Worst California biker feud in decade erupted at Starbucks

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Worst California biker feud in decade erupted at Starbucks

By Jason Kandel

LOS ANGELES | Wed Oct 26, 2011 3:12pm EDT

(Reuters) - A turf war between the Hells Angels and a rival motorcycle gang that erupted outside a California Starbucks shop last year has left several men dead, wounded or missing in three states, stirring fears of more bloodshed.

Ranked by law enforcement as the most severe clash of two California-based biker groups in nearly a decade, the spate of violence turned deadly last month when it spilled into Nevada with a brawl and shooting among members of the Hells Angels and Vagos motorcycle clubs.

The president of the Hells Angels' San Jose, California, chapter, Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew, 51, was shot to death, and one Vagos member was wounded in the melee at John Ascuaga's Nugget hotel and casino in Sparks. A second Vagos member was wounded in a drive-by shooting the next day at the site of a nearby motorcycle rally in town.

The Pettigrew killing -- coming 11 months after a gunfight between the two gangs in Arizona that left five people wounded -- in turn sparked tensions within the Hells Angels' ranks that led to yet another slaying in California, authorities say.

"There have been concerns about this rivalry for some time," said Graham Barlowe, resident agent in charge of the Sacramento office of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

"I said I wanted a LATTE, dammit!"

All over a cup of coffee?

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

All over a cup of coffee?

It's mother ****in' Starbucks, mother ****er!