SAN DIEGO (CNS) - More than a dozen people connected to the San Diego County chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang have been sentenced for their roles in a hate-related stabbing and attack on three young Black men in Ocean Beach, the San Diego County District Attorney's Office announced Thursday.
The prosecution centered around the June 6, 2023, attack on three men — ages 19, 20 and 21 — who were chased by the defendants on Newport Avenue after one of them apparently spoke to a Hells Angels member's girlfriend.
One of the victims fled, but the other two were severely beaten by numerous defendants, who hurled racial slurs and told the victims they didn't belong in that neighborhood.
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While one of the beaten victims was on the ground, Troy Andrew Scholder -- the lead defendant in the case who was described by prosecutors as a longtime Hells Angels leader -- pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the chest.
During Scholder's trial, Deputy District Attorney Miriam Hemming said the knife fractured the victim's sternum, pierced his lung and severed an artery, nearly causing the man to bleed out.
After the stabbing, other co-defendants spirited Scholder from the crime scene to the gang's clubhouse in El Cajon, prosecutors said. Scholder and his co-defendants were arrested nearly three months later.
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Scholder was convicted by a San Diego jury of attempted murder and other charges and was sentenced in June to 21 years to life in state prison. Thirteen other defendants pleaded guilty to various charges and have been sentenced to state prison, county jail or probation terms.
San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a statement, "The successful conclusion of this case demonstrates my office's commitment to holding organized gangs accountable for a wide range of offenses, including violent hate crimes. This was an unprovoked, vicious attack that nearly ended in tragedy."
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