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Officers seize shotgun from motorcycle gang members

April 4, 2013
Kirk Koester

Kirk Koester

Officers from three different agencies searched the San Luis Obispo County homes of five members of an outlaw motorcycle gang Wednesday, who were arrested last month for carrying concealed handguns on their bikes. [Tribune]

The arrests occurred during a traffic stop on March 15 at the intersection of Highways 101 and 154 in Santa Barbara County. Officers pulled over two of the five members of the Vagos Motorcycle Club for running a red light. While conducting the traffic stop, officers discovered semi-automatic handguns concealed in the saddlebags of all five of the motorcycles.

On Wednesday, a search of the motorcyclists’ homes netted a shotgun and several pieces of suspected gang-related items, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Gang Enforcement Unit conducted the searches of homes in Paso Robles, Cayucos and Heritage Ranch, along with San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s deputies and Paso Robles police.

The March 15 arrests included San Luis Obispo County Vagos Motorcycle Club 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 the Paso Robles area.

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 for conducting criminal activity, which has included money laundering, insurance fraud, witness intimidation, murder and extortion.

 


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Hmm….Ran a red light at 101 and 154?

If I recall correctly, The closest traffic light to that junction would be miles away in Buellton.


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Santa Barbara? 154 and 101 come together there also.


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Mmmmm…OK, I give. So how do you legally transport a fire arm on a motorcycle? Cant lock in a leather saddle bag,cant lock ammo in a leather saddle bag, cant distance the two out of riders reach?? I bet if they searched all the homes in SLO county they’d find lots of shot guns,pistols & rifles. So whats the catch here? Gang related items..like what, Vagos patches on cuts. So one has to ask why all 5 get arrested, yet dozens of violent gang members (Santa Maria) with priors walk free and they aren’t arrested unless they kill somebody. Makes no sense.


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I’m pretty sure that if the handgun is in a locked case in the saddle bag it would be legal. I can carry my handgun in a locked case on the front seat of my car legally.


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Trigger locks. Locked cases. Locked saddlebags.


Heck, if they had locked saddlebags, there’d need to be a search warrant (like a trunk of a car). They can ask, but one does not need to comply.


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Even if the saddle bag was incapable of being locked, a locked pistol case in it would be legal.


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This smells like the cops screwed up somehow in the initial traffic stop. Then, using cop logic, rather than apologize, they escalate as a means of covering up.


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THREE (3) Agencies + FIVE (5) Homes = ONE (1) Shotgun.


It’s the new government math. This is supposed to add up to something, I’m sure. Or maybe it’s MEDIA MATH?


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I been thinking ALOT about all the media phenomena and why it would seem so opaque in providing so little to go on…. and it seems suspicious after all the crooked cops! But there are so many interrelated investigations currently underway by multiple federal and local agencies, that releasing too much information on one investigations could jeopardize another if not the rest. Bad guys watch the news too, but only as a warning system to know when to cut bate and split. The smallest detail or slip in the media, to a criminally sophisticated individual, could be the difference between freedom and getting caught. I would have come to this realization sooner but P.T.S.D. makes me daft sometimes. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me, but I also don’t expect everyone to know who I am and where I got my insight and this makes the most sense to me.


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I’m not questioning the possibility of a civil rights violation, but how do we know that one or more of these guys is on parole or probation? This guy does not appear to have “the look” however, but that is by no means a reliable method of assessment.


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I’ll give you that. But if it’s a gun or a drug violation, other than a violent crime or robbery, then I still consider then to have had their rights violated from the get-go. It’s rather convenient how we set any crime which demonstrates an unwillingness to bend to centralized authority as a felony in order to convince people to plea or face extensive prison, so that we effectively remove their rights from then on. If only the people that agree with the government and go along 100% have rights, then there is really no point in guaranteeing rights.


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Sounds like an episode of Sons of Anarchy.


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danika,


For such an outstanding women in your community, as I’ve been told, I am appalled that you would even know of such a T.V. show as mentioned!


I’ll pray for you tonight in the hopes that you’ll return to more favorable Christian programing like the following:


Peter Popoff and his godly “miracle spring water!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAlwy1tt0Xg


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Since when is it illegal to own a shotgun.


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I don’t know. It could be the gang affiliation, the previous weapons charges..


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The article is not worth having on the net without information regarding why a shotgun is considered worth mentioning. Shotguns, if unaltered, or if the owner is not a felon and that is was purchased legally are about as common as coffee makers.


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Notice as of lately how many stories on the media tell us “and they found a gun or guns in the home” yeah so what I ask. Last time I checked it was still legal to own them. It simply adds drama to an otherwise pointless story by a bias media and government who would prefer to see us all helpless against protecting ourselves.


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It’s all part of the current narrative. There is no media anymore, just painters of narratives. Story selection used to be enough, but now, it’s getting worse. Even CCN isn’t immune from it, though I hope it’s only because of a misunderstanding that anything from the AP or NYTimes should not be considered news first, though there may be news content to dig out from between the lines of propaganda and narrative.


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So they got a search warrant based on what?! And there search yielded precisely *nothing.* These guys have had nearly all of their constitutional rights violated in one week.


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mkaney,


That’s the rub, isn’t it? Wonder if those constitutional rights would be a part of your equation if Kirk Koester and his friends moved into the house next door to you with their MO of criminal activities? Yes?


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What did they find Ted? They found nothing but a shotgun and some gang “paraphenilia.” I hope my next door neighbor has a shotgun and I hope he’s prepared to use it if I need help. Do I care if it’s legal or not? Not in the slightest. I’d probably enjoy having a few beers with these guys. We might have some issue with the motorcycle noise but I’m sure we could meet in the middle somewhere because I’m a reasonable person not seeking everything to be 100% perfect.


We might even invite you over if you promise not to talk about Jesus too much and don’t whine about the pot smoke. lol


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Sometimes the most effective way to talk about Jesus is to shut the ……..up. Jesus gets a chance to talk in the silence of your or my heart. Lips flapping drives people away. I am not talking about anyone in particular. Just generally speaking. If I listen real hard I can hear him speaking to me in total silence. And no, I am not skitzoid. At lease


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leased I don’t think so.


Blessings


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I think you’re trying to say, “Deeds, not words” – or something like that? Proselytize by actions and examples, not words. This is how most of us know that Ted is full of shtick…


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Considering how many lives are wasted and people die in the name of religion, having a clubhouse next door might be safer than a church.


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