Members of a Riverside County motorcycle gang have denied having anything to do with a string of attacks on Hemet police officers.
Earlier this month, authorities arrested 30 members of the the Vagos motorcycle gang
in a major sweep. Authorities never directly linked the string of attacks on Hemet police to the gang. But Riverside
County Dist. Atty. Rod Pacheco called Vagos "an extreme threat to law enforcement."
The attacks have involved booby traps at the
headquarters of the Hemet-San Jacinto Gang Task Force and the targeting of officers
assigned to the unit, officials said.
In December, a gas utility
line was redirected to fill the offices with gas; a spark could have
triggered an explosion. In February, a modified handgun was hidden by
the
gate to the office and rigged to fire. When a gang officer opened the
gate, the weapon went off, narrowly missing him. And recently,
police said, a "dangerous" device was found near the unmarked car of a
task-force member.
Several Hemet city trucks
were torched late Tuesday night.
In an interview with the Press-Enterprise, one Vagos member said his gang had nothing to do with those attacks and that police were trying to demonize the gang.
"They demonize us and start locking everyone up left and right. In
their eyes, everyone’s a criminal," said Harry "Doc" Hart, 61, a Hemet
dentist and Vagos member. "They can cry ‘gang’ and ‘terrorist’ to take
DNA from people never arrested. We’re subject to this because someone
cries wolf."
Authorities say the gang is a criminal enterprise.
— Shelby Grad
Photo: A scene from the sweep by authorities earlier this month in Riverside County. Credit: KTLA