Mongols Motorcycle Club

Determined to prevent the Mongols motorcycle club from using a Lancaster motel to host its annual meeting this weekend, the city's mayor has taken steps to shut down the establishment. Mayor R. Rex Parris said the members of the Mongols, which law enforcement agencies consider a violent biker gang, are not welcome in Lancaster because they "are engaged in domestic terrorism . . . and they kill our children."

Out among the desert scrub brush, this quiet Las Vegas suburb is already sweating the coming weekend invasion -- not high-plains wanderers or tourists per se, but leather-clad, tattooed motorcycle riders. Hundreds of them. On Friday, the infamous Mongols Motorcycle Club will begin a three-day national meeting in this town of about 15,000 founded during the Depression to house laborers who built Hoover Dam. Folks here have long prided themselves on holding off the mayhem of the Las Vegas sprawl just over the hill.

Police say the man suspected of killing the leader of the San Francisco Hells Angels chapter has turned himself in. San Francisco police say Christopher Ablett, 37, of Modesto, who was wanted in the slaying of Hells Angels leader Mark Guardado, 46, surrendered in Oklahoma on Saturday. Police say Guardado was shot outside a San Francisco bar Sept. 2. Police have not said what the motive for the killing may have been. They say Ablett was a member of the rival Mongols Motorcycle Club.

Determined to prevent the Mongols motorcycle club from using a Lancaster motel to host its annual meeting this weekend, the city's mayor has taken steps to shut down the establishment. Mayor R. Rex Parris said the members of the Mongols, which law enforcement agencies consider a violent biker gang, are not welcome in Lancaster because they "are engaged in domestic terrorism . . . and they kill our children."

Hundreds of federal agents and Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies fanned out over three states Friday to drop an investigative net over the Mongols motorcycle club, arresting at least 42 people in Southern California and seizing dozens of illegal guns, cocaine and stolen motorcycles, they said. The crackdown was the culmination of a perilous, 2 1/2-year investigation in which an undercover federal agent joined the club and rose into its executive ranks, officials of the U.S.

Out among the desert scrub brush, this quiet Las Vegas suburb is already sweating the coming weekend invasion -- not high-plains wanderers or tourists per se, but leather-clad, tattooed motorcycle riders. Hundreds of them. On Friday, the infamous Mongols Motorcycle Club will begin a three-day national meeting in this town of about 15,000 founded during the Depression to house laborers who built Hoover Dam. Folks here have long prided themselves on holding off the mayhem of the Las Vegas sprawl just over the hill.

Former Mongols motorcycle gang leader Ruben "Doc" Cavazos faces up to life in prison after pleading guilty to a single racketeering charge among 86 counts accusing gang members of murder, assault, robbery and drug-trafficking, court documents show. The plea deal between Cavazos and the U.S.

With tensions high and security tight, thousands of motorcyclists thundered into the rural community of Hollister on Friday, swamping downtown and turning it into a throbbing carnival of chrome, wheels and leather. Grizzled bikers in chaps sat astride gleaming Harleys, gunning the engines, rattling windows and screeching tires. Merchants hawked such items as Harley-Davidson shot glasses and Louisiana alligator heads, while men lined up to be photographed with young women in sheer pink negligees.

Concerned about violence erupting at the Ventura County Fair, police say members of the rival Hells Angels and Mongols motorcycle clubs will be turned away if they attempt to enter the fairgrounds wearing gang attire. The fair board this month approved a tighter policy prohibiting gang clothing, and identified 27 local groups as known criminal street gangs. The list includes the Hells Angels and Mongols, whose members were involved in a deadly shootout at a Nevada casino in April.

Ever since a deadly Nevada casino shootout between rival motorcycle gangs in late April, a high-noon atmosphere has been building in this Central California farm town where the two gangs are expected on the Fourth of July. Questions have surfaced that seem incongruous in these bucolic surroundings. Will the Mongols invade? Will the Angels retaliate? What will it mean for the lucrative Hollister Methodist Church pancake breakfast?

Former Mongols motorcycle gang leader Ruben "Doc" Cavazos faces up to life in prison after pleading guilty to a single racketeering charge among 86 counts accusing gang members of murder, assault, robbery and drug-trafficking, court documents show. The plea deal between Cavazos and the U.S.

Police say the man suspected of killing the leader of the San Francisco Hells Angels chapter has turned himself in. San Francisco police say Christopher Ablett, 37, of Modesto, who was wanted in the slaying of Hells Angels leader Mark Guardado, 46, surrendered in Oklahoma on Saturday. Police say Guardado was shot outside a San Francisco bar Sept. 2. Police have not said what the motive for the killing may have been. They say Ablett was a member of the rival Mongols Motorcycle Club.

Concerned about violence erupting at the Ventura County Fair, police say members of the rival Hells Angels and Mongols motorcycle clubs will be turned away if they attempt to enter the fairgrounds wearing gang attire. The fair board this month approved a tighter policy prohibiting gang clothing, and identified 27 local groups as known criminal street gangs. The list includes the Hells Angels and Mongols, whose members were involved in a deadly shootout at a Nevada casino in April.

With tensions high and security tight, thousands of motorcyclists thundered into the rural community of Hollister on Friday, swamping downtown and turning it into a throbbing carnival of chrome, wheels and leather. Grizzled bikers in chaps sat astride gleaming Harleys, gunning the engines, rattling windows and screeching tires. Merchants hawked such items as Harley-Davidson shot glasses and Louisiana alligator heads, while men lined up to be photographed with young women in sheer pink negligees.

Ever since a deadly Nevada casino shootout between rival motorcycle gangs in late April, a high-noon atmosphere has been building in this Central California farm town where the two gangs are expected on the Fourth of July. Questions have surfaced that seem incongruous in these bucolic surroundings. Will the Mongols invade? Will the Angels retaliate? What will it mean for the lucrative Hollister Methodist Church pancake breakfast?

A weapons stash and a pound of marijuana have led to time behind bars for two members of the Mongols motorcycle gang. Lonnie Hagan Gallegos, 45, purported secretary-treasurer of the gang's El Sereno chapter, was sentenced Thursday to three years and four months in prison for possessing illegal weapons. His son-in-law, Jerry Manuel Ramirez, 22, was given six months in jail for possession of brass knuckles. Superior Court Judge C. Edward Simpson scoffed at arguments by attorney Charles T.

A weapons stash and a pound of marijuana have led to time behind bars for two members of the Mongols motorcycle gang. Lonnie Hagan Gallegos, 45, purported secretary-treasurer of the gang's El Sereno chapter, was sentenced Thursday to three years and four months in prison for possessing illegal weapons. His son-in-law, Jerry Manuel Ramirez, 22, was given six months in jail for possession of brass knuckles. Superior Court Judge C. Edward Simpson scoffed at arguments by attorney Charles T.

LAS VEGAS - They have names such as the Mongols, Stray Cats, Vagos and Bandidos, and they're fighting mad. Several biker groups have sued Las Vegas and North Las Vegas police in federal court over civil rights violations, alleging systematic harassment by police. The lawsuit was filed one day after members of the Mongols motorcycle group wrapped up a three-day national meeting in suburban Boulder City that brought police out in force to keep the peace. In papers filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas, an attorney representing members of the Mongols and other clubs allege that law enforcement pressured bars and hotels in Las Vegas to cancel events with members of the Mongols and the Vagos.

Hundreds of federal agents and Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies fanned out over three states Friday to drop an investigative net over the Mongols motorcycle club, arresting at least 42 people in Southern California and seizing dozens of illegal guns, cocaine and stolen motorcycles, they said. The crackdown was the culmination of a perilous, 2 1/2-year investigation in which an undercover federal agent joined the club and rose into its executive ranks, officials of the U.S.