By Paul Krueger
More than eight months after a group of Hells Angels allegedly attacked three Black victims in Ocean Beach, two of the defendants pleaded guilty to violent felonies this week.
Jacob Berghaus was sentenced to four years in custody after pleading to a felony count of “assault by means likely to cause great bodily injury.” But the judge suspended that prison sentence and ordered Berghaus to serve 365 days in custody, plus two years probation.
Fellow gang member Travis Squire also pleaded guilty to felony assault, with an added enhancement for committing a crime “to assist a street gang.” Squire was sentenced to 292 days in local custody. Both men were sentenced at February 13 hearings at the downtown San Diego courthouse.
The June 6th attack on Newport Ave. — described as a racially-motivated hate crime — was particularly violent. Prosecutor Miriam Milstein Hemming noted in court documents that the alleged ringleader of the attack, Troy Scholder, made a “…callous and senseless decision to try and stab to death a total stranger.” That victim was allegedly stabbed in the chest with a pocket knife.
A second victim was also stabbed. “While Victim Two was still curled up on the ground with his hand over his head, Scholder pinned him down with one hand and plunged the knife into his chest with the other,” the prosecutor said.
She described Scholder as a twenty-year member of the violent motorcycle gang and one of its “chief enforcers.”
Scholder is being held without bail on attempted murder and other felony charges. His next court appearance is scheduled for February 26. Court records indicate that Scholder will be assigned a new attorney before his trial, which is currently scheduled for April 29.
Two other defendants — Haley Castellano and Danny Pinto — also face an April 29 trial. A fourth member of the gang, Anderson Alexander, is due for trial on June 10.
The remaining 11 defendants are scheduled to make their next court appearance on March 8. At that hearing, the prosecution and defense will update the judge on the status of those cases, including any additional plea agreements and trial scheduling.
I wanna know if Burghaus and Squires sang like birdies and threw down their fellow HAs to avoid hard state time.
It’s my understanding that these defendants, like most gang defendants, will not cooperate with prosecutors, due to the gang “code of honor” etc.
They instead plead guilty early on, getting the best deal possible, but do not agree to testify against the remaining defendants.
Maybe there’s an attorney out there who can enlighten us on this issue.
my god, there are STILL grown men trying to play tough by attacking innocent people? you dudes need to man up and get a life. and get off the meth for starters. like how does stabbing someone while they are down make you manly and tough? OMG. its an embarrassment. like i said years ago that it takes 10 of you to kill someone but one on one you cant do shit. Years ago Terry and Big Shultz at least had some sense of fairness when they were running the club. you all are just little fucks who need a good comeuppance. we dont respect you. you are no mobsters, u are just punks. filthy stinking cowards.
Everyone is so quick to judge, your all going off the word of the DA who is trying to make a name for herself. It’s all great publicity for the next elections.
Chris, these mc “ha” guys are referred to as fags on south park. It’s only fair to regard them, generally, as douchebags in the SD community. What say you?