CALIFORNIA - Chosen Few motorcycle gang is targeted in crackdown

OFF THE WIRE
The criminal activity of a notorious and violent motorcycle gang has been “significantly curtailed” thanks to a year-long multi-agency initiative, authorities said Thursday.

Several leaders and members of the so-called Chosen Few Motorcycle Club, which authorities describe as a criminal gang, have been arrested and incarcerated, according to he Los Angeles Police Department.

The task force formed in May 2010 included members of the LAPD; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Agency; the California Department of Motor Vehicles; the California Department of Justice; and the Los Angeles city attorney’s office.

“Its primary purpose was to reduce the criminal activities of the Chosen Few" Motorcycle Club, according to an LAPD statement.

Officials said the gang was formed in Los Angeles in 1960 and is headquartered in the 10800 block of South Broadway. During the first four months of 2010 “the club was involved in three shootings and a homicide,” officials said.
The task force crackdown on the Chosen Few yielded substantial amounts of Phencyclidine, commonly known as PCP; crack and powder cocaine; marijuana; and firearms, according to officials.

In one case, a DMV employee is accused of creating fraudulent identities that were used by club members to purchase firearms, according to officials.

The city attorney’s office is seeking charges against nine Chosen Few members for crimes including sale of cocaine and marijuana, assault weapons violations, and gang enhancements, officials said.

“Let other motorcycle gangs operating in the city of Los Angeles take note; we will shut you down and keep you down,” LAPD deputy chief Patrick Gannon said in a statement. “Crime is not welcome here.”

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/07/chosen-few-motorcycle-gang-targeted.html