The Diablos Motorcycle Club is an

outlaw motorcycle club An outlaw motorcycle club, known colloquially as a biker club or club (in Australia), is a motorcycle subculture generally centered on the use of Cruiser (motorcycle), cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and chopper (motorcycle ...

founded in

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

in 1961 that has chapters in cities across the United States.

History

Originally known as Los Diablos Motorcycle Club, the club was founded in

in 1961 by John J. "Cadillac Jack" Baltas, a native of

Meriden, Connecticut Meriden ( ) is a city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located halfway between the regional cities of New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The city is part of the South Central Connecticut Planni ...

. Baltas, who served as the club's national president and was once a candidate for Meriden city council, and died in

Leominster, Massachusetts Leominster ( ) is a city in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the second-largest city in Worcester County, with a population of 43,222 at the 2023 census. Leominster is located north of Worcester and northwest of Boston. Bo ...

on April 22, 2012, aged 70.The Real Story Behind The Diablos Motorcycle Club
Ron Fowler, hotcars.com (March 31, 2020) John J. Baltas obituary
'' Record-Journal'' (April 24, 2012) Although the Diablos originated in California, the club established its most significant presence in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

Insignia

The Diablos' insignia consists of a bearded,

top hat A top hat (also called a high hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditionally made of black silk or ...

-wearing

devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

and features a red-and-black color scheme.Biker gangs in Yucaipa
newsmirror.net (November 7, 2014) This logo, together with geographic and optional emblems, are worn by club members on their "

colors Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorpt ...

".Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. John L. Meadows
casetext.com (April 30, 1981) Club mottos include "Diablos Forever, Forever Diablos" ("DFFD"). The Diablos are a " one percenter" club.

Membership and organization

The Diablos have multiple chapters in California, Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Membership in the club is through invitation only and is open only to

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

males. Diablos members are required to own firearms.

Criminal allegations and incidents

The Diablos are considered by law enforcement to be among the many second-tier, after the " Big Four", outlaw motorcycle gangs. On August 6, 1977, a group of Diablos members were attending a festival held at the Renaissance Community Center in

Gill, Massachusetts Gill is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 1,551 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. The campus of Northfield Mount Hermon School is located ...

. When two members of the party, a biker and a female associate, went to a package store to replenish the group's liquor supply, they were involved in an altercation with four men who were attending a company picnic which was being held a short distance from the festival. In retaliation for the beating suffered by the two, a group of Diablos traveling in three automobiles hunted down and attacked three members of the picnic, Francis M. Golembeski, Richard Melnick, and Thomas Yestramski. Yestramski was beaten and stabbed, Melnick was stabbed six times, and Golembeski was shot in the elbow. Diablos members John J. "Cadillac Jack" Baltas, John L. Meadows and Oscar Mineau were convicted of assault and battery in 1978. A Diablos member was arrested on suspicion of being an ex-felon in possession of a firearm when the

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevention ...

(ATF) raided a home in

on March 27, 1986, as part of Operation One Percenter, a 12-month ATF investigation. ATF agents discovered a methamphetamine lab during the raid.Feds go after outlaw bikers
''

The Fresno Bee ''The Fresno Bee'' is a three-times a week newspaper serving Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the larges ...

'' (March 28, 1986) A woman was also arrested by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance for sale.Simi Raid Part of 18-State Move Against Biker Gangs
Mark Henry, ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' (March 28, 1986) Operation One Percenter resulted in the arrests of 53 members and associates of 18 different biker gangs on various weapons and narcotics charges, during a series of raids in 18 U.S. states, and the seizure of 10 sawed-off shotguns, 10 machine guns, 63 rifles, 100 handguns, 4,500 rounds of ammunition, six silencers, a bomb, four hand grenades, five pounds of dynamite, 15 stolen vehicles, and a stolen computer, as well as large quantities of

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...

and PCP.U.S. cracks down on motorcyle gangs

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

(March 27, 1986) Agents Make 53 Motorcycle Gang Arrests
Mary Thornton, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' (March 27, 1986) 'Operation 1 Percenter' nets 53 bikers

(March 28, 1986) John E. Irvin, president of the Diablos'

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

chapter, and Thomas E. Pastor, a former Connecticut chapter member, were convicted of possession with intent to distribute

methamphetamine Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug use, recreational or Performance-enhancing substance, performance-enhancing drug and less commonly as a secon ...

, and of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime after they were found to be in possession of two loaded weapons and eight packages of methamphetamine when they were stopped and searched by

Illinois State Police The Illinois State Police (ISP) is the state police agency of the U.S. state of Illinois. The Illinois State Police is responsible for traffic safety on more than 300,000 miles of total roadway, including 2,185 miles of interstate highways and ...

officers while traveling in a

Ford Bronco The Ford Bronco is a model line of SUV, SUVs manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company, Ford. The first SUV model developed by the company, five generations of the Bronco were sold from the 1966 to 1996 model years. A sixth generation of ...

near

Collinsville, Illinois Collinsville is a city located mainly in Madison County and partially in St. Clair County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 24,366. Collinsville is approximately east of St. Louis, Missouri, and is ...

on January 5, 1995. On September 24, 1998, Diablos club member Raymond "Stoney" Stone and seven other members were charged with various crimes (including Stone's confession in his involvement in the 1992 murder of rival gang member Mike D'Amato of

Wallingford, Connecticut Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, centrally located between New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford, and Boston and New York City. The town is part ...

's James Gang MC for which he would be sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment). Keith Gallagher, the vice president of the Diablos' national chapter, was indicted in Massachusetts on charges of

trafficking Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

on January 24, 2006. Diablos member Jerry Louis Fantauzzi was arrested on December 7, 2005, following a long-term investigation into the Diablos in

Waterbury Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Waterbury had a population of 114,403 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. The city is southwest of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury i ...

and

. On November 20, 2006, he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment on charges of drug dealing. On April 22, 2012, the national leader and founder of the Diablos, Jack Baltas, died at the age of 70, two days after being released from prison after being incarcerated for trafficking drugs. Diablos were involved in a mass brawl with members of the Outlaws at a bar in

Plainville, Connecticut Plainville is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol Planning Region. The population was 17,525 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Plainv ...

in May 2019, leaving two outlaws injured.CT bar shut down after fight between rival motorcycle gangs
Lisa Backus, ''

Connecticut Post The ''Connecticut Post'' is a daily newspaper located in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It serves Fairfield County and the Lower Naugatuck Valley. Municipalities in the Post's circulation area include Ansonia, Bridgeport, Darien, Derby, Easton ...

'' (May 22, 2019)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Diablos Organizations established in 1961 1961 establishments in California Outlaw motorcycle clubs Motorcycle clubs in the United States Gangs in California Gangs in Connecticut Gangs in Massachusetts