Bikers who reputedly ride with the Mongols outlaw motorcycle club have been arrested in Southern California after allegedly participating in a bar brawl that left a man dead.
The U.S. Department of Justice says that a fight broke out between bikers in the early morning hours of March 4 at a bar in Ontario, California.
Clifford "Buckshot" Lavoy, 51, and Julian "Juls" Pulido, 31 — both reportedly members of the Mongols — allegedly attacked a member of the Vagos outlaw motorcycle club who was at the bar, according to prosecutors.
The victim was only identified as "V.S." by the prosecutors, KTLA reports.
The Vagos member was reportedly inside the bar while wearing clothing with his club's insignia on it. Prosecutors say the alleged Mongols members approached the Vagos rider and demanded he show them respect by removing the articles of clothing.
That reportedly resulted in an argument that escalated into a fight. The Mongols’ riders allegedly held the man down, beating and kicking him in the head and the neck and choking him out, prosecutors said.
The victim tried to flee the bar and was shot dead.
“When the victim tried to run out of the bar, Pulido allegedly pulled out a gun and shot the victim several times in the back, causing the victim to fall through the door of the bar and bleed out on the sidewalk,” the Department of Justice said in its news release. “The defendants then fled the scene.”
The victim was declared dead at 2.45am. Police began searching for the Mongol riders and spotted Pulido, who allegedly led them on a nine-hour chase through five California counties.
“He was arrested after crashing a black Dodge vehicle into a ditch during a high-speed chase along Highway 46 near Lost Hills in Kern County,” prosecutors said. “At the time of his arrest, Pulido possessed the same Mongols-branded clothing he had worn on the night of V.S.’s murder.”
Lavoy was arrested in Whittier on April 15. He was booked and then released. Lavoy has been charged with assault resulting in bodily injury in aid of racketeering, and Pulido has been charged with murder in aid of racketeering.
The Mongols MC is one of the largest outlaw motorcycle clubs in California, eclipsed only by the infamous Hells Angels. The group has been in operation since the 1960s, as have the Vagos.
If Pulido is convicted under his current charges, he will face a minimum life sentence in federal prison. Lavoy, if convicted under his current charges, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years incarceration.
