Hells Angels Declare War On Pagans
Ninth Commandment
By KITTY CAPARELLA
cap...@phillynews.com
Ever since the notorious Hellraiser's Ball was crashed by the rival
Pagan Outlaw Motorcyle Club in 2002, leaving one Pagan dead and others
injured, the Hell's Angels have vowed to get revenge.
On Monday, the Angels' East Coast leader John "John the Baptist"
LaFranco officially declared war on the hated Pagans, said a
law-enforcement source.
LaFranco's pronouncement came two days after an Angel pal was
critically beaten on New Year's Day outside the Woodshed Bar in
Burlington County, N.J., according to the source.
It was one of countless other area clashes between the two clubs since
2002, the source added.
LaFranco could not be reached for comment.
"They've been at war," said another law-enforcement source, citing
more
than a dozen skirmishes on the East Coast in 2004 alone. "This is just
another nail in the coffin."
"It's definitely going to add tensions," the source added.
At 6:36 p.m. Saturday, Angels' member Vincent Henrich, 36, of
Bloomfield, N.J., "was sitting at the bar minding his own business"
when five assailants walked into the Woodshed, on Route 72, in
Woodland
Township, according to N.J. State Police Lt. Kevin Rehmann.
Law-enforcement sources identified the assailants as Pagans, who
confronted Henrich about being in their turf, then used a board and/or
walking sticks to beat him on the head outside the taproom.
Henrich was "bleeding so profusely from the head," noted one source,
that he was flown by a medi-vac helicopter to Cooper Hospital in
Camden, where he was admitted in stable condition.
He was discharged on Wednesday.
When police tried to interview Henrich at the hospital, they were met
by his lawyer, who said, "I'm his attorney, and even when he awakes,
he's not going to speak to you."
Said Rehmann: "We tried to indentify witnesses, but they've been less
than cooperative." There have been no arrests.
Henrich, an Angels member sponsored by the New Roc chapter in New
Rochelle, N.Y., had been trying to help at least four Angels
prospects,
or recruits, open a chapter in Burlington County in the past year, a
law-enforcement source said.
But the Angels require at least six members or prospects to open a
chapter, the source added.
The Pagans, meantime, opened a chapter in Burlington City about a year
ago, and considered the county and all of South Jersey and the
Philadelphia area their turf, sources said.
Steven "Gorilla" Mondevergine heads the South Jersey and Philadelphia
Pagan chapters, including the Burlington chapter.
He could not be reached for comment.
Investigators are trying to figure out whether the beating was a crime
of opportunity or if Henrich was targeted.
Only a couple of hours earlier, Henrich had been cautioned by the
Warlocks that Pagans stop in the Woodshed, a source said. He dismissed
the warning.
Henrich had been meeting with four Warlocks about a business deal
about
2 p.m. inside the Woodshed, crowded with New Year's revelers, sources
said.
"The Warlocks did not set him up," said a law-enforcement source.
The Woodshed attracts a variety of clientele including biker
enthusiasts, but it is not affliated with any one biker club, said
Rehmann.