Vikings Motorcycle clubhouses raided by police, 10 men arrested
Ten men were arrested following multiple raids of known biker clubhouses in Newfoundland Wednesday in a police operation that spanned the province's Avalon Peninsula.
According to the RCMP, officers executed five search warrants in St. John's — and a sixth in Cupids — in a series of raids which were linked to a two-year investigation of the Vikings Motorcycle Club.
The raids come just one day after a known associate of the club was charged with second-degree murder in relation to a 2014 killing.
RCMP and RNC officers converged on Sports Bar on Boncloddy Street in St. John's around noon, while police cruisers blocked off the downtown street. RCMP officers were seen searching the saddle bags on a Harley Davidson motorcycle parked outside the bar.
According to neighbours, police also searched a service station in the community of Cupids on Wednesday.
Helicopter used
The RNC were assisting the RCMP in its investigation, which involved a helicopter that was seen circling over the downtown area for hours.
Around 1 p.m., a man wearing a Vikings vest was taken into custody on Cabot Street, an area which also has connections to the Vikings Motorcycle Club, just minutes away from the bar. The man went quietly with police.
That man is an associate of Al Potter, who was arrested in London, Ont. on Tuesday and charged with second-degree murder in the death of Dale Porter.
The man has been seen supporting Potter during Potter's previous court appearances, which raised issues of witness intimidation in the courtroom.
A short time later, a second man was taken into custody on Cabot Street.
Records show the home police were searching on Cabot Street belongs to Vincent Leonard.
Court documents filed after Dale Porter's death in June 2014 show the RCMP believe Al Potter and Daniel Leonard — both biker club associates — were suspected of murdering the North River man.
Police did not reference Leonard during a media briefing this week, however.
Two RNC officers and an RCMP officer were also outside a home on Hillview Drive West in the west end of St. John's Wednesday.
Police haven't confirmed whether that was linked to the two clubhouse searches.
'You can burn in hell'
Porter, 39, was killed on his North River property in Conception Bay North in June 2014.
Potter appeared briefly in court in Harbour Grace on Wednesday, where he was ordered to have no contact with the family of Porter.
About a dozen family and friends showed up for the court appearance, including Porter's wife who appeared shaken and angry.
"You can burn in hell," Tammy Porter yelled as Potter sat in the courtroom.
Potter's next court appearance is scheduled for early November.
The RCMP will hold a news conference on Thursday, to "announce the results of the investigation into the criminal activities of the Viking Motorcycle Club."
Police said "numerous charges" against the ten men arrested Wednesday are pending.
