Two full-patch Hells Angels members were arrested Monday in a violent attack that took place at a Hamilton bar James Sherwood, 41, and Joel...
Two full-patch Hells Angels members were arrested Monday in a violent attack that took place at a Hamilton bar
James Sherwood, 41, and Joel Rollin, 28, face three counts of extortion, three counts of aggravated assault and one count break and enter with intent, in connection with the incident.
The Hells Angels members were allegedly recruited by two owners of a Hamilton bar to strongarm the bar’s previous owners into signing a liquor license transfer document. The victims were the previous owners of the bar, who survived but were left injured. The extent of their injuries is unclear.
The new bar owners, Linda Muraca, 54, and Dennis Dreher, 52, were also charged with three counts of extortion.
Mr. Sherwood and Mr. Rollin are being held in police custody. Their bail hearing will be held Thursday in Hamilton.
Mr. Sherwood works as the unofficial spokesman for the Hamilton Hells Angels. He was arrested in 2008 with fellow gang member James Malone after an altercation at a strip club in which a man, Amandeep Mann, was stabbed and beaten. Mr. Sherwood and Mr. Malone were both found not guilty of aggravated assault and weapons charges.
The National Post has learned that in addition to the charges laid Monday, authorities will try to convict the Hells Angels on criminal organization charges in relation to the Monday incident – charges the Toronto Hells Angels chapter was just acquitted of earlier this spring.
Greg Leslie, lawyer for Mr. Rollin, said he does not see this as a Hells Angels case.
“This is an isolated incident and a couple of people involved happen to be Hells Angels,” he said. “If they’re trying to get a conviction on criminal organization, I think they’ll be pretty hard-pressed. This case doesn’t have anything to do with the Hells Angels.”
In June, the Hamilton Hells Angels moved into a new clubhouse in the north end of the city. That property was the first in Steeltown to be subject to the city’s new fortification bylaw, which was brought into effect after the last major Hells Angels raid in 2009. In that raid, their last clubhouse, at 269 Lottridge Ave., was appropriated by police.
In interviews with Mr. Sherwood and Mr. Rollin, both expressed feeling victimized by police and described being routinely pulled over by traffic authorities.
When asked in June why he joined the outlaw biker gang, Mr. Sherwood said: “There are so many fake people, it’s nice to know there are a few real people who are interested in the same things I am. Mainly freedom.”
James Sherwood, 41, and Joel Rollin, 28, face three counts of extortion, three counts of aggravated assault and one count break and enter with intent, in connection with the incident.
The Hells Angels members were allegedly recruited by two owners of a Hamilton bar to strongarm the bar’s previous owners into signing a liquor license transfer document. The victims were the previous owners of the bar, who survived but were left injured. The extent of their injuries is unclear.
The new bar owners, Linda Muraca, 54, and Dennis Dreher, 52, were also charged with three counts of extortion.
Mr. Sherwood and Mr. Rollin are being held in police custody. Their bail hearing will be held Thursday in Hamilton.
Mr. Sherwood works as the unofficial spokesman for the Hamilton Hells Angels. He was arrested in 2008 with fellow gang member James Malone after an altercation at a strip club in which a man, Amandeep Mann, was stabbed and beaten. Mr. Sherwood and Mr. Malone were both found not guilty of aggravated assault and weapons charges.
The National Post has learned that in addition to the charges laid Monday, authorities will try to convict the Hells Angels on criminal organization charges in relation to the Monday incident – charges the Toronto Hells Angels chapter was just acquitted of earlier this spring.
Greg Leslie, lawyer for Mr. Rollin, said he does not see this as a Hells Angels case.
“This is an isolated incident and a couple of people involved happen to be Hells Angels,” he said. “If they’re trying to get a conviction on criminal organization, I think they’ll be pretty hard-pressed. This case doesn’t have anything to do with the Hells Angels.”
In June, the Hamilton Hells Angels moved into a new clubhouse in the north end of the city. That property was the first in Steeltown to be subject to the city’s new fortification bylaw, which was brought into effect after the last major Hells Angels raid in 2009. In that raid, their last clubhouse, at 269 Lottridge Ave., was appropriated by police.
In interviews with Mr. Sherwood and Mr. Rollin, both expressed feeling victimized by police and described being routinely pulled over by traffic authorities.
When asked in June why he joined the outlaw biker gang, Mr. Sherwood said: “There are so many fake people, it’s nice to know there are a few real people who are interested in the same things I am. Mainly freedom.”
