Police: Hells Angels opened fire on Vagos bikers in Henderson highway shooting

A pack of Hells Angels bikers trailed members of the rival Vagos biker gang before opening fire on the group on U.S. Highway 95 in Henderson, according to a newly released arrest report in the case.

Seven people were shot in the episode that shut down the highway for hours on Sunday. Arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and other charges are Russell Smith, 26, Stephen Alo, 46, and Richard Devries, 66.

A Henderson police arrest report, obtained early Tuesday by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, identifies Devries as president of the Las Vegas chapter of the Hells Angels. Alo and Smith are described in the report as prospects for the Las Vegas chapter of the Hells Angels.

The conflict leading to the shooting started early Sunday as members of the Vagos biker gang were participating in the “Flags over Dam” ride in Boulder City near Hoover Dam, according to the arrest report.

“While setting up to start the ride, five Hell’s Angels prospect members were seen riding around,” police wrote in the report.

The Vagos riders then went to the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City, where the same Hells Angels prospects “drove through the cemetery and began to cause problems,” according to the report.

Police said the Vagos riders then were driving north on U.S. 95 near Wagon Wheel Drive when multiple Hells Angels riders approached. Some of the Hells Angels riders pulled up next to the Vagos riders and tried to kick the Vagos riders over.

One of the Hells Angels riders then “stood up on their motorycycle and started shooting” on one of the Vagos riders, identified in the police report as Alejandro Castillo. Five other Vagos riders were also wounded. They were identified in the police report as Ricardo Velasquez, Carie Chapin, Michael Stasiewicz, Michael Lempart and Chad Merrill.

Police previously said a seventh person wounded in the shooting showed up at a local hospital later with survivable injuries, although it is not clear what group that person was affiliated with. That shooting victim was not named or mentioned in the Henderson police report.

Two of the shooting victims were listed in critical condition as of Sunday.

There is no reference in the police report to any Vagos members firing a weapon during the shooting. Police said they found multiple expended casings at the shooting scene stretching from the College Drive exit ramp to the Horizon Drive exit ramp.

Henderson police also said some of the events on the highway leading to the shooting were captured on video.

Police received a phone call from an anonymous witness who said they were driving north on the highway from Boulder City to Henderson that morning when they saw multiple Hells Angels riders “parked on the side of the freeway and it appeared that they were waiting.”

Police said they obtained a video from the anonymous witness showing a “patched Hells Angel” and three prospects riding around the Vagos riders. One of the Hells Angels is depicted on the video holding something in his hand, according to the report.

“After the Hells Angels riders pass the anonymous witness, they ride further northbound near additional motorcyclist(s) and then multiple gunshots can be heard,” police said.

After learning that the shooting involved Hells Angels and Vagos members, police reached out to the Metropolitan Police Department criminal intelligence section for help in the investigation. Boulder City police also assisted, the report stated.

Henderson police said they later obtained video surveillance from a Boulder City cafe and Boulder City police dashboard camera video showing Devries, Alo and Smith in the city with a fourth Hells Angels rider prior to the shooting.

That video surveillance was compared to the video received from the witness on the highway, according to the report, leading police to say Alo matched the description of the Hells Angels rider who was holding something in his hand as the group rode down the highway, moments prior to the gunshots.

Las Vegas police helped secure search warrants for cell phone data for phones belonging to Smith, Alo and Devries. Henderson police said the cell phone data helped them place Alo in the area of the shooting around the time it unfolded. Cell phone data for Smith place him slightly north of the shooting scene shortly after it took place. Cell phone data also place all three of the men near Galleria Drive after the shooting.

Henderson Detention Center records show Smith, Alo and Devries were each being held on $380,000 bond. It was not immediately clear when they are scheduled to appear in court.

The Hells Angels have been at the center of previous Southern Nevada shootings, according to authorities. In April 2002, the Hells Angels were in a lethal battle with the Mongols motorcycle riders at the Laughlin River Run, killing three.

Also, in 2020, a federal jury in Las Vegas acquitted eight members of the Vagos Motorcycle Club of all charges in a racketeering trial.

The case was centered around the fatal September 2011 shooting of a rival Hells Angels leader inside a Sparks casino during Street Vibrations, an annual motorcycle festival.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.