Bail reduced for Hells Angels members charged in highway shooting

A judge lowered bail on Monday for three Hells Angels members arrested in connection with a shooting on a Henderson highway that targeted members of the Vagos Motorcycle Club.

District Judge Tierra Jones ordered the three suspects — Richard Devries, 66, Russell Smith, 26, and Stephen Alo, 46 — held on a $75,000 bail during an initial arraignment hearing held Monday afternoon, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Danielle “Pieper” Chio.

Justice of the Peace David Gibson Sr. initially set bail for each at $380,000 during a June 2 hearing in Henderson Justice Court.

Devries, who officials have said is the president of the Las Vegas chapter of the Hells Angels, had challenged the bail with his co-defendants through a petition filed in District Court, court records show.

Chio declined to comment further on the case on Monday afternoon. Defense attorney Richard Schonfeld, who is representing Devries, said Monday that he anticipated that his client would be able to post bail.

Devries was still listed in Clark County Detention Center online records as of Monday evening.

Smith and Alo’s defense attorney, Thomas Pitaro, did not immediately return a request for comment.

Devries and his co-defendants, who officials said were Hells Angels prospects, were arrested shortly after the shooting targeting the rival motorcyclists on U.S. Highway 95 late last month.

On Friday, the three men were indicted on 36 felony counts each — conspiracy to commit murder, five counts of attempted murder with a deadly weapon, five counts of battery with a deadly weapon, and 25 counts of discharging a firearm at or into an occupied vehicle.

According to an arrest report, the conflict between the Hells Angels and Vagos members began early May 29, as members of the Hells Angels group were seen “riding around” the Vagos members, who were preparing for the “Flags over Dam” ride near Hoover Dam.

The same Hells Angels then “began to cause problems” with the Vagos group at the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City, the report said.

Later that day, Hells Angels riders pulled up next to a group of Vagos members riding north on U.S. Highway 95 near Wagon Wheel Drive. According to the report, some Hells Angels riders tried to kick a Vagos biker over, and one Hells Angel member “stood up on their motorcycle and started shooting.”

Six Vagos members and a Hells Angels member were injured in the shooting, prosecutors have said.

Chio has said the shooting may have been an act of retaliation after a Hells Angels member was killed in April during a shooting at a San Bernardino, California, bar.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.