The president and vice president of Hells Angels, along with the entire chapter of the Bakersfield, California Motorcycle Club, have been arrested as part of a kidnapping, robbery and assault probe.
According to a statement shared by the Kern County Sheriff’s Office on Facebook on Tuesday, June 25, six members of the outlaw motorcycle gang were arrested earlier that day on “various violent charges,” while a seventh individual was already in law enforcement custody on “other charges.”
Authorities seized approximately 25 firearms, ammunition, multiple high-capacity magazines, and gang affiliate paraphernalia, per the statement.
Kern County Sheriff’s office/facebook
The individuals arrested include Ricardo Alvarez, 42, Armando Villasenor, 55, Joseph Soto Sr., 57, Joseph Soto Jr., 33, Joshua Zavala, 31, and John Seeger, 57, who are all from Bakersfield. Joshua Vaughn, 37, also from Bakersfield, is the individual who was already in custody.
Alvarez, Villasenor, Soto Sr., Soto Jr., and Zavala are members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, while Vaughn and Seeger are members of the Sons of Hell Motorcycle Club, a sub-affiliate club which takes orders and direction from Hells Angels, per the sheriff’s office.
Kern County Sheriff’s office/facebook
All suspects were charged with several charges including kidnapping, first-degree robbery, assault with a firearm, false imprisonment, and elder abuse, according to the statement. They were booked into the Kern County Sheriff’s Office Lerdo Facility.
The arrests followed a joint investigation by the sheriff’s office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the California Highway Patrol. The investigation is ongoing, per the statement.
Kern County Sheriff’s office/facebook
Photos shared by the sheriff’s office on Facebook showed some of the firearms and paraphernalia seized by the authorities.
According to NBC News, it’s unclear whether the investigation followed a single incident or multiple incidents. Kern County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Lori Meza told the outlet that details can’t yet be revealed because the probe is ongoing.
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Kern County Sheriff’s office/facebook
The Kern County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for additional information.
Hells Angels was founded after World War II and is deemed an outlaw motorcycle gang and criminal enterprise by the U.S. Justice Department, per NBC News.
