<<I also noticed that my favorite bike gang, The Gypsy Jokers, was not among the combatants in this drug war.>>
Good point...it was the Mongols, not the Gypsy Jokers
lasvegassun.com
April 29, 2002
Authorities identify bikers slain in Laughlin casino shootout
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Authorities on Monday identified three California motorcycle gang members killed in a casino gun and knife battle during an annual biker rally that brought some 80,000 bikers to southern Nevada.
Las Vegas police said they were piecing together videotape, ballistic and blood evidence from Harrah's Laughlin Casino & Hotel, trying to determine what ignited a simmering rivalry between the Hells Angels and the Mongols into the deadliest shooting ever in a Nevada casino.
Authorities said more than 100 motorcycle gang members were in the hotel and dozens fought. Twelve people were hospitalized afterward.
"There has been bad blood between these two motorcycle groups for some time," Las Vegas police homicide Lt. Tom Monahan said.
He said that at least five casino cameras recorded parts of the two-minute melee, "but being able to identify a face on video doesn't necessarily mean we have a name and our cast of characters."
Clark County Coroner Ron Flud identified the three dead men as Robert Emmet Tumelty, 50, of Stockton; Jeramie Dean Bell, 27, of Hughson, near Modesto; and Anthony Salvador Barrera, 43, of Rancho Cucamonga, near Ontario.
Tumelty died of a gunshot to the abdomen, Hughson died of a gunshot to the chest, and Barrera died of a stab wound to the chest, Flud said.
Investigators in Las Vegas and San Bernardino, Calif., also were trying to determine if the slaying of a Hell's Angel gang member on a California freeway was connected with the 2 a.m. casino shootout.
Christian H. Tate, 28, of San Diego, was found dead near his wrecked Harley-Davidson motorcycle about 3:10 a.m. Saturday on Interstate 40 near Ludlow, Calif., San Bernardino County sheriff's spokesman Chip Patterson said.
"The evidence at the scene is that he was in motion when he was shot and the bike went off the shoulder," Patterson said, adding that investigators have not found witnesses to the slaying, some 115 miles west of Laughlin.
Authorities said Tate had been riding west, toward Barstow, Calif., when he was shot more than once. Bullet casings were found nearby.
Las Vegas police have jurisdiction in Laughlin, a Colorado River town 80 miles to the south. Monahan said detectives aren't sure Tate's slaying was related to the casino shootout.
"However, the timing at the very least is coincidental," the homicide unit commander said.
Las Vegas police Lt. Vince Cannito said authorities were reviewing detailed surveillance videotapes of the shootout, which sent gamblers and dealers diving under casino tables while bullets whizzed overhead and shell casings rained to the floor.
Police responded quickly after noticing Hells Angels cruising in twos and fours down Laughlin's Casino Drive and parking their Harleys in front of Harrah's with the keys in the ignition or engines running, Cannito said.
He said the investigation was slowed because most of those involved had left Sunday when the 20th annual Laughlin River Run ended.
Monahan said he expects more arrests.
"Most people (in the casino) were detained and identified," he said. "We just haven't been able to put them with the video."
"Arrests will only come after very careful examination of physical evidence, witness interviews and a review with the (Clark County) District Attorney's office," he added.
Five of those wounded in the fight were improving Monday at a Las Vegas hospital, where they were being treated for gunshot and stab wounds.
Four men - ages 51, 47, 31 and 29 - were in fair condition at University Medical Center, and a 43-year-old man was in serious condition, hospital spokesman Rick Plummer said. Their names have not been released.
One victim remained in fair condition Monday at Western Arizona Regional Medical Center in Bullhead City.
Another was flown by helicopter to Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Phoenix, where he was listed in critical condition.
A spokeswoman at the Bullhead City hospital said another man was released Monday - the fifth treated and released in Arizona.
The only person arrested in the shooting is being held without bail on a murder charge at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas.
Calvin Schaefer, 32, of Chandler, Ariz., is due for an initial court appearance Wednesday before Las Vegas Justice Deborah Lippis.
Far from surprising that one of the perps is from the Phoenix Metro area...it's the Wild West out here, dude...<NG> |
