The entire Bakersfield chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle club has been arrested in California on several violent charges.
The Kern County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday that six members of the Bakersfield chapter of the motorcycle club were arrested, including the president and vice president.
All suspects have been charged with kidnapping, first-degree robbery, criminal threatening, false imprisonment, assault with a firearm, participation in a criminal street gang, criminal conspiracy and intimidating a witness or victim, as well as elder abuse.
Authorities also seized approximately 25 firearms, ammunition, multiple high-capacity magazines and gang-affiliated paraphernalia. Photos posted to Facebook by the Kern County Sheriff’s Office showed multiple firearms, motorcycle vests with the words “Hells Angels MC California,” as well as paraphernalia from other motorcycle club chapters across the country.
The members have been identified as Ricardo Alvarez, 42; Armando Villasenor, 55; Joseph Soto Sr., 57; Joseph Soto Jr., 33; Joshua Zavala, 31; and John Seeger, 57. All men are residents of Bakersfield, about 112 miles (182 kilometers) from Los Angeles.
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In addition to the six arrests, authorities announced that Joshua Vaughn, 37, was already in custody on other charges and that eight search warrants had been executed throughout Bakersfield.
According to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, Alvarez, Villasenor, Soto Sr, Soto Jr and Zavala are active, patched members of the Bakersfield chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle club, while Vaughn and Seeger are members of the Sons of Hell motorcycle club. The latter club receives orders and instructions from the Hells Angels motorcycle club, authorities said.
The suspects have been booked into the Kern County Sheriff’s Office and the investigation is ongoing.
