An entire chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle club has been arrested in California as part of a kidnapping, robbery and assault probe, authorities said Tuesday.
The chapter members, based out of Bakersfield, Calif., were taken into custody as part of an ongoing criminal street gang investigation, according to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office.
Five active members were arrested, police confirmed in a statement, as well as two members of the Sons of Hell – a club that answers to the Bakersfield Hells Angels. In their statement, police referred to the Hells Angels as “an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang” – a designation given by the U.S. Justice Department.
More than 150 officers served eight search warrants and seized approximately 25 firearms, ammunition, multiple high-capacity magazines and gang-affiliated paraphernalia.
Authorities arrested Ricardo Alvarez, 42, Armando Villasenor, 55, Joseph Soto Sr., 57, Joseph Soto Jr., 33, Joshua Zavala, 31, and John Seeger, 57.
Joshua Vaughn, 37, who was a member of the Sons of Hell, was already in custody on other charges. Seeger was also a member of the Sons of Hell.
Allegations leading to the arrests include kidnapping, robbery, making criminal threats, false imprisonment, assault with a firearm, participation in a criminal street gang, criminal conspiracy, intimidating a witness or victim and elder abuse, police said in the statement.
The arrested individuals have been charged, but Kern County sheriff’s spokesperson Lori Meza told NBC News the details of the investigation cannot be shared as the probe is ongoing.
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club was founded in 1948 in California. The group has around 6,000 members across 467 charters in 59 countries.
The club has a long history of violence, crime and intimidation. Sonny Barger, the now-deceased founder of the first chapter of the Hells Angels in Oakland, Calif., was proud of the club’s reputation and even took to calling himself part of a group of “card-carrying felons.”
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