San Joaquin County sheriff urges people to stay away from 99 Speedway Saturday during Sonny Barger memorial service
SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY - The San Joaquin County Sheriff is warning Stockton residents about possible violence as thousands of Hells Angels members prepare to say goodbye to one of their leaders.
A memorial for founding member of the club's Oakland chapter, Sonny Barger, is scheduled to start Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Stockton 99 Speedway. Barger died back in June after a short battle with cancer. He was 83.
At a press conference Friday, San Joaquin County Sheriff Patrick Withrow criticized the plan but said additional resources would be on-hand to protect the public.
"I'm bringing in substantial resources to protect the safety of the general public from the violence and the danger that may result of this event. Additionally, we have been working hand-in-hand with our neighboring agencies here in San Joaquin County should they need additional resources and manpower for the violence that may spread out in our community after this event."
The memorial service had been first scheduled to happen in Oakland but was eventually moved to the Stockton 99 Speedway. Withrow is urging people to stay away from the speedway during the event.
Born in Modesto, Barger became a sort of unofficial spokesperson for the Hells Angels. He often tried to downplay the club's outlaw reputation.
"They say we're organized crime, but if you took every Hells Angel on the face of the Earth and got rid of them you wouldn't drop the crime rate in the world one-tenth of one percent," he said in a 2000 interview for Heads magazine. "We're a little drop in the bucket. There's more cops committing crimes than Hells Angels."
Barger's own arrest record included charges ranging from drunken driving to attempted murder. He served 13 years in various prisons, according to news reports.