Sledge hammer attack leaves Bacon brothers gang associate in hospital
VANCOUVER — An associate of the Bacon brothers targeted in a shooting last month was critically injured in a sledgehammer beating Sunday night, The Vancouver Sun has learned.
RCMP Cpl. Peter Thiessen said he could not confirm that Tyler Willock was the victim, but did say a young man was attacked at a Langley home at about 7 p.m. Sunday and is in serious condition in hospital. He is expected to survive.
“We are not in a position to confirm the identity publicly because he is the victim,” Thiessen said, adding that the RCMP does not normally confirm the identities of victims. “We are dealing with a file where a man was attacked.”
He said he could not comment on whether there are suspects in the beating or what the motive might be, but said “we are not looking for any public assistance at this time.”
Willock was a passenger in the back seat of a Range Rover that was shot several times Feb. 16 at an intersection near T-Barz strip club on East Whalley Ring Road in Surrey.
Willock was not injured, though police confirmed last week that he was the intended target of the shooting. The vehicle driver was hit by gunfire, but not seriously injured.
Two members of the United Nations gang, including de facto leader Barzan Tilli-Choli, and three UN associates, were charged last week in connection with the shooting.
Tilli-Choli, 26, and associates Aram Ali, 23, and Nicola Cottrell, 26, each face two counts of attempted murder and briefly appeared in Surrey Provincial Court Tuesday.
UN member Karwan Saed, who is facing one count of accessory after the fact, also appeared in court. The case was put over until March 17 to fix a date for a bail hearing. A fifth accused, 28-year-old Sarah Jane Trebble, is facing one count of being in a vehicle with a firearm present. She is out of jail and due back in court March 20.
There were metal detectors and extra sheriffs at Surrey Provincial Court for the appearances in the high-security courtroom 107.
Police say Willock is an associate of the three Bacon brothers, Jonathan, Jarrod and Jamie, who are members of the Red Scorpions gang and have been targets of several attempts on their lives.
For almost a year, there has been a very public war between the UN and the Red Scorpions —leading to several police warnings to steer clear of the Bacon brothers and their associates because they had been targeted for death by rivals.
In fact, the two younger brothers, Jamie and Jarrod, who are out on bail on a series of gun and drug charges, continue to be followed everywhere by Abbotsford police to ensure public safety, Abbotsford Mayor George Peary said this week.
“It is expensive, but public safety is number one. We'll spend whatever it costs to protect our citizens,” Peary said. “There is a palpable fear out there.”
And Jonathan, as well as associate Dennis Karbovanec, are being watched 24 hours a day, seven days a week by Port Moody police to ensure community safety.
The pair face joint fraud charges laid last week. Karbovanec is also out on bail on 11 gun charges laid after he was stopped last October in Abbotsford allegedly with a loaded handgun and silencer hidden in his vehicle.
Vancouver Police Insp. Mike Porteous said last week that the battle between the UN gang and the Red Scorpions started as a turf war.
“In this particular case they’re rival gangs who originally started out [fighting] over drug territory, but the violence is a back and forth that has been going on for some time now, but it is about territory and retribution,” he said.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Sle...167/story.html
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