DINWIDDIE COUNTY -
James M. "Jimbo" Hicks Jr., the Pagans motorcycle club member fatally shot in his home by a Virginia State Police tactical team in Dinwiddie County early Tuesday, had grabbed a gun as yelling officers smashed in his door, said his attorney, John Rockecharlie.
But Hicks, 45, "didn't fire, point or brandish" the firearm, before he was shot, Rockecharlie said.
However, investigators say that Hicks was armed with a shotgun, and after being ordered to drop the weapon and refusing to do so, was shot by a member of the State Police tactical team.
Hicks' wife was present during the 6 a.m. raid that Rockecharlie characterized as a "shock and awe scenario .it all happened in less than 10 seconds. In the chaos, something bad happened."
Hicks, a mechanic and welder for Truck Service of Virginia in Disputanta, was taken to VCU Medical Center, where he died of his injuries.
The shooting came in the midst of a multi-state sweep of members of the Pagans motorcycle club. Club leaders and more than 50 members and associates of the outlaw biker gang are accused of plotting to kill and extort rivals to consolidatethe club's power in the eastern U.S., according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday.
Hicks was not named in the unsealed federal indictments CBS-6 obtained.
Rockecharlie said he has been told yesterday morning's raid was part of a multistate investigation into motorcycle gang activity. It's also his understanding that police did not find anything illegal in the home.
In the wake of the shooting, area police dispatchers warned that the 40-year-old motorcycle club could retaliate by trying to kill an officer or federal agent. A leader of the local Pagans chapter scoffed at that idea, telling CBS-6 saying the only retaliation "will be in a court of law." That club member said "Jimbo" Hicks was an Army veteran. A funeral service was being planned for Saturday.
Hicks had worked for more than nine years for Truck Service of Virginia in Disputanta, a company spokeswoman today confirmed. A manager there said he couldn't ask for a better employee and described Hicks as a reliable and dependable employee who had a "love-life" attitude.
Hicks was being prosecuted for a methamphetamine possession charge stemming from a state police stop in July, Chesterfield County court records show.
Hicks was also charged with carrying a concealed weapon a charge later dropped, and possessing drug paraphanalia.
Rockecharlie said those charges came when a state trooper spotted Hicks riding his Harley while wearing his "colors" his jacket patches identying him as a member of the Pagans.
The reason for the traffic stop, Rockecharlie said, was the officer believed Hicks wasn't wearing a state Department of Transportation-approved helmet.
Rockecharlie said he planned to defend his client by saying the officer didn't have probable cause for the stop and was in essence - engaging in profiling of motorcycle club members.
The Pagans were founded in Prince George, Md., in 1959 by Lou Dobkins, a biochemist for the National Institute of Health. That era was the height of so-called motorcycle gangs, which began in the mid-40s with clubs such as the Boozefighters. The bike club movement accelerated with the release of the 1953 classic movie, "The Wild One," starring Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin, based on an overhyped motorcycle rally in a small town that included the Boozefighters, which was formed largely by military veterans. The Pagans would grow to become the largest outlaw club on the East Coast. Some of these clubs' ties to crime and renegade behavior reportedly prompted a motorcycle association to release statements saying 99 percent of the nation's motorcycle riders were law-abiding citizens. Clubs like the Pagans proudly proclaimed themselves "1-percenters," identifying themselves as outlaws and renegades. The 1-percent patch is part of the Pagans "colors." The club, like other outlaw motorcycle clubs, have been targeted periodically by federal authorities for drug trafficking and other organized crime violations. But one-percenters say, while they're not all angels, they're more of a a tight-knit family of outcasts and outsiders, bound by the love of iron horses.. Many other motorcycle clubs, such as the legendary Boozefighters, are known for good works as well as good times.
But Hicks, 45, "didn't fire, point or brandish" the firearm, before he was shot, Rockecharlie said.
However, investigators say that Hicks was armed with a shotgun, and after being ordered to drop the weapon and refusing to do so, was shot by a member of the State Police tactical team.
Hicks' wife was present during the 6 a.m. raid that Rockecharlie characterized as a "shock and awe scenario .it all happened in less than 10 seconds. In the chaos, something bad happened."
Hicks, a mechanic and welder for Truck Service of Virginia in Disputanta, was taken to VCU Medical Center, where he died of his injuries.
The shooting came in the midst of a multi-state sweep of members of the Pagans motorcycle club. Club leaders and more than 50 members and associates of the outlaw biker gang are accused of plotting to kill and extort rivals to consolidatethe club's power in the eastern U.S., according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday.
Hicks was not named in the unsealed federal indictments CBS-6 obtained.
Rockecharlie said he has been told yesterday morning's raid was part of a multistate investigation into motorcycle gang activity. It's also his understanding that police did not find anything illegal in the home.
In the wake of the shooting, area police dispatchers warned that the 40-year-old motorcycle club could retaliate by trying to kill an officer or federal agent. A leader of the local Pagans chapter scoffed at that idea, telling CBS-6 saying the only retaliation "will be in a court of law." That club member said "Jimbo" Hicks was an Army veteran. A funeral service was being planned for Saturday.
Hicks had worked for more than nine years for Truck Service of Virginia in Disputanta, a company spokeswoman today confirmed. A manager there said he couldn't ask for a better employee and described Hicks as a reliable and dependable employee who had a "love-life" attitude.
Hicks was being prosecuted for a methamphetamine possession charge stemming from a state police stop in July, Chesterfield County court records show.
Hicks was also charged with carrying a concealed weapon a charge later dropped, and possessing drug paraphanalia.
Rockecharlie said those charges came when a state trooper spotted Hicks riding his Harley while wearing his "colors" his jacket patches identying him as a member of the Pagans.
The reason for the traffic stop, Rockecharlie said, was the officer believed Hicks wasn't wearing a state Department of Transportation-approved helmet.
Rockecharlie said he planned to defend his client by saying the officer didn't have probable cause for the stop and was in essence - engaging in profiling of motorcycle club members.
The Pagans were founded in Prince George, Md., in 1959 by Lou Dobkins, a biochemist for the National Institute of Health. That era was the height of so-called motorcycle gangs, which began in the mid-40s with clubs such as the Boozefighters. The bike club movement accelerated with the release of the 1953 classic movie, "The Wild One," starring Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin, based on an overhyped motorcycle rally in a small town that included the Boozefighters, which was formed largely by military veterans. The Pagans would grow to become the largest outlaw club on the East Coast. Some of these clubs' ties to crime and renegade behavior reportedly prompted a motorcycle association to release statements saying 99 percent of the nation's motorcycle riders were law-abiding citizens. Clubs like the Pagans proudly proclaimed themselves "1-percenters," identifying themselves as outlaws and renegades. The 1-percent patch is part of the Pagans "colors." The club, like other outlaw motorcycle clubs, have been targeted periodically by federal authorities for drug trafficking and other organized crime violations. But one-percenters say, while they're not all angels, they're more of a a tight-knit family of outcasts and outsiders, bound by the love of iron horses.. Many other motorcycle clubs, such as the legendary Boozefighters, are known for good works as well as good times.
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