3 charged in motorcycle club fracas, slaying set for trials in July

WARREN

Trial dates are now set in July for the three men charged in the June 18 double-killing and double injuring of rival Warren-area biker-club members in a shootout at Shorty’s Place bar on Highland Avenue in Warren Township.

The shootings shocked the community because few people ever learned of earlier conflicts between the two clubs. One was a 2012 shooting at the Powerhouse Bar in Warren. Prosecutors pointed out the involvement of the clubs in that incident in a court filing after the Shorty’s episode.

James A. Gardner, 48, of Iowa Avenue Northwest, is scheduled to go on trial July 10 in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on two counts of aggravated murder and two counts of felonious assault.

Scheduled to go on trial on those same charges in a trial starting July 31 are David Bailes Jr., 45, of Warren and Leavittsburg; and Charles Dellapenna III, 47, of Bane Street Southwest. They will be tried together.

Gardner, Bailes and Dellapenna are members of the Forever Two Wheels club of Warren. Bailes, who suffered at least one gunshot wound to his abdomen and attends hearings in a wheelchair, was president of Forever Two Wheels.

All three defendants are in the county jail awaiting trial.

Read more about the cases in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.