The Ontario Biker War in Canada saw the Hells Angels engage their long-term rivals the Outlaws Motorcycle Club for control of the province of Ontario. The war occurred between 1999 and 2002 and is also known as the London Biker conflict as a large majority of the events occurred in the city of London, Ontario. The Quebec Biker War, the largest motorcycle conflict in history was occurring during the same period in the province of Quebec.
Prelude to conflict
From 1977 to 1984, the event known in Canada as the First Biker War was raging in Quebec and Ontario. On 17 July 1983, while riding through northern Ontario, Mario Parente happened to see two Hells Angels from Montreal, Michel "Jinx" Genest and Jean-Marc Nadeau, on the bus to Vancouver to attend a "patching over" ceremony to witness the Satan's Angels gang join the Hells Angels. Enraged, Parente and the other Outlaws proceeded to shoot up the bus when it stopped at the Greyhound bus station in Wawa in an attempt to kill the two Hells Angels. Though no one was killed, the Wawa incident showed how strongly Parente felt about Hells Angels moving into Ontario, which had been considered Outlaws territory since 1977.
London, Ontario was described by the journalist Jerry Langton as "very much an Outlaws town". The London chapter of the Outlaws was the second most important chapter after the Hamilton chapter, as London was a "very rich territory for drug sales". In addition, London was sited in the middle of the "meth ally" that connected the methamphetamine manufacturers in the rural areas with the 401 highway running to Toronto and in the other direction to the American Midwest, an area dominated by the Outlaws. As such, London is considered to be "very desirable for biker gangs".
During the 1990s, Hells Angels from Quebec would frequently visit the Ontario-based Loners Motorcycle Club. In June 1993, the Hells Angels, led by their National President Walter Stadnick, hosted a party in Wasaga Beach that was attended by all of the Ontario biker clubs except the Outlaws and Satan's Choice. Frank Lenti and the Loners were guests of honor at the party. Stadnick tried to persuade Lenti to have the Loners "patch over" to the Hells Angels, an offer that Lenti refused. However, a working relationship was established after the Loners agreed to buy their narcotics from the Angels.
On April 7, 1998, Jeffrey Labrash, acting President of the Outlaws London chapter, and fellow Full-Patch Outlaw Jody Hart, were victims of a shooting in the parking lot of the Beef Baron, a strip club on York Street in London, Ontario. On the same day as the funerals for Labrash and Hart, T. J. Baxter's Tap & Grill, a popular restaurant in London, was bombed, injuring five and causing an estimated $1,000,000 in damages. Two associates of the Hell's Angels were arrested and charged for the shootings. The Outlaws placed a $50,000 bounty on both.
1999 In 1999, the Hells Angels became seriously involved in trying to patch over the Loners Motorcycle Club which had been a major club in the province for decades. In June 1999, the Annihilators Motorcycle Club was "Patched-over" by the Loners. One of the members of the London/Chatham chapter of the Loners, Jimmy Coates, had a brother, John Coates, who was a member of the Hells Angels Sherbrooke chapter. John Coates was 6'7" tall, weighing 300 pounds his while younger brother Jimmy was not as large, but still intimidating. Through his brother, Jimmy Coates opened a secret pipeline for buying narcotics from the Sherbrooke chapter.
The President of the London/Chatham chapter, Wayne Kellestine, was adamantly against having the Loners join the Hells Angels, and when the Loners did not agree with him started meeting in secret with the Hells Angels Sherbrooke chapter, Kellestine stripped them of their colours. One Loner was also stuck with a pistol and robbed for making further comments. Together, the Coates brothers worked to encourage a mutiny against Kellestine with the promise of joining the Angels as the reward. On 22 October 1999, an assassination attempt was made against Kellestine as he stopped in his truck for a red light in his hometown of Iona Station. A car drove up alongside Kellestine's truck driven by Philippe "Philbilly" Gastonguay of the Angels' Sherbrooke chapter, and a pro-Angel Loner, David "Dirty" McLeish. One of the two men opened fire, spraying Kellestine's truck with bullets. Both men would be arrested and Kellestine would survive unharmed. The two shooters and both Coates brothers were charged with "conspiracy to commit murder". They would plead guilty to "conspiracy to commit bodily harm", and were jailed. When the brothers got out, they would be running the club's Hells Angels London chapter.
The Hells Angels were intent on gaining influence in Southern Ontario especially. In other areas of Ontario, clubs had been quite welcoming of the Angels; but here they faced stiff resistance, their main opposition being their old time rival the Outlaws Motorcycle Club (at the time, the largest motorcycle club in the province). As the club's Quebec chapters planned their expansion Eastward in late 1999, London was solidly in Outlaws control and had been since the late 1970s, but in establishing a chapter here, it would create a vital link between Windsor and Kitchener. The Outlaws London chapter clubhouse was located on Egerton Street East, near the grounds of the Western Fair, was considered a local landmark by the people of the city. Their President, Mario Parente, was an individual who could not be intimidated. By the end of 1999, the Hells Angels Ontario Nomad chapter and the Outlaws began to engage each other in both London and Hamilton, with several brawls and scuffles occurring between the clubs. A Biker Enforcement Unit representative stated:
"They used to drive by and taunt each other, For the H.A., their priority is to absorb other gangs and gain territorial control. In order to do that, they either have to befriend or fight their rivals."
2000 The Quebec Biker War began in 1994 and saw the Hells Angels face the Canadian-based Rock Machine for control of the narcotics trade in the province. By 2000, the war had intensified. The Rock Machine began expanding into Ontario with three chapters (Toronto, Kingston and Niagara Falls). Not wanting to fall behind the Hells Angels, it established its first Ontario chapter in Toronto in the summer of 2000. That same summer, Stadnick gave a limited time offer to Outlaw motorcycle clubs in Ontario (especially Satan's Choice and Para-dice Riders) to join the Hells Angels on a "patch-for-patch" basis, receiving Hells Angels patches that would be the equivalent of their current patches. There would be no probationary period for Hells Angels club membership, and all members would receive Full-Patch. This resulted in 168 members of the Para-dice Riders, Satan's Choice, Lobos and the Last Chance "patching" to the Angels.
Even members of the Rock Machine and Outlaws went over to the Hells Angels. Paul "Sasquatch" Porter, a founding member of the Rock Machine and the president of their Kingston chapter, wrote on the wall of the clubhouse: "Hello to all the RMMC, I wish you the best with your new colors! Bye my brothers!" Porter became the president of the Hells Angels Ottawa chapter. A number of Outlaws also chose to defect such as David "the Hammer" MacDonald of the Hamilton chapter and Shaun "Cheecks" Boshaw of the London chapter.Parente called James Wheeler, the President of the American Outlaws, who in turn contacted Sonny Barger, the leader of the American Hells Angels. Barger ordered Stadnick to stop trying to recruit Outlaws in exchange for a promise that there would be no biker war in Ontario.
Overnight, the Hells Angels went from no chapter in Ontario to 13, giving them a massive increase in both manpower and area of operation. Throughout 2000, brawls were common between the two groups across the province, with multiple injuries on both sides.
The conflict escalates By early 2001, the Hells Angels had established a prospective chapter in London, Ontario. They began investing in businesses within the city, this would include strip clubs, tattoo shops and a half-dozen exotic-massage parlors, referred to as "rub 'n' tugs" by many in London. They were also involved in the automotive trade, but most specifically in the city's narcotics market. In addition to their own businesses, the Hells Angels allegedly supplied a group of up to 30 street gang members to cook cocaine powder into crack, and peddle it on London street corners, sources claim. A Hells Angels clubhouse was opened at 732 York Street, just up the road from the Outlaws main clubhouse, which had around to eight to ten "full-patch" members. The reason for the location seemed to be a deliberate provocation. During this period, both Coates brothers and their friends were released from prison. John Coates would become President of the London probationary chapter, and Jimmy would begin prospecting. On 28 March 2001, the police launched Operation Printempts (Springtime) against the Hells Angels and Stadnick was arrested. The journalist Jerry Langton wrote that "without the diplomatic Stadnick to stand in their way", the Coates brothers behaved in an ultra-aggressive fashion, seeking to drive the Outlaws out of London. The London Hells Angels chapter were reported to have issued an ultimatum to the London Outlaw chapter to the effect of "give up your patch or die".
On 12 April 2001, the Hells Angels promptly informed the Loners that they did not have the right to use "Ontario" on their patch, as the Loners were only a "regional" club. Unable to stand on their own, the Chatham/London Loners joined the Bandidos on 22 May 2001, as probationary members becoming full members on 1 December 2001. The Angels also began aggressively attempting to recruit Outlaws to the London chapter. The London chapter of the Outlaws countered this by putting restrictions and intense pressure on members not to defect, sometimes with the threat of violence. Some Outlaws did switch sides and suffered violent retaliation. More exchanges occurred during this period after three Outlaws in London defected to Hell's Angels, exchanges saw at least 15 people injured in 2001.
In June 2001, the Outlaws' Woodstock chapter clubhouse was burnt to the ground in an act of arson. The Hells Angels were suspected to be involved. A week later, an Outlaw was arrested just outside of the Angels' clubhouse at 732 York Street. In August of the same year, a member of the Outlaws was pulled over by police en route to the York Street clubhouse of the Hells Angels, and authorities confiscated body armor, various firearms, and a pipe bomb.
In July 2001, three members of the Hells Angels were charged with extortion when they attempted to get a $70,000 payment from a business owner. The three men pled guilty to lesser charges. In December 2001, the Hells Angels patched over a dozen more Outlaws in Ontario. Other Outlaws were faced with an ultimatum: switch sides or retire.
The London shooting