SLO County outlaw motorcyclists arrested for carrying guns
March 18, 2013
Daniel Chapman
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Gang Enforcement Unit arrested five members of an outlaw San Luis Obispo County motorcycle gang Friday evening for carrying concealed handguns. [KSBY]
Around 8 p.m. Friday, law enforcement pulled over two motorcyclists near the intersection of Highways 154 and 101 for running a red light. Three other motorcyclists who were riding with them also stopped to wait.
While conducting the traffic stop, officers discovered semi-automatic handguns concealed in the motorcycles’ saddlebags. They also noticed Vagos Motorcycle Club insignia on each of the five bikes.
The FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the California Attorney General’s Office have each named the Vagos Motorcycle Club an outlaw motorcycle gang.
Members of the Gang Enforcement Unit arrested all five of the motorcyclists from the San Luis Obispo County chapter of the Vagos Motorcycle Club on firearms related charges with gang enhancements.
The arrests included Chapter President Kirk Koester, 46, and his wife, Shannon Koester, 41, both from Cayucos. Members of the Santa Barbara County gang unit also arrested Byron Posey, 38, Daniel Chapman, 46, and John Gallagher, 41, each from Paso Robles.
All five Vagos Motorcycle Club bikers are in Santa Barbara County Jail on charges of possessing a concealed firearm and actively participating in a criminal street gang.
The Vagos Motorcycle Club, which originated in San Bernadino County in the 1960s, has conducted criminal activity that has included distributing methamphetamine, money laundering, insurance fraud, witness intimidation, murder and extortion.
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