined Support Crew. Police seized several items from inside his home, including a Redlined Winnipeg vest and toque, a gold ring with the gang's name on it, and a framed picture of the Hells Angels Manitoba chapter, taken in British Columbia last summer.

MacLeod was charged with numerous weapons offenses, along with his girlfriend and another man. He had also been free on bail from a November 2009 arrest for an alleged sexual assault and forcible confinement of a woman who police say was forced to strip naked and dance for several hours during a party.

Police also claim MacLeod was one of the Redlined Crew members who participated in the January attack on the Rock Machine member.

Defence lawyer Danny Gunn told court his client has no idea how the gun got on his property and denies ownership. He said the weapon could have been put there by anybody. A judge agreed to release MacLeod on bail, including a $15,000 surety and 11 p.m. nightly curfew, despite protests from the Crown.

"The Crown is concerned that when he gets out, these issues are going to resume between the Rock Machine," the prosecutor warned court Friday.

Province seizes Hells Angels clubhouse in Winnipeg Thursday, July 29, 2010

Police and provincial justice officials swooped in on a Manitoba Hells Angels club house in Winnipeg Thursday morning – seizing the entire property and everything in it.

The province said it got a court order Thursday morning allowing it to take over the property at 2679 Scotia Street under the Criminal Property Forfeiture Act.

“The claim alleges the property was used as a place to plan and carry out criminal activity,” the province said in a news release. “Along with real estate, items such as cash and valuables can be forfeited.”

Officials could be seen removing computers and other items from the property, which is protected by an iron gate sporting the iconic Hells Angels logo. Crews removed the gates, putting a symbolic end to the reign of the alleged organized crime group in the north Winnipeg neighbourhood.

Gord Schumacher, with the Criminal Property Forfeiture Unit told Global News, “We’re alleging that this clubhouse was used in certain aspects in criminal activity and as such, should be forfeited.”

“Money laundering, breaches of the liquor act, proceeds of crime, among others. And it’s based on those charges, that we are here today, “ explained Schumacher.

It’s the latest blow to the biker gang in Manitoba, which has seen several high ranking members jailed after police stings relying on informants who provided video and audio recordings of drug deals.

The province says claims on properties under the Criminal Property Forfeiture Act have been made 35 times since the legislation was enacted; with property valued at more than $9 million currently being pursued.