Arizona, Report: Hells Angels Started Rival Shootout

OFF THE WIRE
Source: kpho.com
New police reports show that a member of the Hells Angels started a shootout with rival biker gang "Los Vagos" in Chino Valley last month.

The conclusion of a DPS investigator after the shootout was released Monday.

Detective Michael Koepte wrote in an affidavit that the Hells angels are going after the Vagos and "creating a path of terror and destruction for innocent bystanders in the aftermath."

Among the evidence seized in a search after the shootout, the reports show many handguns, ammunition, jewelry with various Vagos or Hells Angels logos, a tri-state roster of members, clothing with patches and prints of logos for both groups, motorcycles, a 2006 Range Rover, trucks, West Coast meeting notes, cars, brass knuckles, knives, cellphones, computer towers, laptops, a photo album, bloody gloves, and a Ruger Millennium black semiautomatic handgun.

Officials said the rival gangs were hanging out in houses not too far apart in this small community north of Prescott. They said the gangs got in some sort of fight on Aug. 21, and got in an old fashioned shootout, right in the middle of the road.

The documents state that witnesses saw a Hells Angels member shooting and hitting Vagos members as they drove their bikes down the street. Officials arrested 27 bikers and located at least 50 shell casings.

The Angels house was at 2670 Yuma Drive. The Vagos had recently bought a house just up the block at 2920 Yuma Drive.