OFF THE WIRE
BY STEVE E. SWENSON, Californian staff writer
sswenson@bakersfield.com |
A man was arrested Wednesday on murder, attempted murder and gang charges in connection with the May 30 stabbing death of a Vagos motorcycle gang member and the wounding of another Vagos member in Oildale, Kern County sheriff's deputies reported.
Michael Henry Pena, also known as Delano Mike, 44, was arrested at Pirate Tattoo Shop, 1905 N. Chester Ave., the scene of the rival gang fight in which Vagos members Roger Anthony Violano, 18, was killed and Nerl Rinehart, 69, was injured, according to sheriff's news release issued Wednesday and an earlier search warrant in Kern County Superior Court.
Pena, who was convicted in 2002 of a misdemeanor charge of criminal threats and in 2005 for a vehicle code violation, was named in a July 30 arrest warrant as a suspect in Violano's killing, according to records in Kern County Superior Court.
The search warrant filed in June also said Pena was a Hell's Angel member or associate.
In the North Chester Avenue incident, deputies received a report of a fight outside the Pirate Tattoo Shop. Motorcycles were leaving as deputies arrived and witnesses were uncooperative, deputies reported.
A short time later Violano and Rinehart showed up at Kern Medical Center, deputies said.
The search warrant said deputies returned to the tattoo shop and saw five motorcycles parked in front, including three identified as belonging to Hell's Angels members or associates. One of those was Pena's, the warrant said.
As deputies were at the shop, a car with Pena inside drove by, the warrant said.
The investigation is ongoing, deputies said.
Bakersfield police said in July interviews that three motorcycle gangs -- the Hell's Angels, Vagos and Mongols -- have recently caught the attention of gang investigators in Kern County who will be proactive in trying to stem any crime.
Police urged the public to be "good witnesses" but otherwise take a hands-off approach.
If Pena is convicted of the charges as a Hell's Angel member or associate, it would be the first case of Hell's Angels violence in Kern County since the 1970s, according to police and a book about the gang. An autobiographical book about Ralph "Sonny" Barger of Oakland, a former leader of the gang, says members came to Bakersfield in the 1960s and 1970s when they engaged in bar fights.
Associates of the Hell's Angels, David and Terri Wilson of Bakersfield, were involved in a 2001 fight between the Hell's Angels and two Exiles motorcycle club members in Kings County. The couple were convicted of assault and holding a person against his will, Kings County prosecutors reported.
