OFF THE WIRE

September 19, 2013

By Tim Watson

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If you get stopped by a policeman or trooper, a ticket that jacks up your car insurance bill is the last thing you want. Here's how to avoid one.
When you see flashing lights in your rearview mirror, take a deep breath. The next few minutes could make all the difference when your next insurance bill arrives.
State troopers and police officers have 100% discretion. They can write you a ticket, or they can give you a warning. They can write down exactly what their radar gun shows, or they can write down a number that will lower your fine and reduce the number of points on your license.
If you have been pulled over, your immediate fate is in the officer's hands -- and so are your future insurance premiums.
A speeding ticket that qualifies as reckless driving in your state is the single worst traffic violation you can inflict on your insurance bill, according to data gathered by Insurance.com, with premiums rising an average of 22%. But knocked down to 14 mph or less over the limit, that hit falls to 11%.
Of course, the best way to keep your insurance from going up at all is to keep the ticket off your record in the first place.
To increase your chances of a receiving a warning rather than a ticket:

• Make it an easy stop. Pull over quickly, turn your interior lights on and keep your hands in sight on the wheel. When an officer approaches a vehicle, says Iowa State Patrol Sgt. Scott Bright, he or she will be looking at how many people are in the car and where their hands are.
• Be respectful. If you were looking for a way to ensure a ticket, being argumentative, angry or rude is a great way to do it. "There is no guarantee that a driver will receive a warning based upon behavior," says Colorado State Patrol Capt. Jeff Goodwin, "but it certainly helps to be respectful and less confrontational."
• Save the excuses. Law enforcement officers have heard them all, so save your sob story. Answers to any questions should be brief and noncommittal. (For example, if the officer asks if you know why you've been pulled over, say no, legal experts advise.) Don't argue. This isn't a court.

• Discretion matters

  Here is why you should bite your tongue.
  "Every year," says Goodwin, "the CSP (Colorado State Patrol) issues many more warnings than citations."
  In 2010, the Chicago Sun Times looked at the tickets written by the Lake County Illinois Sheriff's Department and found huge differences among officers. One officer issued only warnings, while another was responsible for 90% of the tickets written.
  Perspectives often change as troopers gain experience.
   

Bright recalls that as a young Iowa trooper he frequently gave drivers a break on speed, but after 22 years on the road, he now writes tickets for the exact speed. "Without fail, it would be the drivers I gave a break that were the ones that would go to court," he says.
Anything above 80 mph is de facto reckless driving in Hawaii, North Carolina and Virginia. That threshold is 100 mph in California and Minnesota. A few mph one way or the other means the difference between a fine and losing your license to suspension.
If you were polite and honest and you kept your hands on the wheel, but you still got a ticket, remember that the law and statistics are on the officer's side. According to the National Transportation Highway Safety Administration, 32,880 people died in traffic accidents in 2010. Speeding caused 32% of those deaths.

When to fight, when to shop

Once you've been stopped for speeding, several outcomes are possible: a warning, a ticket that cuts you a break or a full-fledged, license-denting traffic violation. You still have options even after the officer has handed you the ticket and told you to have a nice day.
The National Motorists Association estimates that less than 5% of drivers go to court. Spokesman John Bowman says not fighting a ticket is a mistake. "Drivers will almost always come out ahead," he says, "either with a full dismissal or at least a lower penalty."
You can also go for deferred adjudication, a deal that prevents the conviction from appearing on your motor vehicle record.
But once the conviction is on your record, there is little you can do to lower your insurance rates except shop for a different insurance company, says Penny Gusner, a consumer analyst with CarInsurance.com.
"Insurance companies rate tickets differently," Gusner says, "and while your current one may raise your rates 10%, another one may not raise your rates on just one minor offense or surcharge you only 5% for it."
A minor ticket might not warrant an increase in your premium. But you could lose your good driver discount, and in some states that could bring a 20% increase in your insurance bill.

OFF THE WIRE
Civil Rights, News, The 4th Amendment
California Court of Appeal rules arrest during a traffic stop does not automatically authorize a vehicle search.
Refusing to get out of a vehicle during a traffic stop does not justify a search of the automobile, the California Court of Appeal ruled Friday. The three-judge panel further developed the US Supreme Court’s finding in Arizona v. Gant that arresting a motorist does not automatically authorize a warrantless search.
On September 27, 2009, Vernon Evans made a left hand turn from West Boulevard onto Slauson Avenue. Los Angeles Police Department Officer Kevin Currie and Officer Prodigalidad claimed Evans failed to signal and that his driving was erratic. When they pulled Evans over, he appeared nervous. Because the stop was at night and in “gang territory,” Evans was ordered out of the car. Evans rolled down his window and asked why he was being stopped, but did not exit.
After reinforcements arrived Officer Currie blasted Evans with pepper spray. Another officer busted a window and tasered Evans. He was yanked out of his car and tackled on the ground. Officer Prodigalidad searched the car and found eleven empty sandwich bags and $65 in cash. The automobile was impounded while Evans was treated at the hospital. At the impound lot, a more thorough search of the car turned up enough cocaine to earn him a four-day jail sentence, with credit for four days time served.
A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge found the search was justified under the “automobile exception” to the Fourth Amendment requirement that searches should be performed only after obtaining a warrant. The appellate court disagreed, citing the precedent set by the Gant ruling that a search incident to arrest is only valid if the suspect can reach his vehicle or there is some reason to think the car contains evidence relevant to the arrest.
“When the initial search of the vehicle was completed, Evans had been tased and detained, and was lying face down on the ground outside the vehicle, with officers on top of him,” Judge Richard D. Aldrich wrote for the court. “Plainly, he did not have access to the car’s interior.”
Prosecutors argued that the presence of drugs in the car would constitute his motive for his crime — refusing to comply with the police officers’ instruction for him to get out of the car. The appellate panel rejected this line of argument as justifying a search of any vehicle at any time.
“It is not difficult to imagine scenarios in which documentary evidence of motive, knowledge, or intent could reasonably be expected to be found in a car even when the driver is arrested for a minor traffic offense,” Aldrich wrote. “There might be evidence of a speeding motorist’s motive in the car: perhaps an appointment card showing he or she was late to a doctor’s visit, or tickets suggesting he or she was in a hurry to attend the final game of the World Series. Or, a vehicle might contain evidence of distractions that caused a motorist to run a red light. Yet these are precisely the sort of traffic offenses which Gant held would not give rise to a reasonable basis to search.”
Because the exceptions did not apply, the court overturned the conviction. A copy of the decision is available in a 180k PDF file at the source link below.
Source:  California v. Evans (Court of Appeal, State of California, 11/4/2011) & Bikers of America

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By BRANDON LOWREY blowrey@nctimes.com

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THANK YOU, JOHN
LIFE IN THE FAST LANE
A collection of lane-related information
 
                                             by John Del Santo
 
GENERAL
If our bike is equipped with working electric directional signals the law requires that we use them when changing lanes. (CVC 22110).  The State handbook also suggests that during times of heavy traffic, or poor visibility, that we also  use hand signals so that cars are better able to see what our intentions are.
 
SIGNAL LANE CHANGES             Before each lane change….Check your mirrors……Signal your intentions……Check your blind spot…..Make your move.
 
The CA Drivers Handbook suggests that at freeway speeds we signal for at least five seconds  before a lane change.
 
Traffic lanes are often referred to by number. The left, or “fast” lane is called the “Number 1 Lane”.  The lane to the right of the “number 1 lane” is called “The Number 2 Lane”  ,then the “Number 3 Lane” etc.  
 
If you are pulling a little camping trailer behind your motorcycle or car you now come under the same 3-axle category as a tractor trailer.  You are restricted to the two right lanes of the freeway,  restricted to 55 MPH,  and not allowed to use the HOV lane.  (P-35 CA Drivers Handbook)
 
FOLLOWING DISTANCE   California Vehicle Code 21704 (a)   States that ) “ The driver of any motor vehicle that is operated outside of a business or residence district, shall keep the vehicle he is driving at a distance of not less than 300 feet to the rear of any other motor vehicle”.  That’s a space that would fit about five tractor-trailers, or is almost a football field long.
                                           ---------------------------------------------------------
ON THE FREEWAY
Miles per Hour...Times 1 1/2 …Equals  Feet-Per-Second traveled. At 65 MPH  a vehicle is traveling  about 100 feet  Every Second.
 Many motorcyclists prefer traveling on the freeway in the Number 1 lane (far left).  This leaves the rider able to only worry about bad moves from the vehicle to the right,  and the vehicle behind.  Riding in the number 1 lane also leaves the shoulder on the left as an escape route to avoid dangerous moves from other drivers.
  Unlike many other states,  If you are traveling in the left lane….the number 1 lane…and you are maintaining the the posted speed limit….There is no legal reason for you to move out of that lane unless an emergency vehicle comes up behind you showing lights and/or siren.
The California Motorcycle Handbook (p-13)  tells us “There is no “best lane position” for riders in which to be seen and to maintain a space cushion around the motorcycle.  Position yourself in the lane that allows the most visibility and space around you”.
Generally speaking, I have been told by highway police that their attention is most drawn to vehicles that are jumping around from lane to lane, not to those that stay mostly in one lane.
 
the drivers handbook suggests that at freeway speeds we signal for at least five seconds  before a lane change.
 
GROUP RIDING
“If you ride with others, do it in a way that promotes safety and doesn’t interfere with the flow of traffic” If the group is more than four or five riders, divide it into two or more smaller groups.  Use a staggered formation and keep a  2-second following distance from the rider directly in front of you. (P-32  CA DMV motorcycle handbook).
When we are riding in a group on the freeway with five or ten other vehicles, WE ARE NOT AN EXCLUSIVE GROUP……..to the law and to the rest of the world, we are just ……five or ten individual vehicles.  If other vehicles want to, or need to, make a lane change into our lane,  they have every right to do so,  and we have no right to try to stop them from doing so. Even convoys of army trucks or funeral processions lose their right to exclusivity when they are on a freeway.
 
HOV  LANES  (HIGH OCCUPANCY VEHICLE )(Carpool lane)
 
No vehicle may cross double yellow lines into or out of an HOV LANE .
  In some areas, such as near Los Angeles ,   the double-yellow lines are about 18 inches apart.   These are still  double-yellow lines which no one may cross into or out of an HOV lane……..Contrary to some popular belief,  these are NOT teeny little HOV lanes for motorcycles.
 
 ONE OR TWO PERSONS ON A MOTORCYCLE OR TRIKE (3-wheeled motorcycle)   ARE ALLOWED TO USE AN HOV LANE, unless otherwise posted. (P-34  CA Drivers Handbook).
 
No vehicle pulling a trailer may use an HOV Lane .
 
EMERGENCY VEHICLE STOPPED ON FREEWAY
CVC-21809.  (a) A person driving a vehicle on a freeway approaching a stationary authorized emergency vehicle that is displaying emergency lights, a stationary tow truck that is displaying flashing amber warning lights, or a stationary marked Department of Transportation vehicle that is displaying flashing amber warning lights,
 
shall approach with due caution and, before passing in a lane immediately adjacent to the authorized emergency vehicle, tow truck, or Department of Transportation vehicle, absent other direction by a peace officer, proceed to do one of the following:
(1) Make a lane change into an available lane not immediately adjacent to the authorized emergency vehicle, tow truck, or Department of Transportation vehicle, with due regard for safety and traffic conditions, if practicable and not prohibited by law.
 (2) If the maneuver described in paragraph (1) would be unsafe or impracticable, slow to a reasonable and prudent speed that is safe for existing weather, road, and vehicular or pedestrian traffic conditions.
 
OFF  THE FREEWAY
 
CENTER LEFT-TURN LANES  A set of yellow solid lines with dotted yellow lines just inside them.  These are to be use to start or complete left turns or to start u-turns.  We may not stay in them for more than 200 feet (three tractor trailer lengths). 
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE YELLOWS    SETS OF double-double yellow lines are considered a barrier or island.  We may never cross those even to get into or out of our own driveway Or to make a u-turn.
 
NARROW STREETS   When riding in parts of town with small, narrow streets…..where there is not a centerline painted in the street,   A CA Driver Handbook suggests that we ride out near the middle  of the street, when no traffic is approaching us from the opposite direction.  This reduces the chances of someone in a parked car making a move that would surprise or endanger you.  Naturally, near an intersection we would be back towards the right side of the roadway.
 
TURNOUT AREAS AND LANES  Special “turnout” areas are sometimes marked on two-lane roads.  Drive into these areas to allow traffic behind you to pass.  If you are driving slowly, you are required to pull in if there are five or more vehicles behind you that want to go faster.  (p-35  CA Drivers Manual).
  SOMETIMES THESE TURNOUT AREAS ARE UNLIT AND UNPAVED, AND ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT, MOTORCYCLISTS WOULD HAVE TO MAKE SERIOUS CHOICES TO USE THEM OR NOT.  
 
PEDESTRIAN SAFETY ZONE   A "safety zone" is the area or space lawfully set apart within a roadway for the exclusive use of pedestrians and which is protected, or which is marked or indicated by vertical signs, raised markers or raised buttons, in order to make such area or space plainly visible at all times while the same is set apart as a safety zone. CA Vehicle Code 540.
  
   CROSSING BICYCLE LANES    As long as there are no bicycles using the bicycle lane anywhere near enough  to you to be a hazard,  you may cross a bicycle lane to turn into or out of a driveway.  If there is a bicycle lane, and no bicycles are using it, and you plan on turning right at the next corner, you should check your mirror, signal,  check your blind spot,  and move into the bicycle lane  NO MORE THAN 200 feet from the corner (three tractor-trailer lengths)  to approach your right turn.    You may park in a bicycle lane, as long as there is no sign that proclaims “ Bike Lane  No Parking”.
Motorists Passing Bicyclists  Be patient when passing a bicyclist. Slow down and pass only when it is safe. Do not squeeze the bicyclist off the road. If road conditions and space permit, allow clearance of at least three feet when passing a bicyclist.
 
Would you like to check out any vehicle laws or rules ?  go to  http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/vc/vc.htm  Ca Vehicle Code    OR    http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/hdbk/driver_handbook_toc.htm  CA Driver Handbook.
 
 
THESE RULES AND LAWS MAY BE DIFFERENT WHEN LEAVING CALIFORNIA AND ENTERING OTHER STATES.
                    --------------------------------------
DISCLAIMER AND WARNING :This guide is to provide accurate and authoritative information on this subject. If expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought
   John Del Santo
At Intersections,  and
  In Your Blind Spots,
 "Check Twice for Motorcycles". 

P.S.
I was just reading my article "Life in the fast lane"  which is a collection of info regarding lane laws and rules....and I realized that I had not mentioned "Lane Sharing"  so I entered these  lines into the article    FYI     thanks  John

The California Vehicle Code does not allow “lane sharing, lane splitting, etc.
   

OFF THE WIRE
agingrebel.com
There is a battle for history going on in America. The winners will write it and for all the rest of human time the losers will be whatever the winners say they are. The fight is hardly over truth, justice, philosophy or perspective. It is all about the dollars. And a good illustration of this new history in our recently commoditized world is a book “written” by a self-proclaimed hero currently named Charles Falco with the assistance of the “true crime” writer Kerrie Droban.
The book is titled Vagos, Mongols and Outlaws: My Infiltration of America’s Deadliest Biker Gangs. It will be officially published by the Thomas Dunne division of St. Martin’s Press on February 5, 2013.
I started looking for this Falco guy in May 2012 after he was interviewed by a Fox crime reporter in Los Angeles. The reporter’s name is Chris Blatchford. His “investigative report” was titled “The Green Nation is on a mission to replace the Hells Angels as the baddest outlaw biker gang.” The Green Nation – for anyone who just stumbled upon these words while searching for discounted beauty products or classic rock CDs – refers to the Vagos Motorcycle Club. Members of that club tend to wear a lot of green.
Police have long accused the Vagos of being a ruthless mafia. And, although the Vagos sincerely feel exactly the same way about the police, correct thinking Americans are compelled by both right wing and left wing social orthodoxy to agree with the cops. At the same time there is no denying that outlaw bikers are now a mass media commodity. You’ve probably noticed this. If you haven’t there may be other subtleties of the post-millennial world that yet elude you. Like, that little thing you see everywhere that looks like a model of one the black slabs in 2001: A Space Odyssey, is called an iPhone. Yes. It is spelled just like that. Welcome to Eisenhower’s nightmare.
An unignorable segment of the world’s male population, with a correspondingly obvious pile of loose cash, is fascinated with men like the Vagos. Motorcycle outlaws are the new James Bond. Like Bond, no one wants to defend them, no one wants to know them, no one in his right mind even wants to stand next to one of them lest they get blown up but very many men want to be them: Because of the untraceable guns; the uninhibited stompings and stabbings; the beautiful, easily available, wanton, multi-orgasmic women; the forbidden intoxicants; and, best of all, because outlaws demand the fear and respect that is usually reserved only for political nerds and the business school graduates who majored in stealing other people’s houses and pensions. The Vagos represent something unacknowledged but unforgotten in postmodern males. And, this fantasy identification with capable, confident, free, proud and dangerous men may say something about what has gone wrong with America. It might even partly explain the continuing cablecast of Sons of Anarchy on FX and The Devils Ride on Discovery. But, history is no longer about meaning. Blatchford illustrates that.
Blatchford was working both sides of this street during his two part, Sunday night, sweeps month news event. The story was so important that Fox devoted almost 15 minutes to the subject, divided between two newscasts, betting that Blatchford could manufacture enough vicarious thrills that his audience would tune in and then not change channels minute after minute after endless, commercial free, television minute. Fox accused the Vagos of being traffic scofflaws, psychopaths and sexists. Blatchford owns a George Foster Peabody Award, but in L.A. he is more famous for his dramatic delivery. He is to Los Angeles something like what John Facenda once was to Philadelphia. Blatchford explained one snatch of footage with a stentorian, “Even their own women, as you can see spelled out on the back of their jackets, are branded property of the Vago who owns them.” No matter how this pronouncement might look on a page it sounded more important when Blatchford said it.
Falco was one of the biker authorities Blatchford interviewed on camera. Falco is a large man with a slight lisp. He wore cool, dark glasses and the television reporter identified him as “Charles Falco who infiltrated the Vagos for two and a half years.”
I have a long and continuing interest in the world of motorcycle clubs and it seemed to me at the time that what Blatchford’s story really meant was that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was preparing for the long-expected racketeering case against the Vagos by softening up the jury pool. Now I think Blatchford’s expose had at least as much to do with history, cross media synergy and, of course, bucks.
The ability to type words into the Google search field also revealed that Falco was the subject of a forthcoming book then titled Inside Out: My Life Undercover with the Vagos. It took months to find the capsule review Blatchford wrote for Falco’s book. Chris loved it. “The paranoia of crooks, the desperation of incarceration, the fear of getting whacked, and survival working undercover in a brutal biker world devoid of common decency. You can read about it all in this book. But Charles Falco actually lived it and miraculously came out a better man. Chris Blatchford, author of The Black Hand”

2

I started looking for Falco approximately as an ugly, old drunk looks for love. I blindly bumped into bodies until eventually, one metaphorical closing time, I got lucky.
Falco’s name used to be Ashley Charles Wyatt. I don’t quite believe him when he tells me this but I later learn that he is at least named Ashley Wyatt and he has always answered to Charles. He went to high school in the San Fernando Valley and he has Wyatt tattooed on the back of his head. At one point he also had a Vagos Victorville side rocker tattooed on his right torso. Vagos remember him well.
In the club he was called Charles or sometimes Tijuana Charles – the latter because he was almost arrested one night for pissing on a wall down Mexico way. The club name he gives himself in interviews including his interview with Blatchford and in “his” book is Quickdraw. That phrase was a jest thrown at him one night in a bar. The throwaway line was preserved on audio, in a device hidden in his asthma inhaler and apparently, after almost seven years reflection, he decided he liked Quickdraw better than Charles. There isn’t anything particularly wrong or unusual about revising one’s personal recollections. “Yes, I have a thousand tongues,” Stephen Crane confessed, “And nine and ninety-nine lie.” I think the lies mean something different with Falco than they did with Crane though, because Crane was honest and self-deprecating about his life while Falco now seeks to alchemize his personal recollections into a valuable commodity.
“What do you think when you hear that? ‘Quickdraw,’” a gracious gentleman asks me as I prepare to write this.
“Gunfighter,” I answer. The gentleman makes a silent, contemptuous gesture.
Falco also claims that members of the American Outlaws Association may remember him as “Chef,” possibly a reference to a previous career he claims as a methamphetamine manufacturer.
Falco has a Reno phone number but, he tells me, “I do not live in Reno and never have. I entered the Witness Protection Program in 2007. Thus, I was given a complete new identity which is what I use now.”
After riding with the Vagos the snitch earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, mostly online, in Bible Studies from Liberty Christian University and he went significantly into debt doing it. That surprised me. I had not previously known that a seeker could actually go into debt studying the Bible but Falco told me he had. And, even the United States Marshals are powerless against the kingpins of the student loan racket. “The Marshals do not allow you to get out of past debt,” Falco explains. “So in my case I owed several thousand dollars in student loans that I still pay under Ashley. These bills are sent to Marshal mail drops, which are then sent to DC, which are then sent to my area Marshal field office, who then sends them to me. I have several of these Marshal mail drops in California and Nevada that I use. Kind of cool on how this works! I am no longer in this program, but they still forward my mail. Even after you leave the WPP you keep your new identity, since it is now your legal new name. I hope that makes sense.”
The logistics made sense even if the part about going into debt reading the Bible did not. A face-to-face interview might have helped me better understand but my conversations with the snitch were accomplished in writing, by email with his muse and chronicler Kerrie Droban acting as an intermediary.
Falco has a GMX.com email address. Global Mail Exchange is a German telecommunications company. And, after I wrote to him at charlesfalco@gmx.com he insisted that we use one of Droban’s email accounts. I suspect he is in Phoenix. If he wanted to avoid Vagos, Mongols and Outlaws as he has reasons to do, he might feel most safe in Cave Creek near Sonny Barger’s home, but that is only my blind hunch.
Even if Falco is exactly where I think he is as long as he is careful he will remain virtually invisible. There are at least two other Charles Falcos in Arizona. One of them is an almost famous, Harley riding, physics professor in Tucson. That Charles Falco was one of the curators of the Guggenheim museum’s famous exhibit “The Art of the Motorcycle.” So if you just Google Charles Falco and Arizona and motorcycle you will get the wrong man every time. The professor and the snitch both wear dark mustaches. A second Charles Falco in Arizona is an old guy in Yuma.

3

Falco agrees to be interviewed. “I am not doing this interview because I think you will make my book a best seller,” he explains. “My main purpose is to give you correct information.”
I begin with the obvious. “Will you be answering the questions or Kerrie? I’m sure it would be lovely to have a conversation with her but I would prefer to have a conversation with you.”
“I don’t know how to prove to you that I am not Kerrie,” the snitch replies promptly, “but I can tell you that she is a much better writer than me.” He answers multiple questions in a single paragraph. “I have never had anything to do with the HA. They were hunting us as Outlaws though, so I know how they operate. I never heard of a five part plan to get rid of motorcycle clubs. The ATF is not interested in motorcycle clubs, just motorcycle gangs. I think the ATF has done a great job in decreasing the amount of criminal activity these gangs participate in. If you compare the U.S. biker gangs of the seventies and eighties with current U.S. biker gangs, they have about ten percent of the criminal power they once had. I believe this (is the result of) the great job law enforcement (has done) in bringing these gang members to justice. I truly believe that.” Maybe he truly does.
The interview with the snitch stretches out. Near its conclusion, I while away a pleasant evening near the Beverly Hills end of the Sunset Strip with some gracious gentlemen who knew Ashley Charles Wyatt during all of his adventure with the Vagos. In the course of the conversation, as the night turned cold and I began to shiver, I asked the gentlemen to summarize Ashley Wyatt for me.
“Pussy,” one answered immediately.
“Snake!” A gracious gentleman shook his finger and another nodded his head up and down. “In a word, snake.”
“Punk,” one of them added in case I missed their point.
“Also, he is stoned all the time.”
“Like obnoxiously stoned. Constantly.”
“And, he’s not very smart.”
Falco’s stupidity may be why he, unlike most biker authorities, has heard of me. “I have been reading your articles for years,” he tells me, “and I know you lean toward the one percenter side of stories.” He is broadminded and tolerant of my shortcomings. “While, I know most of what you believe about the ATF is incorrect I still value your right to free speech.”
If only we had been able to meet face to face I’m sure I would have said, “Thank you.”
Falco is evasive and vague about the events that led him to betray a group of men who all call each other “brother.”
The gracious gentlemen in West Hollywood are much more straightforward. “Charles was arrested in 1995 in Las Vegas for armed robbery. He got 5 years. Not sure if it was suspended or how that ended up. He was then rearrested at LAX for failing to declare over twenty thousand in cash that he was carrying on his person. Then he admitted it was drug money. He sold himself to the world and in March 2004 he started hanging around the Vagos. The raids were in March 2006 so he was around the club for a few days less than two years. Does that help?” It helped.
While Wyatt/Falco was awaiting sentencing, “he called every police force he could find and volunteered to work for them. He finally hooked up with the DEA and then with the ATF.”
Falco’s version is more cinematic. It is also contradicts what I have been told by multiple sources. Not that that means anything. Truth plus two dollars will buy you a cup of coffee.

4

“I started as a DEA informant,” Falco says, beginning where all good story tellers begin, in the middle of things, “and I was one for two years before I became an informant for the ATF. Prior to becoming an informant for the DEA, I was a drug dealer.
“I was one of the most loyal criminals I had ever met. I made most of my closest friends a small fortune. During those years I would have died before turning. That was before I was betrayed by everyone, loved ones, friends and business partners. Of course, shortly after this life changing betrayal, the DEA and US Customs raided my house. I had been betrayed in every way even though I had been loyal in every way. When the cops raided my house I was in a bottomless pit and that day my life was saved. I became an informant. But not by betraying friends. Instead I worked the streets like an undercover going after criminals that I had no prior relationship with. I started to enjoy the work and started realizing the horribleness of my past deeds. Working undercover made me feel like I was repenting for my misdeeds and I felt like I was paying back society.
“After two years of working for the DEA I decided that I wanted to do something big, like infiltrating a gang, but I was not sure which kind or which one. I convinced my DEA handler that me infiltrating a gang was the best way I could help society and myself. My handler referred me to a Detective in the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department who worked organized crime groups. I spoke with this detective and told her I could infiltrate any gang that a white male could become a member of and that all I needed to know was where they hung out. She said the gang that was committing a high amount of serious crimes was the Vagos MC. I had heard of them, but I had no prior relationship with any biker gang members, period. So she gave me the names of the bars where they hung out and from that information I was able to infiltrate the Victorville Chapter of the Vagos. Once I started to get close to some of the Vagos and it seemed I might be able to get in I was introduced to Koz and Carr (ATF Agents Darrin Kozlowski and John Carr). From there, the DEA handed me over to the ATF and Koz became my handler.”
“Koz is my hero. No other man has done more for me than him. He is a great man! You have wrong impressions of this guy and the rest of his team. They never, ever, went after these gangs as a personal vendetta. The ATF works gangs, that’s what they do.
“Koz is a great man. He always treated me with respect. He never looked down on me. He became a friend. He has always been there for me. Since I was an honest and devoted CI the ATF treated me as one of their own. In fact, they told the Vagos this when they arrested them. They still treat me this way. In fact, everyone I meet in law enforcement treats me as an equal, which is awesome. The government is much more loyal, fair, respectful and honest than any biker gang, criminal organization or maybe even any organization period. They are a true brotherhood of loyal, and honest friends.
“Ciccone (ATF Agent John Ciccone), Carr and Koz work biker gangs not because they have something personal against biker gangs but because it is their job to bring gang members to justice. The conspiracy stories are fiction when it comes to these three guys.”
In his book Falco describes himself as “a former Marine and ‘hard-core drug dealer,’ a ‘coyote’ who once smuggled human cargo across the border from Mexico.”
When asked to elaborate on his days in the drug business the snitch tells me, “I did move weight…I was a horrible man. From 1991 to 1995 I was a mid-level cocaine dealer. In 1996 I switched to selling meth. From 1998 to 2001 I manufactured about 125 pounds a year in meth, mostly in LA.”
I wanted to know more about his tragic betrayal by his friends.
“My betrayal I will not go too much into because I have forgiven and gone on with my life. It is very painful to reflect back, but I will tell you that everyone I was close to, with the exception of one person, betrayed me. Shortly, after the betrayals I became addicted to my own meth and shortly after that I was busted, so the police came at the perfect time. I was near death when they raided my house which turned around my life. After getting out of federal jail, I gave up meth and gave up living as a criminal.”
Falco’s statements to me and in his book are all a weird mix of truth and lies. It is obvious that he thinks I am so stupid that I will never catch on – and that I am so clueless that I will never try to verify what he says. For example, he does not tell me the name of the “Detective in the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department who worked organized crime groups.” In his book Falco calls her “Samantha Kiles.” Multiple public documents call her “Shelli Kelly.” The lie about Samantha/Shelli/Kiles/Kelly stands out in hindsight because it is blatantly gratuitous. I began to realize that Wyatt/Falco lies because he likes to lie and also because he can’t stop himself.
He tells me: “I was not paid anything for Operation 22 Green…. You don’t work for the ATF for money. If you are doing it for money you would work for the FBI or DEA…. I did it because I felt like I was doing something great for our society and the government asked for my help.”
So I asked him, “How did you survive while you were doing volunteer undercover work? The usual procedure is that registered CIs earn a salary, which is now up to about $2,500 a month. In general, CIs participate in criminal activity. That is the point of CIs. Officially UCs, undercover agents and TFOs, tactical field officers, cannot commit crimes so CIs do the crimes instead. In general, CIs keep the profits from their crimes. Additionally, CIs are paid a performance bonus that typically reaches six figures when their work on their case is done. Let me ask you again, what and how were you paid?”
He replies, “While I was doing the Vago case I was told even a DUI could put me back in jail. We knew I would have to get in bar fights occasionally, but that was it. I took it on myself to take a hit of a marijuana joint if it was passed around and I was in front of a large group of Vagos. I did this so that they would not think I was a law enforcement officer. The ATF did not want me to even do something as minor as smoking a joint, but I thought I needed to. Otherwise, I would have looked too clean. If a CI is committing serious crimes while working undercover he or she would be charged for a crime just like anyone else. Just because you’re a CI does not mean you are above the law.”
I am still too dull to understand how Falco kept a roof over his head, food in his belly and gas in his tank.
“It was fair that I did not get paid for Operation 22 Green; I was still under heavy charges. Even though I had already done a couple years of work for the government I felt like and still do that I owe them my life. For me Rebel, the government saved me, so I feel forever indebted.”
“I am a Christian. I teach the youth group at my church. For me God and the Government saved my life.”
“I do not have anything personal against one percenters. I look at them as the same as any other gang, no worse no better, but they are a gang. They fight and kill over territory they do not own. While doing the Vagos’ investigation I worked a 9 to 5 job. I delivered car parts for a dealership. I also worked as a handyman for the Vago chapter president of the chapter I infiltrated.”
That Victorville chapter President was Scott “Psycho” Sikoff. He was Wyatt/Falco’s most loyal friend and defender in the club and his only visible means of support. The snitch later reported to his handlers that his friend had sold him weed and fought by his side. Sikoff was subsequently charged with assault with a deadly weapon and distribution of marijuana.

5

When I become too annoying Falco writes, “I think you still look at our society from a one percenter view point which is anti-social. I could be wrong but your opinions seem slanted that way. I hope that does not offend you. In no way do I think I am better than you or anybody else. As an ex-criminal the first thing I had to change when going straight was the way I thought. When you’re a criminal or gang member you try to justify why you do what you do. When I was a criminal I thought the only thing that was wrong to do was hurt or kill the innocent or snitch. That is a completely anti-social way of looking at the world.”
“These one percenter clubs, gangs, are not as loyal as people think. After Operation Black Diamond (Falco’s last infiltration for the ATF) more than half the members (of the American Outlaws Association that were) charged turned. The loyalty and brotherhood these clubs say they have for each other is one hundred percent bullshit. Not only do they betray each other after being arrested, but they were doing it all the time behind each other’s backs – fucking each other’s old ladies, lying, gossiping, and backstabbing each other for power. Betrayal is the normal part of the outlaw lifestyle and I don’t say this just because of my betrayal when I was a drug dealer, but because it was a constant part of what the outlaw bikers did to each other. I witnessed it day in and day out. It is not CIs and UCs these gangs should be watching out for. It is themselves.”
Some of what Falco tells me about this counterculture is true and some of it is not. The Vagos, like all outlaw clubs, strictly forbid adultery with a club brother’s woman. The old lady to whom he refers was the wife of the other ATF confidential informant in Operation 22 Green. All motorcycle outlaws gossip and they probably gossip a little more about each other than the general population because clubs tend to be very closed societies. I am not sure Falco really wants me to pursue the subject of truth and lies with him.
“I have told some people that I am interviewing ‘a snitch,’” I write. “Is that a fair term, in your opinion? Do you consider yourself a cop? I watched a little of a bad Tommy Lee Jones movie called Black Moon Rising the other day. The blurb described Jones’ character as a ‘freelance FBI agent.’ Ever consider yourself a ‘freelance ATF agent?’”
“Calling me a snitch is a little harsh, since I did not snitch on these guys, but I can picture you referring to me as a ‘snitch,’” he answers. “Again, I was never (one of those) one percenter(s) who got busted and decided to rat his friends out so he did not have to go to jail. From the first second, I met these guys I was working for the government. Their true brothers that betrayed them would be snitches, not me. I always called myself a private government contractor. Of course, I don’t think I am a cop. I’m not crazy. But they do treat me as one of their own.”
I sought and interviewed Falco/Charles/Tijuana Charles/Ashley because I was interested in the psychology of men who do what the snitch did. My first guess was that maybe he identified with the police. And near the end of his book he or Droban wrote, “Post-traumatic stress – it floated through my subconscious…. I escaped into the company of other agents. We formed our own brotherhood bound by common trauma…. All of us prepared each day to sacrifice our lives for a greater cause…. Like the other agents, I lived my life off duty.”
I conclude the snitch is a narcissist and probably a psychopath. No, I am not a psychologist. You don’t exactly have to be Sigmund Freud to see that Falco is a narcissist. You only have to have gone to community college. That one time. For a couple of days. Or so.

6

Factually, Falco was a participant in three, intertwined, ATF run, biker investigations. All three were connected to a small cadre of ATF agents that members of the Bureau have frankly called “Ciccone’s Gang” after ATF biker specialist John Ciccone. Ciccone, who expects to retire in another two years, has spent most of his career in the Bureau investigating, collecting intelligence about and making cases against outlaw motorcycle clubs. He has – by his own account but there is no reason to doubt him – participated in more than 200 motorcycle club investigations. He works out of the ATF Field Office in Glendale, California. And since 1997, beginning with a “One Percenter Task Force” investigation of the Hells Angels and the Sundowners Motorcycle Clubs in Los Angeles, Ciccone has worked with ATF agents William Queen, Jay Dobyns, Vincent Cefalu, John Carr and Darrin Kozlowski on multiple occasions. Ciccone is a short, appealing and handsome man who has taken pains to avoid public attention but two of the associates, Queen and Dobyns, have written best selling books. Dobyns and Cefalu have reinvented themselves as “ATF whistleblowers.” Carr has participated in a direct way in at least four investigations of biker clubs. Kozlowski has participated in undercover investigations of the Vagos twice, the Warlocks twice, the Outlaws, the Hells Angels, the Mongols and the Sons of Silence. An outlaw named Kevin “Spike” O’Neill who is now serving a life sentence has called Kozlowski a psychopath.
Most Americans think police investigate crimes. Ciccone’s gang tries to catch club members in the act of committing crimes. Sometimes they suggest the crimes. Frequently, these government agents facilitate real or imagined crimes – going so far as to act out episodes of “guerilla theater” (a term used by an Assistant U.S. Attorney following one of these investigation) including staged gunfights and game planned drug transactions. Typically, these investigations involve extensive electronic and other surveillance and data mining of club members in the hopes of catching someone somewhere doing something illegal. What those members get caught doing are usually minor assaults and minor drug and firearms transactions that would be prosecuted in state court if they were committed by anybody but a motorcycle club member. But, motorcycle club members and associates are almost always prosecuted under the racketeering statutes called RICO and VICAR which carry penalties of up to life imprisonment. Although it is not illegal to belong to a motorcycle club, club members are frequently coerced into pleading guilty to that non-existent crime. The ATF, to a lesser extent the FBI, and with increasing frequency the Department of Homeland Security are all at war with motorcycle clubs. The war is international and it is intended to drive all motorcycle clubs out of existence. Creative legal strategies have been devised to punish members for simply belonging to clubs like the Vagos, Mongols and Outlaws.
In the most successful investigations, ATF agents or their proxies, called Confidential Informants or Sources of Information, actually join clubs in order to both gather information about the membership and practices of the target organization but also, when the opportunity presents itself, to discover or manufacture reasons to prosecute club members. It is an astonishingly expensive war on social and political dissent. It has intensified since the September 11, 2001 terrorists attacks. It is, in fact, the greater part of the domestic “war on terror.” This part of the war against Al Qaeda is legitimized by rhetoric. Members and associates of clubs like the Vagos and the Outlaws are routinely called “domestic terrorists” and “street terrorists.” The clubs themselves are usually called “transnational gangs.”
Falco was an agent proxy in Operation 22 Green, Operation Black Rain and Operation Black Diamond. The names of these investigations are coined by bureaucrats for their estimated public relations effect.
Operation 22 Green employed two confidential informants, many dozens of ATF Agents and local police and lasted three years. During that time Falco and another informant made 25 alleged contraband purchases. At the conclusion of the long investigation police seized 132 legal firearms and two illegal firearms, 46 grams of cocaine, a total of about ten ounces of methamphetamine (I neglected to ask Wyatt/Falco if he cooked that crank), $15,000 in currency that was all later returned, firecrackers which were identified in the press as “explosives,” more than one thousand rounds of legally purchased and owned ammunition and numerous articles of clothing that indicated the wearer belonged to or supported the Vagos. Police also confiscated personal computers, photo albums, family souvenirs, cell phones and other personal items. The raids themselves were intended to punish their victims for belonging to a motorcycle club. At the conclusion of 22 Green 700 militarized police carried out an infantry assault intended mostly to punish club members and their families by wrecking their homes.
During the raids one Vago was found to have a Chinese throwing star embedded in a wall. He was charged with possession of a deadly weapon. Another Vago, a former martial arts instructor, home made a set of nunchucks thirty years before then literally nailed them to his garage wall as a decoration. He was charged with manufacturing a deadly weapon. During the dawn raids, a mother was pulled from her shower and dragged outside naked. A nine-year-old girl was only allowed to urinate if she let two Sheriffs watch.
Falco’s crowning achievement in this investigation was the tape recording of incriminating statements by a man who had knowledge of a homicide. The homicide was the result of a drug robbery gone wrong. One shot was fired, arguably by accident. One man was killed and a woman was wounded by the same bullet. Two subjects were charged with murder. One of them became a cooperating witness and was sentenced to one year in jail for voluntary manslaughter. The other suspect, Daniel Lee Foreman, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. It was not an open and shut case. Foreman would later write, “I was originally offered a seven year plea agreement on this same case…. The fact is, I turned it down on principle. Why should I accept any time for a crime I hadn’t committed?”
Falco told me, “Operation 22 Green was successful in my eyes, just for the murder case alone….”
After entering the witness protection program in 2007 Falco relocated to Lynchburg, Virginia and worked as a mechanic. He decided the next year “to return to my life undercover, but this time as a well-paid informant.” He volunteered with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to try to infiltrate the Hells Angels in Ontario in return for $1 million. When that fell through his mentor and hero Kozlowski introduced him to the Richmond, Virginia chapter of the Mongols. At the same time, Kozlowski was working undercover as a member of the Cypress Park, California chapter of the Mongols. It was the conclusion of ATF Operation Black Rain and the Virginia Mongols were entirely the invention of the ATF. The Bureau, using a paid confidential informant named Daniel Horrigan and a source of information named Lars Wilson, established the Virginia Mongols as a way to gain information about other motorcycle clubs in Virginia. After the raids that officially concluded Black Rain, the three ATF agents and two paid confidential informants who comprised the Virginia Mongols applied for membership in another motorcycle club, the American Outlaws Association.
That investigation was eventually named Operation Black Diamond. Twenty-seven Outlaws were indicted for racketeering in June 2010. Most of them pled guilty to racketeering, which might sound impressive unless you understand that under current case law every organization is a racket and every member who has broken any law in the last ten years is a racketeer. The Boy Scouts and the Catholic Church are, technically, rackets. Virtually no one beats a racketeering charge at trial. Everybody except for the very rich and powerful pleads guilty to racketeering because it is usually the smart move. One Outlaw was gunned down by federal agents in Maine. The charges against another were dropped. The racketeering acts with which the men were charged included having illegal slot machines in Outlaws clubhouses, buying and selling contraband and several minor and not so minor assaults.
The big target in Operation Black Diamond was Outlaws National President Jack Rosga, a 53-year-old grandfather with no criminal record who was convicted of racketeering and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Falco/Chef played virtually no part in Operation Black Rain and was mostly an observer during Operation Black Diamond. All of the war on the motorcycle outlaw menace in this moment in America is a kind of a circus. And in that circus Ashley/Falco/Charles/Chef was once one of the clowns. And that proves to be the single most annoying thing about “his” book. The putative author has no story to tell.

7

“How did you connect with Kerrie Droban?”
“I saw Kerrie on Gangland,” the snitch answers. “So, I read her book. I thought it was great. I found her email address and asked if she would be interested in writing my book.”
Blatchford?
“Blatchford was doing a story on the Vagos and he was referred to me. We talked on the phone and I told him I would love to do an interview with him. I watched him for years in L.A. and have always enjoyed his reports. He was very nice, professional. Other than that I don’t know much more about him.”
“Who referred you?”
“Blatchford was referred to me by my agent. He seemed to be a bright and nice guy. He loves to expose the truth about gangs, which I think is a noble thing.”
Falco’s agent is San Diego literary agent Jill Marsal. Marsal politely declined to comment about the Falco book. But she probably represents Falco in only a limited way called “hip-pocketing” which means she represents Falco for this one project. Her relationship with Kerrie Droban is more established.
Droban is an attorney, a former prosecutor and a mother who practices law in a country club suburb north of Phoenix. She aspires to earn what Robert Frost’s called the “gift word,” which is “poet.” Droban is widely reviled in the outlaw world. Many club members think her total lack of sympathy for and her fatuousness about motorcycle outlaws is annoying. And, just when she is starting to enjoy some commercial success she seems to be fading as a writer. Long before she became a biker authority Droban wrote a few lines I particularly like.

I’ll tell you about my days in Kenya:

 

                                                          Inevitably, flying termites litter the porch

With wings in the season of heavy rain.

Males struggle naked on the stones,

Their female mates already gone.

Umbula, the cook, fries them in chocolate.

 

I cannot describe the taste

There has never been much money in poetry and after her days in Kenya, if there actually were days in Kenya, Droban became a prosecutor. Her prince turned out to be a Glendale, Arizona homicide detective named Sergei Droban. She turned to prose and she had no more success than most writers until her social and professional connections introduced her to the ATF infiltration of the Arizona Angels. Her first publishing success was Running With The Devil. It was the best book published about Operation Black Biscuit. Although, that is faint praise. The other writers were the pompous and self-important Julien Sher, the psychotherapeutically intriguing Jay “Bird” Dobyns and the children’s book author Nils Johnson-Shelton.
Voila! The poet began to appear in publicity photos wearing a black leather jacket. Step by step, Droban stopped being a writer and instead became a “brand.” As dogs learn to sit up and beg, she learned to say, “My author brand is graphic realism. Raw, gritty stories that demand an audience.” Marsal became her agent and she sold Droban’s second biker book, Prodigal Father, Pagan Son: Growing Up Inside the Dangerous World of the Pagans Motorcycle Club, to a mystifyingly successful writer and editor at St. Martin’s Press, named Rob Kirkpatrick.
Kirkpatrick, 43, became a big success after he wrote a bad and un-insightful book about the year 1969 called 1969. He sold and was paid for what the world most needs now, yet another biography of Bruce Springsteen, and he published a biography of former Senators shortstop Cecil Travis. He has been described as “a journalist, a historian, a sociologist, and a sportswriter.” He has been a talking head on the History Channel and he “also writes about film, music, sports, and cultural issues for The Huffington Post.” After he published Prodigal Father, Pagan Son he bought the rights to Droban’s collaboration with Wyatt/Falco in November 2011.
About his work as an editor Kirkpatrick has written, “I specialize in narrative nonfiction and have built an eclectic list including history, sports, pop culture, and biography/memoir. I look to publish entertaining and compelling stories – especially books that should have been written before but hadn’t – and seek to effectively position all my books with memorable titles, enthusiastic blurbs, and eye-catching covers. In my ‘free’ time, I’ve also completed a PhD in English….”
Kirkpatrick ignored a request to answer basic questions about the Falco book. The questions he would not answer included “How was the book fact checked? Was it submitted to the ATF for authorization?” “Should a ‘true-crime’ book be true? Is it necessary that it be true?” And, “Briefly, in what ways are you responsible for this book?”
I believe he wrote the book blurb that he expects will “effectively position” the Wyatt/Falco/Droban collaboration. The blurb argues, “In separate investigations that spanned years and coasts, Falco risked his life, suffering a fractured neck and a severely torn shoulder, working deep undercover to bring violent sociopaths to justice.” Falco’s injuries are significantly overstated. The snitch couldn’t keep up with an ATF agent while riding his motorcycle in the rain in Virginia, ran onto the grass and went over the high side.
Kirkpatrick continues, “Falco’s engrossing account of the dangers of the biker underworld and justice is perfect for fans of FX’s Sons of Anarchy as well as Hunter Thompson’s classic Hell’s Angels.”
Kirkpatrick’s job is to create book products that pander to niche marketing categories. With this book he is chasing the Sons of Anarchy audience. He is also chasing after people who have read Hunter Thompson’s book about the Angels. He wants to tell those audiences a story that looks to him like a proven success. In other words he thinks the snitch’s tale is the exact same story that has sold well for almost fifty years. And also, he thinks Falco’s book is exactly the same as a story that was invented in a conference room in Hollywood. He either doesn’t care or notice that neither Droban or Falco is exactly in Thompson’s league as a writer, or for that matter even Kurt Sutter’s.
You should know about Kirkpatrick because whatever story Falco told Droban, and whatever story Droban wrote, it has now been tailored to fit a well worn editorial formula. This is simply how modern publishing works – just as Blatchford trading his cache as a journalist to ingratiate himself to Marsal and Kirkpatrick is exactly how modern journalism works. This is how Jenna Bush became a best selling author and journalist. Kirkpatrick exemplifies what Jay Dobyns meant several years ago, by “some 5th Avenue pogue whose biggest risk in life has been to decide how much of his 401k to take out to buy his yacht.” St. Martin’s offices are on 5th Avenue in Manhattan.

8

The product of all these invisible social and economic forces, of Wyatt/Falco’s egomania, Kirkpatrick’s fatuousness and Droban’s ambition, is a dismal and bloated vampire novel with Falco starring in the role of Van Helsing. Just as the snitch now called Falco truly believes in his own importance I truly believe that publishing this waste of perfectly good trees should be prosecuted as an environmental crime. Most of what Wyatt/Falco/Droban/Kirkpatrick tell readers are lies. Not mistakes, not hyperbole but simply lies. There are so many lies that a legion of fact checkers would go blind trying to correct them all. Over and over, Vagos, Mongols and Outlaws are described as rabid, ravenous wolves. Civilians are innocent, fluffy, little bunnies. Oh no, little bunny! Don’t go in that bar! No! No!
Because Falco did so little other than get stoned and incriminate a man who may or may not be guilty of murder, much of the book attempts to describe what Wyatt/Falco dreamt. “I dreamed of rushing rapids, of light shallow water, of warning Vs in the ripples. There’s something down there, I shouted into cold winds. But no one heard me. River left. I paddled furiously toward shore. River left. Get out. Get out. Eddy the boat. Obstacle ahead.” Apparently Droban thought that if she just free associated enough of this crap, the word count might eventually total the number specified in her contract.
Most of the book is written in a narrative voice authors usually use to manipulate their readers into closely identifying with a fictional hero. “My heart hammered against my chest. Surrounded by dark shapes clad in denim and dirty patches of heat, I had never felt more alone. As an informant, I had no backup, no surveillance team, no one to hear the bullet penetrate my skull if things soured…. Not only had I confirmed for the government that the Vagos trafficked in drugs and illegal weapons; I had also established they were involved in committing homicides, the violent trademark of motorcycle gangs. I swelled with a sense of duty, of serving society. My role was no longer about self-preservation, it was about justice.”
Over and over Falco wears his duplicity like a Silver Star:
“I wanted to shout out, ‘Not me, not me, I’m not one of them. I’m one of the good guys.” “I wasn’t my costume, I wasn’t a badass. I was one of the good guys.” “Through our testimony we would likely join the ranks of other ‘brave and noble’ men who paid the price to crush Al-Qaeda terrorists or chill further mob violence.” “Meanwhile, Koz worried that I had become too soft, ‘too nice, too much of a gentleman’ gangster. He didn’t want me to be like ‘fucking James Bond,’ but he urged me to ‘be more aggressive, act more like a real gangster.’” “For three years I knew my role, and the culmination of my life’s work.” “Strangely, the lying bothered me the most even though I had been deceptive about my life since I was nineteen years old: first as a drug dealer, then as an informant and now as a completely revised person.” “Like soldiers returning from war, I imagined I experienced similar post-traumatic stress.” “Neither Twist nor the Vagos loved me or each other, they loved the idea of me and their brotherhood.” “For the briefest of moments I felt what a celebrity must.” “The whole idea that Vagos would defend each other, even die for each other, was bullshit. Code, club colors was all illusion and delusion. The seduction of being someone else was an addiction.” “I drifted off to my safe place, my subconscious.” “Some experiences are too profound to translate: war, military service, and life undercover.” “In a few hours, I would return to that lonely place, to the underworld, inhabited by undercover operatives, where my life completely transformed.”
Really sings doesn’t it? Maybe it was the prose Blatchford loved. How about you? Do you think you would like to read another 70,000 words of this?
The phony Falco informs his eager audience that all Vagos are phonies. “The notion that motorcycle gangs had any interest in charities or children was perverse. They needed money to fund their drug and arms deals. And they fit into the real world the way sociopaths blended, by mimicking human emotion and wearing acceptable masks, by pretending to care about children’s causes.”
And, among other atrocities, members of the Outlaw Motorcycle Club are anti “little people.” In one of the dozens of story lines in this insider account Falco becomes afraid that his new club brothers might force him to fuck the three-foot-tall porn star Bridget the Midget. “That night I crawled into the van, but sleep eluded me. Bridget floated into my conscience.” Into his “conscience.” Not his consciousness but his conscience.

Postcript

I finish Falco/Wyatt/Charles/Droban/Kirkpatrick’s rotten book and abandon the interview with him. I know before I write half of it that this article is already a loser. I don’t want to write about Falco. I don’t like Falco. I want to punch him in the face.
I want to punch Falco in the face that night on the Strip. I want to punch somebody in the face as I make the always thrilling, diving right turn from Sunset onto La Cienega with a very important taxi in a hurry just behind me. I want to punch the cab driver in the face. I want to punch somebody in the face because I have been told, by people who love me, that I have anger issues.
And, also I want to punch somebody in the face because we now live in a moment of lies. The government lies to us. The government lies to itself. The police lie to judges. Doctors lie to patients. Charles Falco, Kerrie Droban and Rob Kirkpatrick are all lying. And, I know those lies are tomorrow’s historical truth. And, if I throw enough punches at history maybe I will leave a mark.

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Acknowledgements

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This book is for you if ...

• Anti-war or environmental activists
• Recreational drug users
• Participants in the underground economy or anybody who does business in cash
• Critics of local or national powers-that-be
• Anyone whose profession involves "sensitive" information or activities
• Gun owners or dealers
• Third-party or "fringe" political activists
• Hobbyists who work with dangerous materials
• Photographers/videographers
• Religious dissidents
• People with offshore or unconventional investments (including perfectly legitimate ones)

This book is NOT for you if ...

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What exactly is a snitch?

The infiltrator/agent provocateur. This is someone (often a professional) who is inserted into a group for an active purpose, such as disrupting the group, or worst, talking formerly innocent (or at least formerly non-violent) people into committing crimes in order to bust them. Agents provocateurs may, among other things, try to turn non-violent protest into violent action, thus discrediting movements, giving excuses for crackdowns, and giving more publicity and power to government agencies.

The informer/informant. This snitch is often a legitimate member of a group or social circle who continues to be active while giving information to the police. This person may be acting under duress (to save his own skin after being arrested, for instance). This person may be hoping the cops will pay with money, drugs, or ongoing criminal immunity for her dubious "services." While this person isn't necessarily a professional agent provocateur, he may nevertheless try to talk friends into committing crimes so he can get more credibility or rewards from his police handlers.

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What makes snitches so dangerous?

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PART ONE

Recognizing and Avoiding Snitches

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FIRST RULE:

Learn and practice
good security consciousness

• Don't talk about secret or illegal activities outside your group.
• Within your group, talk about them only to people who have a need to know.
• Keep groups small. Maybe even as small as a "cell of one."
Attorney safety tip:
A lawyer who consulted on this book says:
"When dealing with police, prosecutors or their agents, do NOT base your theory-of-the-game on TV, movies, or other sources. Or on constitutional theory you may have learned in school. The other side is playing for keeps and to them rules are irrelevant inconveniences. Ask Bradley Manning."
• If you use email, encrypt it. Not only that, but encrypt all email you possibly can, not just email containing sensitive material. Encrypt your cute cat jokes and your discussions of last night's favorite TV show (that way you don't call special attention to your most confidential exchanges).
• Do not post sensitive material on social media (a no-brainer, but apparently some still do it).
• Do not post sensitive material on social media even when your privacy settings allow only "friends" to see it. A 2012 court ruling said it's perfectly okay for those "friends" to turn around and show your allegedly private info to government agents.
• Do not talk to cops or indeed any government agents — about anything. Ever. The most innocent remarks can be used against you. The "nicest" cop is still not your friend. (We'll have more on this in Part Three and in the appendixes. This is extremely important!)
• Know the laws, potential sentences, and likely prosecutorial practices against any crimes you're committing. Do not be caught unprepared.
Tip from experience:
This comes from a friend of mine who spent "the worst two weeks" of his life in jail, courtesy of a snitch: "Don't hang with people who are dishonest or lie, even in small, unimportant things. They have no honor to lose and everything they say and do is based on profit or benefit to them."
• If you're a political activist, keep your nose clean in other ways. For instance, if you're an anti-drug-war activist, don't sell drugs on the side. Don't make yourself an easy target for spurious (or worse, real) criminal charges.
• Unless you actually want to be arrested to become a test case (a dangerous but sometimes useful tactic), then do everything you can to avoid giving anyone ammunition to tarnish you or your cause.
• Do your best to make sure your associates also follow good security practices.
• Get yourself away from associates who are blabbermouths, boasters, loose-lipped drunks, or "friends" who insist on posting their (and your) every activity on the Internet.
• We repeat: GET YOURSELVES AWAY from anybody who can't keep his mouth shut!

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Recognizing a snitch

• A stranger or casual acquaintance tries to get you to do or advise on illegal activities.
• A friend suddenly starts pushing you to do or advise on illegal things.
• A person joins your group and statements he/she makes about his/her background just don't add up.
• A person joins your group and starts stirring up trouble and creating divisions.
• A person joins your group and is overly eager to be useful, to pay for the group's activities, to initiate activities, supply equipment, to escalate dangerous activities, etc.
• Someone goes out of his way to gain your trust, to be really buddy-buddy with you. Then, when you resist getting into dubious activities, he drops all interest in you (he's looking for an easier mark).
Advice from the underground
This ultra-basic piece of advice goes back at least to the agitators of the 1960s. Yet people still get entrapped by ignoring it: "You can always tell the FBI agent. He's the one who's trying to get you to bomb something."
• You're asked to do illegal or dubious business with a "friend of a friend." This is a big one. It's amazing how many "friends of friends" (where controversial activities are involved) are actually undercover cops.
• Someone asks you to do something illegal or dangerous that he could just as easily do himself or have done elsewhere.
• Someone starts agitating to have your group do something outside the group's purposes. ("Hey, we just run a little of this 'stuff' across the border and it'll make us a lot of money that we can use to do good.")
• An older, "more experienced" person joins your group or circle and soon becomes a counselor of sorts to the youngest, most edgy, most insecure, most angry, or most naive members. He "cuts them out of the herd" in order to pull them into illegal plots. (This is a classic tactic of the agent provocateur.)
• Anyone in your group starts agitating for violent action. People who agitate for illegal activities may be snitches; or they may be genuine fools who will attract snitches.

---

What makes snitches so persuasive?

• Snitches play on your trust and/or your desire to go along with others.
• They may appeal to your loyalty or your fear or some other emotion ("You won't do it? Wow, and here I thought you were one of us.""C'mon, if you had any guts you'd do this.""How are we ever going to change things if we don't take radical action?")
• They may literally "cut from the herd" the most naive, trusting, foolish, or discontent of your associates, isolate them, and psychologically manipulate them into committing crimes.
• They may pretend to be your friend. — especially a friend in need. ("I know you don't usually deal, but couldn't you just sell me a little from your stash?""Look, just help me get this money out of the country; it's no big deal.""Hey, I know you have a machine shop in your garage; how about helping me cut down the barrel on this shotgun? I'll pay you.")
• They may actually be your friend — but a friend who has gotten into legal trouble and has turned to snitching to save themselves from a long prison sentence. (Same sorts of urgings as in the last bullet point, but this time coming from somebody for whom that wouldn't be characteristic behavior.)
• They may make it easy to commit crimes by not only pushing the idea, but actually supplying the funding, the equipment, the transportation, and the planning for the crime. They may come across as natural leaders ("Trust me, I know how to do this!")
• They may make hyper-strong appeals to your cause — then use the leverage they gain to make equally strong appeals for committing crimes.
• They often play upon a normal human desire to want to DO something - which is likely why, if you're a political person, you're a member of the group in the first place.
• And finally — let's never forget — some snitches play on that most basic instinct of all — S.E.X. Spy agencies have known this as long as there have been spy agencies. The KGB used to call it "the sparrow trick"; get a red-blooded heterosexual male up close with an attentive, manipulative female and said male will eventually whisper all manner of secrets into her ear. These days, it probably works the other way around, too. And no doubt homosexual attraction can blind eyes and loosen lips just as effectively.

---

"Mere" snitching vs active entrapment

---

Dangerous myths about
snitches and undercover agents

---

What to do if you believe a
snitch is personally targeting you

• Again, get away from the person
• Do not try to outsmart the person
• Do not feed the person false information (because if that person is an undercover agent this could be a crime in and of itself)
• Do not commit violence against the person
• Just get away — even if it means leaving a group
• If you think you've already said or done something compromising with this person, see a good lawyer and read the section of this booklet on how to conduct yourself if you get arrested.
• Another tip from this book's helpful attorney: "Consider making your OWN complaint to the authorities about this 'nutball' [the person you suspect of being a snitch]. This a) puts you on the record as NOT being in bed with the snitch, b) alerts the snitch and his handlers that you're aware of him and are thus less likely to be an 'easy target,' c) creates an appearance that you're not one of the bad guys - since you're not hiding anything, and d) maybe - with a little luck - the snitch ends up in jail himself for some time. I would not consider this 'do not try to outsmart' described above (which I agree with)." Of course, if he turns out not to be a snitch, you may have harmed an innocent person by calling the cops on him. It's a risk. But if the person really is an agent of the government, this can be a pretty good act of self-protection. Oh, and one of my friends who speaks from experience, points out that if you're going to report a snitch to the cops, it's best to do it through a lawyer. Otherwise you're talking to cops, which is a no-no.

---

PART TWO

A Snitch Uncovered

---

If you believe there's
a snitch in your group

• Document your suspicions.
• If possible, conduct some careful, subtle investigation to see if your suspected snitch's background and life matches her claims. Does she really live where she says? Has she been seen with police? Do her statements about her education or her friends hold up? If not, you may not have a snitch, but you have an untrustworthy person, for sure.
• Share your specific reasons for suspicion with people in the group that you trust. Yes, we know that snitches destroy trust, so be very careful when choosing one or two others to confide in.
• If you can do so without violating your state's law, quietly begin video or audiotaping all interactions with the suspected person. If state wiretapping laws forbid recording without the consent of all parties, then at least consider openly recording meetings to counteract any lies the snitch may tell his handlers.
• Start a 'Facts, Acts, and Circumstantial file.' After each incident write details down. Facts are the time, date, occasion, incident, characteristics of the person(s). Acts are what they did. Circumstantial is the impressions and anything odd about the situation. Use the FAC file and keep notes from unsettling situations and see if a pattern emerges. (Note: This item also appears in Appendix 2, where you will find details on how to do this, along with many other commonsense OpSec tips.)
• Do not make open accusations unless you have proof positive of snitchery or copness (as when New York Libertarian Party activists (see below) spotted a former "suspicious" member in the New York Times, helping the FBI with an arrest).
• Discuss with your most trusted associates what to do.
Here's one way to spot a snitch!
Online commenter BusyPoorDad writes:
Years ago, when the New York Libertarian Party was starting up, a new member joined and became active. He said he was from a low-income neighborhood, worked a manual labor job, and did not know much about politics. He looked the part but things just did not add up.
He knew how to set a table for a formal dinner, used the Robert's Rules very well, and fit in very well with the highly educated members. After about four months of working with us, he just stopped coming. This sort of thing happened a lot but there were no signs of discontent. He was always willing to do everything he was asked to help do (petition, run Nolan chart tables, etc.).
About a year later he was spotted in the NY Times holding on to someone arrested by the FBI for something.
His background just did not fit with him. We never saw him reading books, he talked about watching TV and working at a warehouse, but he was able to be cultured, had a good vocabulary, and really wanted to be part of everything.
• Just as your first individual move is to keep away from the suspect individual, the best group action may be to simply shut the person out. Stop talking with them. Stop inviting them to meetings. Stop asking them to be involved in projects. Freeze them out of all activities and discussions.
• In a serious case, you may end up having to shut down the entire group to foil a snitch or agent provocateur. If so, have a plausible excuse if you can.
• Always, always make sure that you and the other "on the up and up" members of your group remain on record as NOT advocating illegal, and in particular violently illegal, activities. Got a blog, a Twitter account, a Facebook page? Make your opposition to certain activities clear and public.
• Furthermore, make sure you stay on record as NOT advocating things that the snitch wants. Do not line up behind, or even pretend to agree with, that person's policy recommendations, strategies, or tactics. Remember, you may well be being recorded. You do not even want to appear to superficially agree with things an undercover operative is trying to talk you into.
• Again, finally, you may have to recognize that you can neither help nor save those who do not wish to be helped or saved. It may be that your final act has to be turning your files over to some other trusted member of the group and leaving. You always have a chance of finding another group. You're not going to have a chance to find another you.

---

HISTORICAL ways of dealing
with known snitches

• The IRA used to shoot betrayers in the kneecaps. It wouldn't kill them, but everyone who saw a former activist lurching down the street on destroyed knees knew what he was.
• The Mafia would famously send stool pigeons to "sleep with the fishes."
• Resistance groups, particularly during wartime, have been known to leave the bodies of betrayers in public squares with messages pinned to them — or even carved in them. While still saying it's a bad idea, it did have the effect of discouraging the general populace from working with the enemy. Today snitches and betrayers often see benefits and face nowhere near enough drawbacks for their dirty work.
• In the 1980s and 1990s, the African National Congress punished perceived collaborators with the monstrous method called "necklacing." They'd shove a gasoline-filled tire over a miscreant's neck and arms and kill the person by setting the tire alight.
• After World War II, many women who had slept with or otherwise collaborated with Nazis were humiliated by having their hair hacked off while mobs screamed, "Nazi whore!" This might not sound like much compared with beastly punishments like necklacing. But public humiliation, shunning, and the attack on their femininity was hugely degrading and psychologically damaging.

---

How do YOU treat an exposed snitch?

---

Repairing the damage snitches do

---

Beware of accusing someone
who might not be a snitch

---

PART THREE

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU GET BUSTED?

---

You may be pressured to become a snitch

---

Do NOT talk to cops. Period.

• No, you may not search my vehicle.
• No, you may not enter my home.
• I do not consent to any search.
• Am I free to go?
• On the advice of my lawyer, I cannot talk to you.
• I will not talk without my lawyer present.

---

The police officer is NOT your friend

---

The Prisoner's Dilemma

---

Mindset: The common territory
between snitches and victims

• Overly naive and trusting
• Unprepared for bad things happening to them
• Cocky and overly confident
• Loudmouthed or prone to blat information without thinking
• Prone to believe that "nice" cops really do want to "help" them (yes, it's another form of being overly naive and trusting, but it bears repeating because if you get caught because you trusted a rat you're more likely to turn around and trust that rat's handlers)
• Very good at rationalizing their own less-than-stellar behavior
• (Or conversely) So idealistic and starry-eyed that reality, when it hits, knocks them for a loop.

---

What happens if you refuse to snitch?

---

What happens if you become
a snitch — and regret it?

---

What happens to you if you
snitch and your friends find out?

---

The rest of your life if you do snitch

---

Appendix 1

The Reid Interrogation Technique^TM

By "Just Waiting"

Repeat the question before answering? That answer is a lie.

Little or no direct eye contact? You're evasive.

Too much direct eye contact? You're cocky and/or confrontational.

Change from "is" to "was" or "a" to "the"? You're changing your story to hide something.

Sit up straight, slouch, fold your arms in your lap, fold them across your chest? You're scared, you're cocky, you're defensive. Every movement, posture and expression has a meaning to LE.

---

Appendix 2

Some Commonsense OpSec

Addendum on note-taking (Facts, Acts, and Circumstantial)

---

Appendix 3

Line up a lawyer

How to hire the right lawyer

---

Appendix 4

Other helpful resources

Dealing with snitches

How cops deal with snitches

Online advice on dealing with police

An online guide to interrogation techniques

Books

________

OFF THE WIRE
 The information posted below is from a well-known article written by Jim March on 5/16/2002 titled, "California Knife Laws: A Comprehensive Guide," url:
http://www.ninehundred.com/~equalccw/knifelaw.html
Also Sy Nazif, Esq. article is from the Bailingwire, newsletter.
ML&R
Philip & Bill

FOR THOSE OF US HERE IN O`SIDE CA, it is written out below.
THE LAWS  VARIE  FROM CITY TO CITY, TOWN TO TOWN,
 COUNTY TO COUNTY ALSO....
 California Knife Laws, Since Oceanside PD follows the state statue here it is,
Oceanside City Code 20. 10

1. 
SECTION FIVE: DEALING WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT WHEN PACKIN' STEEL
First thing: don't get nervous. If you've read this, you're not going to be breaking any knife laws.  California's knife laws are actually pretty decent, better than most states (even the shall-issue gun permit ones).  If you're nervous, the cop will read that, and he won't know what to think - but the conversation WILL go downhill.
If you're walking past a cop with a legally concealed knife, DO NOT "pat the knife" to make sure the concealment is still effective.  That's the number one way cops spot people packing guns illegally.  They'll think that's what you're doing.  The resulting conversation won't be pleasant.
If there's any chance at all that the guy is gonna search you, politely declare that you're carrying a "pocketknife legal under state law".  Got that?  Tell him where it is on you, let him take control of it.  DO NOT SCARE THE DUDE WITH THE BADGE AND GUN.  Don't reach for nuthin' unless he tells you to do so.  At all times, act like this is just a normal business transaction.
So what if he/she thinks your piece(s) is/are illegal?
You explain that California knife law has changed a bunch of times starting in 1997 and twice more that you know of, so you're not terribly surprised there's confusion.  Calmly explain as much of the relevant Penal Codes as you can recall...if you're into big folders, PC653k and the bit in 12020 about "not readily available if concealed in the closed position" is a start.  If he ain't buying, calmly ask for a supervisor.
If he wants to confiscate your cutlery, ASK FOR A RECEIPT.  If he says anything about "that'll mean you'll get a ticket too, and/or an arrest", stand your ground and calmly ask for a receipt.  He's bluffing because he wants your knife.  Sorry if any cops reading this are offended, but it happens - I've met enough people it's happened to to be a believer, although it hasn't happened to me.  If he just plain takes it without a receipt, get his badge number and/or car number (if the latter is all you can get, record the TIME).  If it was a city or county cop, make a THEFT complaint in detail with your nearest California Highway Patrol station (they investigate local wrongdoing).  If it was CHP, hmmm...complain to the CHP supervisors maybe, or the Sheriff, but for God's sake don't let 'em off clean.
IF YOU HAD TO THREATEN AN ASSAILANT WITH A DRAWN BLADE:
You have two choices: get the hell out of there ASAP and travel far and fast, because odds are, crooks that get chased off by an armed citizen love to file a "he threatened me" complaint and bust YOU.  Bug out.  NOTE: we're talking about a situation in which you haven't committed a crime, and since no actual violence occurred neither did anybody else.  So "fleeing the scene" rules don't really apply.  And you also don't want the SOB coming back with reinforcements and/or heavy artillery.  Time to go!
If that's not possible, because the crook knows where you are or who you are (or have your car's license plate number), jump on 911 and report an attempted crime, pronto.  There are too many lazy cops that just believe the first complaint.  Make yours first.  You'll probably have one major advantage: the crook will have a violent record and you won't.
IF YOU HAD TO ACTUALLY DRAW BLOOD IN DEFENSE:
When the cops show up, there are only three things you should say: I was in fear of my life, I'm too shaken up to talk, I want a lawyer.  (If there are witnesses you know of, point them out to the cops and tell the cops to talk to them.)
Bernie Goetz didn't do that.  He was furious at the four attempted muggers, he made that anger plain in a long discussion down at the station, and he ended up getting charged with murder and attempted murder when it was absolutely clear-cut self defense.
When a cop gets involved in a shooting, they understand that immediately afterwards, he's too shaken to explain clearly what happened.  So most departments give him 24 hours to settle down before talking to him.  But if you're involved in lethal force, some will take advantage of your rattled state to pry garbled statements out of you.  You HAVE the right to remain silent.  Use it.
I'm assuming here that if you drew or used steel, you had a damned good reason.  That's a subject for a much more detailed (not to mention PROFESSIONAL) treatment - see Introduction for some reference works.

Oceanside City Code 20. 10

 Knife Laws in California:  Is It Legal Carry One?

Written by Sy Nazif, Esq Taken from the BAILING WIRE,

 was given to me by John, From ABATE,  of CA 

For my first Bailing Wiring Column, I was asked to write about knife laws in California.  After researching the law, I certainly understood why some confusion exists as to what is legal to carry and what isn’t: there are over a dozen statutes on the subject, as well as numerous municipal codes, and inconsistent court decisions that further muddy the water.  This article is intended to shed some light on the rules and inconsistencies in California knife laws.

Switchblades  - Penal Code § 653k

Switchblades and other spring-loaded knives are generally illegal in California. Included in the legal definition of switchblade is "[any] knife having the appearance of a pocketknife and includes a spring-blade knife, snap-blade knife, gravity knife or any other similar type knife, the blade or blades of which are two or more inches in length and which can be released automatically by a flick of a button, pressure on the handle, flip of the wrist or other mechanical device, or is released by the weight of the blade or by any type of mechanism whatsoever."  The statute expressly excludes pocket knives that can be opened with one hand by pushing the blade open with one's thumb, as long as

Concealed Knives, Dirks, and Daggers - Penal Code § 12020

Cane Swords and other Disguised Blades - Penal Code § 20200 et seq

Possession of Knives on School Grounds - Penal Code § 626.10

Brandishing Knives - Penal Code § 417

Local Ordinances - Here's Where the Law Gets Messy

Where does all this information leave us?  The short answer is, in a mess.  There are certainly things that are illegal: any switchblade with a blade 2" or longer, or concealed possession of any knife with a fixed blade.  Other knives may or may not be legal,

OFF THE WIRE
Source: 10news.com
SANTEE, Calif. -- Authorities say a Santee-based gang, whose members include convicted felons with long rap sheets, is recruiting kids as young as 14.
Members said the group known as the "Peckerwoods" is nothing more than a motorcycle club.
An undercover police officer, who has been tracking the Peckerwoods since 2005, told 10News the group's ideology is illustrated in its members' clothing.
Jackets taken from arrested Peckerwood members showcase Nazi symbols, including the iron cross and SS bolts.
Additionally, the name Peckerwood has a deeper meaning -- it is what America's slaves called their masters.
Police said, in Santee, members wear the name as a badge of honor.
"Sometimes their beliefs -- from what we can tell -- their symbols and colors, they teach at home," the undercover officer said.
Santee resident Lyle Snow has two African-American children and was attacked by 15-year-old Trevor Solis last year. According to court records, Solis' father, Trenton, is a known Peckerwood who served prison time for crippling an African-American Marine in 1998.
"I have had a lot of cases that have involved juveniles that have looked me straight in the face and said, 'I was born a racist; I was raised a racist and you can't change that,'" the undercover officer said. "Coming out of a 14-year-old's mouth is just real surprising."
Police said the Peckerwoods recruit new members by using things such as T-shirts that say "Support your local Peckerwoods."
In 2007, police said weapons and drugs were found in a raid at the Peckerwoods' Santee clubhouse.
"I have to say, and I'm not just saying this to cover my tail, they've treated me with respect," said Santee Mayor Randy Voepel. "They are an organization that, like anyone, has a few bad apples."
10News asked Peckerwood president Ronald Luetticke for an interview, and he said in a voice message: "My attorney advised me that I probably shouldn't do it, and the other consideration I got is I have two young kids. I got two kids; I don't want to put them in any harms way."
Luetticke works professionally as a contractor and is licensed by the state of California.
The Department of Justice won't allow police to disclose how many Peckerwood members there are in San Diego County. Police did say a large majority of the members have criminal convictions.
Peckerwood board secretary Deron Jaffe came to the 10News studios unannounced Tuesday and left the following statement:
"Peckerwood Motorcycle Club was established 23 years ago with the intent of providing a brotherhood for riders of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Our club members are not racist and we do not recruit children or anyone else to become members of our club. We cannot control people outside of our club who might be racist and call themselves "Peckerwoods." We are nothing more than a motorcycle club and are not affiliated with any other groups of individuals who refer to themselves or others as "Peckerwoods." Our members are working class people with families. We don't advocate or engage in violence towards others. The Peckerwood Motorcycle club is proud of its involvement in charitable causes such as the Amber Dubois Memorial Fund and annual toy drive to benefit the orphanage in Rosarito Beach Mexico."

Peckerwoods M.C.

OFF THE WIRE
BY: William J. Felchner
VIDEO,
http://youtu.be/CWNmCnyjUEA
Source: factoidz.com
USA - The outlaw biker gang can trace its origins to the period after World War II where returning veterans and other roadies began to organize themselves in clubs, pining for the freedom, action and nonconformity that the motorcycle offered. One of the seminal events in outlaw biker history was "The Hollister Riot," which took place over the July Fourth 1947 holiday weekend in Hollister, California, where some 4,000 motorcycle enthusiasts invaded the small town. The ensuing ruckus was later sensationalized in the July 21, 1947, issue of Life magazine, marking a famous milestone in biker history.
The Hollister Gypsy Tour, as the event was billed, included the Boozefighters, a South Central Los Angeles motorcycle club founded in 1946 by World War II vet William "Wino Willie" Forkner (1921-1997). Forkner reveled in his reputation as a biker hellraiser, and reportedly served as the inspiration for Lee Marvin's Chino character in Columbia Pictures' The Wild One (1953), which also starred Marlon Brando as bad boy Johnny Strabler, leader of the fictional Black Rebels.

Here are ten notorious outlaw biker gangs that rule the road in biker history. These are the so-called "1%ers," the bikers who operate out of the mainstream as compared to the other 99% of motorcyclists who abide by the law and norms of society. Kick start your engines and show your colors…

Hells Angels (1948-present)

Unarguably the best-known outlaw biker gang in history, Hells Angels owes its name to World War II and possibly the 1930 Howard Hughes movie of the same name. During Big Two, there did exist the United States Army Air Forces 303rd Heavy Bombardment Group (H) of the U.S. 8th Air Force which billed itself as Hell's Angels, flying B-17 combat missions out of Molesworth, England, from 1942-45.

Hells Angels was formed in the Fontana/San Bernardino, California, area on March 17, 1948 as an offshoot of the Pissed Off Bastards of Bloomington, a California motorcycle club founded in 1945 by American veterans of the air war. Other independent chapters of Hells Angels later sprouted up in Oakland, Gardena and San Francisco.

Hells Angels eventually spread its wings, with the club now sporting charters in 29 countries, including Canada, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Russia, Greece, Denmark, France, Turkey and the Dominican Republic.The Hells Angels insignia is the infamous "death's head," designed by Frank Sadilek, a former president of the San Francisco chapter.

Both American and Canadian law enforcement have labeled the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) a crime syndicate, asserting that its members routinely engage in drug trafficking, extortion and violence. Hells Angels garnered notoriety at the Altamont Free Concert on December 6, 1969, when they were hired by the Rolling Stones to act as stage security. Mayhem ensued at the drug/alcohol fueled event that boasted of a crowd of 300,000, with four people losing their lives.

Mongols (1969-present)

The Mongols was founded on December 5, 1969 in Montebello, California, by Hispanic veterans of the Vietnam War. Reportedly denied membership in Hells Angels because of their race, the Mongols eventually branched out, currently boasting of chapters in 14 states and four foreign countries.

Law enforcement has classified the Mongols as a criminal enterprise, engaging in loan sharking, drug trafficking, racketeering, theft and murder for hire. ATF agent William Queen, using the alias Billy St. John, successfully infiltrated the Mongols in 1998, resulting in 53 Mongol convictions.

The Mongols and their hated rivals Hells Angels engaged in an infamous brawl and gunfight at Harrah's Casino in Laughlin, Nevada, in 2002. When the smoke had cleared, one Mongol and two Hells Angels lay dead on the casino floor.

Pagans (1959-present)

Lou Dobkins, a biochemist at the National Institute of Health, founded the Pagans in Prince George's County, Maryland, in 1959. By the late 1960s, the Pagans were the dominant biker club on the East Coast, riding British Triumph motorcycles (later traded in for Harley Davidsons) and sporting their distinctive patch depicting the Norse fire god Sutr wielding a flaming sword.

The Pagans currently operate in eleven states, with Delaware County, Pennsylvania, serving as their Mother chapter. American law enforcement has classified the Pagans as a criminal enterprise, engaging in a host of illegal activities, including gun running, drug trafficking, arson, methamphetamine production and distribution, prostitution, racketeering and murder for hire.

In 2002, the Pagans and Hells Angels clashed at the Hellraiser Ball in Long Island, New York, where ten people were wounded and one Pagan was allegedly shot and killed by a Hells Angels member. Three years later, the Vice President of the Hells Angels Philadelphia chapter was killed by gunfire while driving his truck on the Schuylkill Expressway, with the Pagans allegedly carrying out the hit.

Outlaws (1935-present)

The Outlaws can trace their history back to 1935 when the McCook Outlaws Motorcycle Club was formed out of Matilda's Bar on old Route 66 in McCook, Illinois. In the ensuing years, the club morphed into the McCook Outlaws, the Chicago Outlaws and the American Outlaws Association (A.O.A.). Their first out of state chapter came in Florida in 1967. In 1977, the Canadian biker gang Satan's Choice joined the Outlaws franchise, making it the first chapter outside of the United States. Today, the Outlaws are active in some 14 states, with international chapters in the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Germany, Sweden, Thailand, Norway, Poland, the Philippines, et al.

The Outlaws sport a distinctive patch comprised of a skull and crossed pistons. Their official motto, adopted in 1969, is "God forgives, Outlaws don't."

Law enforcement has categorized the Outlaws as an organized crime syndicate, engaging in drug trafficking, murder, extortion and prostitution. The Outlaws have had their run-ins with police and other biker gangs. In 2007, Outlaws member Frank Rego Vital was shot and killed outside the Crazy Horse Saloon in Forest Park, Georgia, by two Renegades motorcycle club members who had reportedly acted in self-defense.

Bandidos (1966-present)

The Bandidos was founded by Marine Corps and Vietnam War veteran Don Chambers in San Leon, Texas, in 1966. The club's official motto is "We are the people our parents warned us about," with a big Mexican in sombrero brandishing a machete and pistol adorning the club's distinctive patch. The Bandidos currently boast of 104 chapters in the United States, along with international chapters in Germany, Australia, Denmark, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Costa Rica, Belgium and the Channel Islands.

Law enforcement has classified the Bandidos as an organized crime syndicate, engaging in murder, drug trafficking, money laundering, extortion, gun running and witness tampering. From 1994 to 1997 the so-called "Great Nordic Biker War" was waged in Scandinavia pitting Bandidos versus Hells Angels in a bloody turf war that resulted in eleven murders. Vagos (1965-present)

Originally called the Psychos, Vagos was formed in Temescal Valley, California, in 1965. The club's distinctive green/red patch pictures the Norse god Loki straddling a motorcycle. Vagos currently operates mainly in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico.

Both the FBI and the ATF consider Vagos an outlaw biker gang, engaging in drug trafficking, gun running, auto theft, money laundering and murder. In 2002, however, Vagos members turned in the estranged wife of a Pomona, California, police detective who had attempted to hire a Vagos hit man to murder her husband.

Law enforcement has successfully conducted several undercover investigations of Vagos and their illegal activities. In 2004, authorities arrested 26 Vagos members/associates and seized $125,000 in cash, drugs and weapons.

Pennsylvania Warlocks (1967-present)/Florida Warlocks (1967-present)

The Pennsylvania Warlocks was founded in Philadelphia in February 1967. The club's distinctive patch features the Harpy, the legendary winged beast from Greek mythology. The Pennsylvania Warlocks boast of chapters in New Jersey, Ohio, Illinois, Florida, Minnesota and Massachusetts. The Pennsylvania Warlocks have been linked to organized crime and methamphetamine production and distribution.

The Florida Warlocks was founded by U.S. Navy veteran Tom "Grub" Freeland in Orlando, Florida, in 1967. The club's logo is a blazing eagle while their official motto is "To find us you must be good. To catch us…you must be fast. To beat us…you must be kidding!" The Florida Warlocks have chapters in South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, New York, the United Kingdom and Germany. The Florida Warlocks were successfully infiltrated by the ATF in 1991 and again in 2003, with convictions for drug and weapon charges resulting from the latter.

Sons of Silence (1966-present)

The Sons of Silence was founded in Niwot, Colorado, in 1966. The club sports a distinctive patch featuring the American Eagle superimposed over a large "A"– highly reminiscent of the Anheuser-Busch logo. The gang's official motto is "Donec mors non separat"– Latin for "Until death separates us."

The Sons of Silence boast of chapters in Illinois, Wyoming, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Kentucky, North Dakota, Mississippi and Germany. The Sons of Silence have been implicated in drug trafficking and weapons violations.

Highwaymen (1954-present)

The Highwaymen was established in Detroit, Michigan, in 1954. The club's distinctive patch features a winged skeleton sporting a leather jacket, motorcycle cap and the black and silver colors. "Highwaymen forever, forever Highwaymen" serves as the gang's official motto.

The Highwaymen currently have chapters in Michigan, Tennessee, Florida, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Norway. The Highwaymen Motorcycle Club has been the subject of intense law enforcement scrutiny through the years. In 2007, the FBI arrested 40 Detroit Highwaymen members/associates on a variety of charges, including drug trafficking, theft, racketeering, insurance fraud, police corruption and murder for hire.

Gypsy Joker (1956-present)

The Gypsy Joker was founded in San Francisco, California, on April 1, 1956. The club's official patch features a grinning skull. Forced out of San Francisco by Hells Angels, the Gypsy Joker headed north to Oregon and Washington state in the late 1960s.

The Gypsy Joker has some 35 chapters worldwide, including active clubs in Australia, Germany, South Africa and Norway. The club is especially high profile in Australia, where in 2009 five Gypsy Jokers engaged in a drug-related shootout with a rival "bikie" gang (as they are called Down Under) in Perth.

Ten More Notorious Outlaw Biker Gangs

Here are ten more infamous biker gangs, along with where established and years active.

•Free Souls (Eugene, Oregon, 1968-present) •The Breed (Asbury Park, New Jersey, 1965-present) •Rebels (Brisbane, Australia, 1969-present) •Grim Reapers (Calgary, Canada, 1967-1997) •Iron Horsemen (Cincinnati, Ohio, mid-1960s-present) •The Finks (Adelaide, Australia, 1969-present) •Brother Speed (Boise, Idaho, 1969-present) •Devils Diciples (Fontana, California, 1967-present) •Solo Angeles (Tijuana, Mexico, 1959-present) •Diablos (San Bernardino, California, 1964-present) About William J. Felchner William J. Felchner's many feature articles have appeared in such periodicals as True West, Hot Rod, Movie Collector's World, Sports Collectors Digest, Persimmon Hill, Big Reel, Corvette Quarterly, Old West, Antiques & Auction News, Storyboard, Goldmine, Autograph Collector, Warman's Today's Collector, The Paper & Advertising Collectors'
Frontier Times, Television History, Illinois and Military Trader.

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The Americans With No Abilities Act (ANAA)
President Barack Obama and the Democratic Senate are considering sweeping legislation that will provide new benefits for many more Americans. The Americans With No Abilities Act is being hailed as a major legislative goal by advocates of the millions of Americans who lack any real skills or ambition.

"Roughly 50 percent of Americans do not possess the competence and drive necessary to carve out a meaningful role for themselves in society," said California Sen. Barbara Boxer. "We can no longer
stand by and allow People of Inability (POI) to be ridiculed and
passed over. With this legislation, employers will no longer be
able to grant special favors to a small group of workers, simply
because they have some idea of what they are doing."

In a Capitol Hill press conference, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pointed to the success of the U.S. Postal Service, which has a long-standing policy of providing opportunity without regard to performance. At the state government level, the Department of Motor Vehicles also has an excellent record of hiring Persons with No Ability (63 percent).

Under the Americans With No Abilities Act, more than 25 million
mid-level positions will be created, with important-sounding titles
but little real responsibility, thus providing an illusory sense
of purpose and performance.

Mandatory non-performance-based raises and promotions will be
given to guarantee upward mobility for even the most unremarkable employees. The legislation provides substantial tax breaks to corporations that promote a significant number of Persons of Inability (POI) into middle-management positions, and give a tax credit to small and medium-sized businesses that agree to hire one clueless worker for every two talented hires.

Finally, the Americans With No Abilities Act contains tough new
measures to make it more difficult to discriminate against the
non-abled, banning, for example, discriminatory interview questions such as, "Do you have any skills or experience that relate to this job?"

"As a non-abled person, I can't be expected to keep up with people who have something going for them," said Mary Lou Gertz, who lost her position as a lug-nut twister at the GM plant in Flint, Mich., due to her inability to remember righty tighty, lefty loosey. "This new law should be real good for people like me. I'll finally have job security." With the passage of         this bill, Gertz and millions of other lazy, untalented citizens will finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Said Sen. Dick Durbin,IL: "As a senator with no abilities, I believe the same privileges that elected officials enjoy ought to be extended to every American with no abilities. It is our duty as lawmakers to provide each and every American citizen, regardless of his or her inadequacy, with some sort of space to take up in this great nation and a great salary for doing so."

 

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