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Police raid bikie King Pin

Updated March 28, 2013 21:11:00

Victorian Police raid the towing business of high ranking Hells Angels bikie Peter 'Skitzo' Hewat.

Source: 7.30 | Duration: 7min 17sec

Topics: police, crime, melbourne-3000


TRACY BOWDEN, PRESENTER: The news that outlaw motorcycle gangs have infiltrated the police has sent shockwaves through law enforcement agencies around the country. The move is seen as more evidence that criminals posing as bikies are growing out of control and becoming an increasing threat to public safety. The Victorian police have been rocked by the revelations, and today, they struck back, with an early-morning raid on the home and business of one of the Hells Angels most senior members. He's now facing a string of charges, including assaulting a 62-year-old woman who he accused of stealing his dog. 7.30's cameras were there for the raid. Louise Milligan has our exclusive report.

LOUISE MILLIGAN, REPORTER: It's just before 8 am this morning in Craigieburn in Melbourne's outer north. A seemingly quiet acreage is visited by officers from Victoria Police's critical incident response team. Out walks Peter Hewat, the local sergeant-at-arms of the Hells Angels, known to his friends as "Schizo". Schizo's one of the most senior bikies in Victoria and now he's under arrest. The charges include recklessly and intentionally causing serious injury, stalking, aggravated burglary and unlicensed driving.

But police allege that's just the tip of this man's rather hulking criminal iceberg. Next stop for police is Hewat's 888 heavy haulage towing business. A search reveals, allegedly, a kilo of ecstasy, a taser stun gun, boxes of bullets, a stolen excavator, a rebirthed truck, not that Hewat's talking about it.

Mr Hewat, do you have anything to say about your arrest?

PETER HEWAT: F*** off.

LOUISE MILLIGAN: Police allege that Mr Hewat went much further than strong language in his dealings with an unfortunate neighbour who happened to find his dog when it went missing last week. Peter Hewat's taste in domestic animals certainly doesn't fit the bikie stereotype. This dispute was over a Shih Tzu Maltese Terrier like this one.

IAN CAMPBELL, VICTORIA POLICE TASKFORCE ECHO: It appears that the accused's dog went missing. The 62-year-old lady located the dog and she went to the trouble of actually putting posters on poles. And as a result of that there was communication between the accused and the lady and there was a meeting. And as a result of that there were some discussions about the actual ownership of the dog and who actually owned it. And as a result of that, the accused, Hewat, has allegedly punched her to the face.

LOUISE MILLIGAN: Punching her so badly, a court will be told, that she suffered a suspected broken jaw.

IAN CAMPBELL: So she was doing a good community citizen role and endeavouring to locate the owner and as a result of that she's now sustained a rather serious injury.

LOUISE MILLIGAN: And it's alleged that the menace continued, with Hewat stalking the woman with text messages and a visit from two men the woman believes were Hells Angels who produced a gun.

After today's raid, police expect to lay a much wider array of charges.

Police say that Peter Hewat is a prime example of bikies moving into legitimate industries and using intimidation to expand their business. They allege that none of these trucks are actually licensed to tow heavy vehicles from crash scenes, but when they turn up at an accident, his competitors are so afraid of Peter Hewat that they quickly leave.

IAN CAMPBELL: Using intimidating and bullying and threatening tactics to gain a financial gain and taking over that industry in an illegal fashion. You only have to look behind me, you'll see the scale of that particular operation and the money involved in the purchasing of the heavy haulage vehicles. It is a large-scale operation acting outside the boundaries of the regulators.

LOUISE MILLIGAN: Superintendent Peter de Santo from State Crime Command says this sort of operation is the new frontier for bikies which police are determined to stamp out.

Outlaw motorcycle gangs are the focus of three taskforces, Echo, Resound and Eagle, designed to stop the escalating war between rival gangs and stop their corruption of police.

Superintendent de Santo says it's also happening in the hotel security industry, where sources have identified to 7.30 at least five businesses with links to bikies. Police have confirmed two.

And then there are strip clubs and brothels and tattoo parlours.

PETER DE SANTO, VIC. POLICE STATE CRIME COMMAND: What happens is that they'll infiltrate into a certain area, then they'll take a stranglehold on the local industries within that area and then they'll go into extortion and blackmail on probably legitimate business operators. ... The old-school gang, as some of them say these days, we're motorcycle enthusiasts, and I don't doubt that, that that's what they were. Now they're a business, they're concentrating on organised crime and it's a money-making machine.

LOUISE MILLIGAN: The force admits it's playing catch-upy on a phenomenon that was once thought to be on the wane. Instead it has been flourishing and expanding.

IAN CAMPBELL: A decade ago we wouldn't have seen this scale of illicit activity in these particular industries.

LOUISE MILLIGAN: A decade ago, most bikies also looked very different. Peter Hewat is old school, but Ben and Daniel Pegoraro are the new breed. Charged this month in relation to the shooting of Bandido's kingpin Toby Mitchell, which sparked the latest tensions between his club and the Hells Angels, they are an altogether different picture.

PETER DE SANTO: For members of the public, they're probably more intimidating. Gone are the days of the long beards and the long hair. You might see now the bare skull covered in tattoos with all the earrings and nose rings and body rings.

LOUISE MILLIGAN: Known as the "Nike bikies", police say the newest gang members, predominantly in the Hells Angels and Bandidos feeder clubs, are young and buff. Many are pumped up on steroids. They brag about their exploits on Facebook, uploading photos of their latest tats and their shiny motorbikes. Many are of Middle Eastern background.

PETER DE SANTO: You would have to say that with the infiltration of recent people in the Middle Eastern environment, all of a sudden we've got an escalation in our violence between the two clubs and the escalation of the tensions.

LOUISE MILLIGAN: Several bikie sources say this is causing tension in a subculture which they proudly claim has been traditionally white supremacist. It is turning fathers against sons. They also say the young guns do not play by the established rules. So while the outlaw clubs privately fume that this renewed police focus is just spin and harassment, Chief Commissioner Ken Lay is adamant that the threat is real.

KEN LAY, CHIEF COMMISSIONER, VICTORIA POLICE: I think there's lots of evidence about bikie-related murders, there's lots of evidence about bikie-related burglaries, assaults, theft, drug dealing, standover tactics, corruption that indicate that outlaw motorcycle gangs are a considerable risk to our community.

TRACY BOWDEN: That report by Louise Milligan.