Two men, reportedly members of the Mongols motorcycle club, have been arrested in connection with a deadly bar brawl earlier this year in San Bernardino County, federal officials announced.
The violence, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice, unfolded in the early morning hours of March 4 at a bar in Ontario.
Prosecutors say the Mongols members, 51-year-old Montclair resident Clifford “Buckshot” Lavoy and 31-year-old Upland resident Julian “Juls” Pulido, violently attacked a member of Vagos, a rival biker gang, identified only as “V.S.” in court documents.
V.S. was reportedly inside the bar wearing Vagos club member gear when he was approached by Pulido and Lavoy, who allegedly demanded the victim show respect to them as members of the Mongols.
An ensuing argument escalated when the Mongols members overpowered V.S., assaulting him by punching him in the face, kicking him in the face, head and neck and choking the rival gang members, prosecutors said.
“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 release detailed. “The defendants then fled the scene.”
V.S. was declared dead at 2:45 a.m.
Not long after, Pulido was spotted by law enforcement, leading 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.”
More than a month later, on April 15, Lavoy was arrested in Whittier where he was booked and later released, according to the release.
He has been charged with assault resulting in serious bodily injury in aid of racketeering, with Pulido being charged with murder in aid of racketeering.
The Mongols, an outlaw motorcycle club, reportedly formed in California in the 1960s and was incorporated in Montebello. Vagos was also reportedly founded in the early 1960s in San Bernardino.
If convicted as charged, Pulido faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life in federal prison, with Lavoy facing the possibility of a maximum sentence of 20 years.
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