By Paul Krueger
Just days before the start of his scheduled trial, Hells Angel Kyle Donegan pleaded guilty to a felony assault charge with a gang enhancement.
Donegan’s guilty plea adds to the list of defendants who have taken plea bargains rather than face trial for their alleged roles in the brutal June, 2023 attack on three young black men on Newport Avenue.
Among those still scheduled for trial is the gang’s longtime leader, Troy Scholder, who allegedly stabbed one of the victims in the chest. Prosecutors say Scholder “casually folded up his knife and walked away” after inflicting a wound that cracked the victim’s sternum. (That victim — and the two others — survived the attacks.)
Scholder and three colleagues who allegedly helped him flee the crime scene have an October 28 trial date.
Four other defendants are scheduled to face a jury in January, 2025 for their role in what prosecutors say was a senseless, unprovoked attack.
Meanwhile, biker Matthew Gungle, who previously pleaded to felony assault and evading an officer with reckless driving while fleeing the crime scene, was back in court August 23 for a probation violation hearing involving illegal possession of a stun gun.
Judge Polly Shamoon ordered Gungle serve to another year in custody, and warned him that any further violations will result in a seven-year state prison sentence.
And August 19, another judge denied gang member Jeremie Hocanson’s request for permission to use medical marijuana.
Among the four pages of conditions governing Hocanson’s probation is a requirement that he abstain from alcohol, and — according to prosecutors — seek court approval for use of medical marijuana.
It’s unclear why Hocanson requested that exemption. Court documents don’t show a specific reason, and his lawyer did not respond to a request for comment. But the case prosecutor opposed Hocanson’s request, and the judge sided with the prosecution..
