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Three Forever Two Wheelz motorcycle club members now indicted in June bar shootings
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Two additional members of the Forever Two Wheelz motorcycle club were secretly indicted Wednesday on two aggravated murder charges and two felonious assault charges each.
They are charged in a June 18 motorcycle-club shootout at Shorty’s Place bar on Highland Avenue in Warren Township.
Two members of another motorcycle club, The Brothers Regime, died in the conflict, and two other Brothers Regime members were injured by gunfire.
David H. Bailes Jr., 45, of Warren and Kale Adams Road in Leavittsburg; and Charles C. Dellapenna III, 47, of Bane Street Southwest, are indicted on two counts of aggravated murder in the deaths of Jason Moore, 41, of Bristolville, and Robert A. Marto, 54, of Cortland.
If convicted, Bailes and Dellapenna could get a life prison sentence.
They also are charged with two counts each of felonious assault against Andrew G. Claypool, 50, of Girard, and Walter M. Hughes, 41, of Warren.
A witness told police Bailes was seen just before the shootings buying other members of Forever Two Wheelz drinks. A few minutes later, Bailes and members of the Brothers Regime were seen arguing in the front doorway, and gunshots rang out.
When police arrived, people were “running in all directions,” according to a police report. Several weapons were recovered as well as spent shell casings “all over the entire parking lot,” a news release said. Police interviewed 50 to 60 people, Warren Township Police Chief Don Bishop said.
Bailes, president of Forever Two Wheelz, initially was charged with two murder counts, but the charges were dismissed in Warren Municipal Court because of the gun injuries Bailes suffered in the shootout. He initially was not expected to survive.
He was brought to court Thursday in a jail jumpsuit and in a wheelchair. By his facial expressions and movements, he appeared to be suffering during the relatively short time he was in the courtroom of Judge Ronald Rice.
Bailes pleaded not guilty, and Judge Ronald Rice set bond at $1 million until prosecutors and the court can determine whether Bailes’ medical issues will prevent him from being incarcerated at the jail. A family member said Bailes’ behavior in court is because he is in a lot of pain as a result of gunshot wounds in his midsection.
Dellapenna also was arraigned Thursday, and his bond also is $1 million.
A third member of Forever Two Wheelz, James A. Gardner, 48, of Iowa Avenue Northwest, was indicted in November on one count of aggravated murder and two counts of felonious assault. But on Wednesday he was named in a superseding indictment that charges him with the same two aggravated murder and two felonious assault charges as Bailes and Dellapenna.
Gardner also faces one count of obstructing justice and one count of falsification. Dellapenna also faces an additional charge of carrying a concealed weapon.