Biker gangs may be a staple in the media, where cool, tough guys ride sweet, but in real life, they’re not really that cool. In fact, gangs like the Hells Angels are known to be criminal organizations and are involved in a lot of illegal activities, has a Wikipedia page dedicated to all the crimes for which the Hells Angels have been charged in California. However, that list may need to be updated because The Guardian reported Bakersfield’s entire Hells Angels chapter was just arrested and charged with multiple crimes.
However, if you expected to see about 30 or 40 men rounded up then we have some disappointing news. The entire chapter appears to consist of only seven members. Since one member, Joshua Vaughn, was already in jail when police showed up, that meant the Kern County Sheriff’s Department only took down six men: Ricardo Alvarez, Armando Villasenor, Joseph Soto Sr, Joseph Soto Jr, Joshua Zavala and John Seeger .
These arrests were not for failure to pay a speeding ticket or refusal to wear a helmet. The list of charges the group faces includes “kidnapping, first-degree robbery, criminal intimidation, unlawful imprisonment, assault with a firearm, participation in a criminal street gang, conspiracy committing crimes and intimidating witnesses or victims, as well as elder abuse.” Police also seized approximately 25 guns, ammunition and several magazines while executing eight search warrants throughout Bakersfield.
It’s unclear how much time they’ll be facing, but something tells us they won’t be out for a while. Especially if any of them have a felony on their record. Now if we could get California to show the same level of concern about number of alleged gangs within the Los Angeles Police Department.
