Nevada probe leads to Hells Angels raids

Jace Radke

Thursday, Dec. 4, 2003 | 9:18 a.m.

Federal indictments are expected to be unsealed today in Las Vegas in connection with a two-year undercover investigation of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang involving charges of trafficking guns and drugs.

Nevada was one of five states where warrants were served Wednesday by raiding agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Fifty-five members and associates of the Hells Angels were arrested, and 65 warrants were served in Nevada, Arizona, California, Washington and Alaska, law enforcement officials said.

Helmeted ATF agents raided the Hells Angels clubhouse in Sparks near Reno, making one arrest and confiscating several items.

"This is just one part of a major operation going on throughout the day," ATF Agent Tom Cannon said in Sparks. "Until that's concluded, everything we're doing is under seal and we really can't comment on it any further."

Natalie Collins, spokeswoman for the Las Vegas office of the U.S. attorney, would not comment on the number of warrants served or arrests made in Nevada, saying that the investigation is ongoing and that court documents in the case are under seal.

Keith Heinzerling, resident agent in charge of the Las Vegas office of the ATF, would not comment on the investigation until a press conference scheduled for 10 this morning.

Law enforcement sources said Nevada is where the investigation originated, and that most, if not all, of the warrants in Nevada were served in the Reno-Sparks area.

Las Vegas ATF agents were involved in the raids in Reno and California and were used in similar raids on the Hells Angels in July when 40 search warrants and 36 arrest warrants were served in Arizona.

Among those arrested in July was Hells Angels member Calvin Schaefer on firearm and drug possession charges.

Schaefer was arrested by Metro Police in April 2002 after two members of the Hells Angels and a member of the Mongols motorcycle gang were shot and killed at Harrah's in Laughlin during the annual Run motorcycle rally. Schaefer was later released, but he remains one of 11 potential suspects in a case submitted to the Clark County district attorney's office by Metro detectives late last year, homicide Lt. Tom Monahan said.

Monahan said he didn't know if Wednesday's raids had anything to do with the slayings at Harrah's.

The district attorney's office is still investigating the case and plans to take it to a grand jury, District Attorney David Roger said.

"We hope to have indictments returned after the first of the year, and we plan on having parallel prosecution with the federal case," Roger said.

Metro has been sharing information with the ATF, and a Metro investigator has been working with agents on the case that resulted in Wednesday's raids, Metro spokeswoman Carla Alston said.

Wednesday's raids allowed authorities to gather evidence including about 50 firearms, a silencer and about a quarter pound of methamphetamine in the California raids. Evidence gathered in other states was not immediately avaliable.

The investigation included law enforcement agents who offered to purchase explosives from members of the gang, said Donald R. Kincaid, special agent in charge of the bureau's Los Angeles office, at a news conference at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's headquarters.

"We purchased some stolen military explosives," he said, adding that they were identified as military property by lot numbers and other distinguishing marks.

Among the targets of the investigation was the San Francisco headquarters of the Hells Angels and three clubhouses in Spokane, Wash., and Anchorage and North Pole, Alaska.

The Northern California warrants resulted in 16 or 17 arrests, said Marti McKee, a bureau spokeswoman in San Francisco. She declined to say what agents were looking for, saying the supporting documents were sealed by court order.

At least nine of those arrested on California charges were members of the San Fernando Valley chapter, including the president and three other officers.

Agents arrested five people in Washington at homes in Tacoma, Kirkland, Silverdale, Spokane and Wenatchee, said ATF spokeswoman Vera Fedorak in Seattle. Four arrests were made in Alaska, at three homes in Anchorage and one in Two Rivers.

The Associated Press

contributed to this story.