Law enforcement details motorcycle gang arrests
By Dan Thesman on Friday, February 4th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News Columbia Basin Top Stories
WALLA WALLA – Officers from the Walla Walla Regional Drug and Gang Task Force, Walla Walla County Sheriff’s Office, College Place Police Department, Washington State Patrol and Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives executed search warrant simultaneously at about 6 a.m. Friday in Walla Walla and College Place. The search warrants were part of an ongoing investigation involving the Pagan’s Outlaw Motorcycle Gang and the local chapters’ ties to felonious crimes committed locally and in Georgia.
A search warrant was executed on the 1900 block of Melrose Street in Walla Walla where John A. Smith Jr., 32, was arrested without incident. The other warrant was executed on the 00 block of Southeast Tenth Street where John A. Smith Sr., 49, was arrested without incident. The College Place location was a known clubhouse of the local Pagan’s Outlaw Motorcycle Gang. Both men were arrested for felon in possession of firearm(s) and have leadership roles in the local Pagan’s Outlaw Motorcycle Gang, according to law enforcement.
Two other search warrants were executed at the same time by law enforcement in Spokane. One of the search warrants was at a residence of a known leader in the motorcycle gang and the other search warrant was for the chapter’s local clubhouse. No arrests were made in Spokane and the investigation is ongoing.
According to the Walla Walla Regional Drug and Gang Task Force, the Pagan Outlaw Motorcycle Gang is a national criminal organization known to participate in violent crime, trafficking and racketeering. In the last several months, members of the motorcycle gang have allegedly participated in bombings, shootings, felonious assaults, and homicides.
The Walla Walla Regional Drug and Gang Task Force is a recently established collaboration of investigators from the Walla Walla Police Department, Walla Walla County Sheriff’s Office, College Place Police Department, and the Washington Department of Corrections. Their primary focus is to intercept and prevent local and regional drug trafficking and gang violence.
