Man affiliated with Hells Angels pleads no contest to assault charge




A man who authorities allege is affiliated with the Hells Angels pleaded no contest Thursday to an assault charge stemming from a fight on Rosedale Highway in January of last year.

Jonathan Cole Smith entered a no contest plea to a misdemeanor count of assault causing great bodily injury, court records show. Five felonies were dismissed. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 19.




According to court documents, Smith and Michael Blackwood, also alleged to have ties to the Hells Angels, were traveling in a red pickup the afternoon of Jan. 26, 2016, as they followed a member of the Mongols, a rival motorcycle gang.

When the Mongols member, whose name was redacted in the documents, came to a stop at a red light, Smith yelled an expletive, pulled a knife and grabbed the man, the documents say. The Mongols member said he produced a knife of his own and twice stabbed Smith.

Blackwood then exited the pickup and the Mongols member, outnumbered, tried to flee by jumping onto a passing pickup, the documents say. The pickup swerved and dragged him across the intersection. 
Smith was hospitalized with serious injuries but later released and charged. Charges were filed against Blackwood but later dismissed.


The Mongols member told police he was targeted because the Mongols refuse to pay the Hells Angels for the right to be a motorcycle club in California.
"It's all about claiming California, " he told police in the documents. Law enforcement classify both the Hells Angels and Mongols as criminal street gangs.






USA - BF.

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