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MCs in the News
MANCHESTER – A pizzeria owner was arrested Saturday for allegedly firing his gun in a parking lot after a fight among rival motorcycle gangs that started inside his restaurant spilled outside.
"If you have 25 people storming the place, what would you do?" said Petros Kostakis, co-owner of Luigi's Pizza Bar & Grille on Valley Street. "Fear for my employees and me -- that's what I did."
Police Saturday charged Kostakis, 52, of 626 Cohas Ave., Manchester, with reckless conduct. He was released on $10,000 personal recognizance bail and faces arraignment May 14 in Manchester District Court.
Police said he fired his gun in a parking lot while others were nearby during the April 16 incident.
"Trying to scare the bad guys here and maybe get the police to get here faster," Kostakis said in an interview after his arrest. "If you're scared for your life in your own house, what would you do?"
A witness told a New Hampshire Union Leader reporter last week that Kostakis fired several rounds from a handgun once Hell's Angels members moved to a parking lot. "I think he did it because he got scared," the man said.
A customer waiting to pick up a pizza, Manchester Memorial High School senior Jared Pellerin, was struck in the hand by pellets from a .20-gauge shotgun allegedly fired by a Londonderry man, police said. A person answering the phone at Pellerin's house Saturday said the teenager had returned home from the hospital.
Two days before his arrest, Kostakis recounted how tensions built once about 20 members of the Hell's Angels and another motorcycle gang, Milford & Co., some wearing colors, simultaneously stepped through the front and rear entrances.
"You could feel it in the air," said Kostakis, who said he has no explanation for why the gangs chose his place for a brawl.
Their target was Fernando Daraujo, a 40-year-old who was wearing a shirt displaying the name of a third motorcycle gang, the Outlaws, according to a friend of Daraujo. Although the Hell's Angels and Outlaws have a historic rivalry, the friend said, Daraujo might be the only Outlaw in the city of Manchester.
"Basically, (the Hell's Angels) said, 'You guys need to come outside or it's going to happen right here in the bar,'" said the friend, who contacted the New Hampshire Union Leader about the incident but asked he not be identified.
Next, Daraujo's friend said, one of the people with the Hell's Angels threw a punch, and pandemonium followed.
"Nobody knew what was going on. There were things flying everywhere, people flying everywhere," the man said.
"I was scared for my life, scared for my employees," said Kostakis, who noted that his business has suffered since the fight.
Both men spoke to the Union Leader last week. Kostakis wanted to let people know his sports bar/restaurant is not a biker hangout and said the "bizarre" event is a one-time occurrence.
He has since posted a sign on his door saying that anyone wearing gang colors insignia will not be served. "As far as I know, this wasn't labeled as a gang hangout. Everybody's money is just as green as everyone else's," Kostakis said.
The man who contacted the Union Leader said he wants the entire truth to come out. Police verified most of the man's statements but declined comment on others.
Three other people have been arrested since the confrontation.
Kristofer Haken, 31, of Londonderry, whom police have described as an Outlaws affiliate, has been charged with first-degree assault and felony reckless conduct in Pellerin's shooting. Haken's girlfriend, Alisha Cote, 24, is charged with hindering apprehension and falsifying physical evidence.
Daraujo faces two outstanding charges of cocaine sales that are not related to the brawl, police said.
Daraujo's friend said Haken is a veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Police confirmed that Haken served in the military but said they are unaware of details of his service.
About seven people were sitting at a table with Daraujo, making no trouble, when a Hell's Angels member left the bar, Daraujo's friend said. Five minutes later, 20 members of Hell's Angels and Milford & Co. were at the doors, he said.
"The Outlaws really didn't start fighting. They were edgy but did not start the fight," Kostakis said. Kostakis said the fight started inside, but then moved outside.
Kostakis said the shotgun blast that injured Pellerin took place as Hell's Angels were leaving the parking lot. He said a total of two shotgun blasts and a couple of handgun rounds were fired.
Daraujo's friend also said the Hell's Angels tried to stab one person during the fight.
Detective Sgt. John Patti last week wouldn't say if other weapons were involved.
Patti said Kostakis has cooperated with police and turned over surveillance-camera videos of the bar and the back parking lot.
Police still are trying to identify everyone in the videos and Patti predicted more arrests.
"The videos show just about everything," he said. "There's plenty of camera angles."
Kostakis said Saturday that he didn't know whether he was on any video showing him in the parking lot with his gun.
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