[size=18]Hells Angels members arrested with weapons, list of rivals[/size]
April 4, 2006
ENFIELD, Conn. --Two men arrested Sunday night with weapons in their car may have been Hells Angels gang members looking to retaliate for the shooting of a gang leader on Interstate 95 earlier in the day, police said.
Enfield Police Chief Carl Sferrazza told the Journal Inquirer of Manchester that Trevor Delaware, 35, and Jeffrey Richard, 39 of Andover were arrested about six hours after the shooting. They appeared to be Hells Angels and may have been looking for members of the Outlaw Motorcycle Club, which has chapters in Enfield and Waterbury, he said.
They were picked up driving a car with plates stolen from East Haven, police said. Inside police found gloves and masks, a softball bat, a bent golf club, a wooden club, a ball-peen hammer, and a loaded handgun licensed to Richard.
Sferrazza said police also found part of a police gang training manual that identified 10 Outlaws.
"There is certainly the possibility here, not the absolute certainty, but certainly the probability that these individuals were here to cause some harm perhaps to some of the Outlaw members in town," Sferrazza said. "We're not sure if that was the case or not, but it's a logical probability based on what happened earlier."
State police continued their search Tuesday for the shooter or shooters who killed Roger Mariani of Stratford and injured Paul Carrol of Bridgeport on I-95. The two were part of a group of Hells Angels riding together through West Haven on Sunday afternoon.
State police have said they do not yet know the motive for the shooting and have no evidence that it was linked to a gang rivalry.
"We're still investigating, still following leads, still looking for witnesses" said Sgt. J. Paul Vance, state police spokesman. "All the cards are still on the table. We're looking at everything."
Police were looking for a green GMC sport-utility vehicle with Florida plates. They believe four men were inside. They were also looking into the possibility that the shootings occurred during an altercation between the motorcyclists and the people in the SUV.
Waterbury attorney Leonard Crone, who has represented several Outlaws, said he doesn't know of any members who have been questioned by law enforcement about the I-95 shooting.
"They don't have any knowledge of anybody from their organization being involved in an assault or anything that happened on that highway that day," he said, adding that he was unaware of the Enfield incident.
Police said Delaware and Richard, who were stopped for a seat belt violation, told police they were going to visit a friend whom they would not identify.
Both were released on bond and scheduled to appear in court April 11.