OFF THE WIRE
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office had a busy Sunday.
Two local
motorcycle clubs,
a three piece patch club and a one piece patch club, had a brief and
non-violent disagreement at the David Mann Chopperfest at the County
Fairgrounds Sunday afternoon. Local deputies as well as Ventura Police
and the California Highway Patrol responded by stopping admission to the
mostly mellow, mostly artistic event before overrunning the fairgrounds
brandishing attack dogs and orange, beanbag shotguns.
There were no
arrests.
Bogus Cases
Ventura County has a well established history of hostility toward
motorcyclists and of pursuing bogus cases against them. About an hour
after the Chopperfest panic, County Sheriff’s, including the Sheriff’s
Gang Unit, and Highway Patrolmen contrived a traffic stop of a dozen
Hells Angels and a chase car returning from the Ventura charter’s annual
toy run.
According to a widely reprinted press release issued the next day by a
Sheriff’s Sergeant named Kevin Donoghue and a Captain named Don
Aguilar:
“On December 14, 2014, members of the
Hells Angels Motorcycle Club were attending a
Christmas
Toy Drive event at the Deer Lodge in Meiners Oaks. Approximately a
dozen motorcyclists wearing Hells Angels Motorcycle Club patches were
observed
driving south
on Maricopa Highway towards North Ventura Avenue. Traffic violations
were observed by deputies and an enforcement stop of the motorcyclists
was initiated. The motorcyclists were stopped as they turned onto
Baldwin Road from North Ventura Avenue.”
Merry Christmas
The Deer Lodge is about 15 miles north of Ventura and the Maricopa
Highway is the kind of picturesque road everybody likes to ride. It was
a cool, cloudy day.
Four men were arrested. The release identifies them as Noah Tedesco
of Riverside, California; John Saucedo of Orange, California; Stefan
Amann of Orange, California and Thomas Holt of Harbor City, California.
All four live at least 100 miles south of Ventura.
According to Donoghue and Aguilar’s release: “During the subsequent investigation, the following items of
contraband
were located: two concealed loaded firearms, methamphetamine, and a
weapon described as “brass knuckles”. Tedesco was arrested for
possession of methamphetamine while in possession of a firearm and being
a prohibited person from possessing a firearm. Saucedo was arrested for
carrying a loaded firearm in his vehicle. Holt was arrested for
possession of brass knuckles. In addition to those violations, Tedesco
and Amman were arrested for being under the influence of a controlled
substance. All subjects were booked into the Pre-Trial Detention
Facility.”
