BY: Robert Patrick
stltoday.com
One of the men accused last week of being part of a murderous "outlaw" biker gang called Wheels of Soul was once the very opposite of outlaw.
Norman James "Justice" Vick was a police officer in Berkeley for 15 years, until 2008. At the time of his arrest, he was earning $13.50 an hour as a part-time security officer for the St. Louis marshal's office.
Vick was one of two city workers among the 21 people from around the U.S. who were indicted.
The other, Lawrence "Pac" Pinkston, 42, works part time as a utility worker in the city's forestry division, earning $13.20 an hour.
Vick, 45, was hired by the city in February, after he left the Wheels of Soul. He still holds a license as a police officer in Missouri and a license to work in the security business in Illinois, state records show.
His lawyer, John Stobbs, said that Vick's other part-time job is performing background checks for a private company.
Stobbs said Vick was a Berkeley officer from 1993 to 2008 and attained the rank of sergeant.
During a court hearing Friday held to decide if Vick, Pinkston and two others would be held in jail until trial, St. Louis County police intelligence unit Detective Andria Van Mierlo said that in June 2007, Vick was outside a motorcycle club in East St. Louis when another biker asked Vick to move so that he could park.
Vick responded by putting on brass knuckles and punching the rider in the helmet, breaking his face shield, Van Mierlo claimed. Vick and members of the Sin City Desciples biker gang then began hitting and stomping the man, she said.
The alleged victim then complained about the incident to Berkeley.
Van Mierlo also said that when investigators showed up to arrest Vick at 5 a.m. July 12, he answered the door pointing a revolver at them.
Sam Dotson, City Hall operations director, said that Vick was responsible for security at various locations in City Hall when full-time staff members were off. He said that Vick would have been armed while on duty, but had to provide his own firearm. Dotson said that Vick was required to obtain a background check from both the city and St. Louis County, and that there were no red flags in those checks.
Dotson and the city's personnel department said they did not know what, if anything, Berkeley shared about Vick's tenure there.
Marshal Ron Hill did not return a message seeking comment.
Berkeley officials have not responded to phone calls seeking more information about his tenure there, or a Sunshine Law request seeking a copy of the 2007 complaint.
Prosecutors blame the Philadelphia-based Wheels on Soul for murders, arson, drug dealing and other crimes.
Lawyers for Vick and the three others here who were indicted tried to distance their clients Friday from the indictment's allegations.
The men, their lawyers said, are husbands, fathers and hard workers. All have pleaded not guilty.
The boasting about violent acts that was caught secretly on tape was just bravado, suggested lawyers and relatives.
In that hearing, Stobbs pointed out that Vick was not charged in the alleged East St. Louis incident.
He has not been a Wheels member since his marriage, and Stobbs called Vick's pregnant wife to the stand to say that they did not know that police were in the unmarked cars that on July 12 pulled up and set the family's three dogs barking.
Pinkston, the club's former secretary and vice president, also has another part-time job, his lawyer, Adam Fein, said in court. Fein would also later point out to U.S. Magistrate Judge Frederick Buckles that Pinkston had a family that had showed up in court to support him, that he did not even have a motorcycle and that he had been kicked out of the gang.
If released from jail before trial, both Vick and Pinkston will find a letter at home terminating their employment with the city, Dotson said.
Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_eb535c09-22fb-586a-b922-d3b2df202897.html#ixzz1ShsUpu10
Norman James "Justice" Vick was a police officer in Berkeley for 15 years, until 2008. At the time of his arrest, he was earning $13.50 an hour as a part-time security officer for the St. Louis marshal's office.
Vick was one of two city workers among the 21 people from around the U.S. who were indicted.
The other, Lawrence "Pac" Pinkston, 42, works part time as a utility worker in the city's forestry division, earning $13.20 an hour.
Vick, 45, was hired by the city in February, after he left the Wheels of Soul. He still holds a license as a police officer in Missouri and a license to work in the security business in Illinois, state records show.
His lawyer, John Stobbs, said that Vick's other part-time job is performing background checks for a private company.
Stobbs said Vick was a Berkeley officer from 1993 to 2008 and attained the rank of sergeant.
During a court hearing Friday held to decide if Vick, Pinkston and two others would be held in jail until trial, St. Louis County police intelligence unit Detective Andria Van Mierlo said that in June 2007, Vick was outside a motorcycle club in East St. Louis when another biker asked Vick to move so that he could park.
Vick responded by putting on brass knuckles and punching the rider in the helmet, breaking his face shield, Van Mierlo claimed. Vick and members of the Sin City Desciples biker gang then began hitting and stomping the man, she said.
The alleged victim then complained about the incident to Berkeley.
Van Mierlo also said that when investigators showed up to arrest Vick at 5 a.m. July 12, he answered the door pointing a revolver at them.
Sam Dotson, City Hall operations director, said that Vick was responsible for security at various locations in City Hall when full-time staff members were off. He said that Vick would have been armed while on duty, but had to provide his own firearm. Dotson said that Vick was required to obtain a background check from both the city and St. Louis County, and that there were no red flags in those checks.
Dotson and the city's personnel department said they did not know what, if anything, Berkeley shared about Vick's tenure there.
Marshal Ron Hill did not return a message seeking comment.
Berkeley officials have not responded to phone calls seeking more information about his tenure there, or a Sunshine Law request seeking a copy of the 2007 complaint.
Prosecutors blame the Philadelphia-based Wheels on Soul for murders, arson, drug dealing and other crimes.
Lawyers for Vick and the three others here who were indicted tried to distance their clients Friday from the indictment's allegations.
The men, their lawyers said, are husbands, fathers and hard workers. All have pleaded not guilty.
The boasting about violent acts that was caught secretly on tape was just bravado, suggested lawyers and relatives.
In that hearing, Stobbs pointed out that Vick was not charged in the alleged East St. Louis incident.
He has not been a Wheels member since his marriage, and Stobbs called Vick's pregnant wife to the stand to say that they did not know that police were in the unmarked cars that on July 12 pulled up and set the family's three dogs barking.
Pinkston, the club's former secretary and vice president, also has another part-time job, his lawyer, Adam Fein, said in court. Fein would also later point out to U.S. Magistrate Judge Frederick Buckles that Pinkston had a family that had showed up in court to support him, that he did not even have a motorcycle and that he had been kicked out of the gang.
If released from jail before trial, both Vick and Pinkston will find a letter at home terminating their employment with the city, Dotson said.
Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_eb535c09-22fb-586a-b922-d3b2df202897.html#ixzz1ShsUpu10
