There was an unusual weapon among the items police recently seized in Southwestern Ontario while investigating a clash between members of the Hells Angels and a rival biker club.
In addition to seizing 17 guns, investigators also confiscated a get-back whip, a dangerous weapon that has become prevalent among outlaw bikers, Ontario’s top biker cop says.
“They’re becoming popular,” Det.-Insp. Scott Wade said of get-back whips. “A lot of time, they hang them off their handlebars.”
The whips – made out of braided leather and equipped with a quick-release attachment on one end – were traditionally used by motorcyclists to increase their visibility and keep other motorists a safe distance away.
But it’s the heavy object attached to the other end of the whips, often lead or another type of metal, that makes them dangerous, and illegal, Wade said.
“They can do an incredible amount of damage. That’s why they’re a prohibited weapon,” Wade said. “There’s zero reason to have it other than to cause damage to a human being.”
The OPP-biker enforcement unit worked with Waterloo regional police to investigate a Sept. 21 robbery in Cambridge involving members of the Hells Angels, their support club the Red Devils and another outlaw motorcycle club, police said.
Court documents identify motorcycle vests as the property stolen.
Wade declined to identify the other biker club involved, citing safety concerns.
Investigators carried out searches in Cambridge, Waterloo, Seaforth and Whitby, seizing 17 guns, ammunition, nine magazines, the get-back whip, three Hells Angels vests, cellphones and a quantity of unknown pills, police said.
A Seaforth man, 34, is charged with possession of a prohibited weapon for the get-back whip, robbery, possession of property obtained by crime and weapons offences. Four other men, including a 29-year-old Northumberland man, who hasn’t been arrested, are charged with robbery and other offences.
Four of the accused are alleged members of the Hells Angels and one is allegedly a member of the Red Devils, police said.