Fontana Ca, Trial for pair of Vagos members begins

OFF THE WIRE
FONTANA - Lawyers delivered opening remarks Monday in the trial for two Vagos motorcycle club members who face charges in the beating and shooting death of a Fontana man over the sale of a motorcycle.

Prosecuto rs say the victim, 34-year-old Dennis Daoussis, was beaten at a Banana Street home in April 2003, bound with zip ties and duct tape, then taken by pickup truck to the desert community of Landers.

Deputy District Attorney John Thomas told the jury in his remarks that the cause of Daoussis' death was centered around an unpaid debt to Sammy Langager, a Vagos member who entrusted Daoussis with money to buy a motorcycle.

Thomas also outlined the roles of the two men on trial. Keith Allen Silva, 47, was president of the Berdoo Chapter of the Vagos at the time. David Anthony Beltran, 35, was sergeant at arms of the Inland Empire Chapter, Thomas explained.

Defense lawyer Dan Faulhaber, who represents Silva, told the jury that the case obviously was a "who done it." There was no question, he said, that Daoussis died in Landers.

"The sole and important question is, who done it?" Faulhaber said. The defense lawyer said a witness will testify that Langager was at the Fontana home where member Andrew Lozano lived, that Langager was mad and that there was a beating.

"But Dennis Daoussis walked out of the Lozano home, walked on his own power," Faulhaber said. The victim was gone 15 to 30 minutes before Beltran's black Dodge pickup left, he said

According to prosecutors, Langager, a Vagos member, loaned Daoussis $3,000 to purchase a Harley Davidson motorcycle. Langager waited all night at the parking lot of an Ontario truck stop for Daoussis, a Vagos associate, to return. He never did.

Sheriff's detectives say Langager never received the motorcycle, and he wasn't given his money back. The night of the shooting, Daoussis was out with two people who saw him with $2,000.

Daoussis showed up at the truck stop, and he was taken to the Banana Street home. Once there, someone asked Langager what he planned to do about the money, and the victim tossed $2,000 on a table.

But it wasn't enough, say prosecutors. Langager took a swing at Daoussis, which missed, and several members jumped in to beat the victim.

When the pickup left the Banana Street home, Beltran was driving and Silva was in the passenger seat, Thomas said. Two other men were also in the truck, but they were dropped off at a bar off Interstate 10, near Interstate 215.

An ATV rider found Daoussis' body on April 5, 2003 on Ming Road in Landers. He had suffered a gunshot to the left temple.

Thomas told the jury that the Vagos is a structured organization of 400 members that follows "a strict set of rules." Prosecutors plan to call an expert who will testify that the attack on Daoussis could not have happened without Silva's approval.

Sheriff's detectives investigated the case, but the trail went cold in 2003 in two different directions, Thomas told jurors. The first direction pointed at the Vagos while the second pointed at the victim's drug ties.

Thomas told jurors that Daoussis was involved in drugs and could have lost money that way.

But in 2006, Sheriff's Detective Greg Myler submitted clothing and a towel found near the body for DNA testing. The DNA profile on the black Hanes t-shirt matched Lozano, while the DNA profile on the white towel matched Beltran.

Lozano was arrested in the case, but Vagos members insist he wasn't at the present at the beating. Charges were dismissed against Lozano in May 2008, according to court records.

Beltran was arrested in 2007, while Silva was arrested last year. Both defendants face charges of murder and torture, with special allegations for the use of a firearm and benefitting a street gang, in Fontana Superior Court.

Beltran's lawyer, Peter Morreale, told the court that he reserved his remarks for later in the trial. Testimony is expected to continue today.


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