Vagos MC (Motorcycle Club)
Vagos MC is a one percenter motorcycle club founded in San Bernardino, California in 1965. The motorcycle club are also known as the Green Nation and have a strong presence in the USA and Mexico, but have also expanded to many other countries.
Vagos MC History
Vagos MC was founded in San Bernardino, California in 1965. Like many other motorcycle clubs of the time, the Vagos Motorcycle Club was founded by a group of members who had returned from World War II and enjoyed riding their Harley Davidson motorcycles. This particular group were originally members of a different motorcycle club, the Psychos (Redlands) Motorcycle Club. After some infighting a few of the members decided to leave and form their own club, which then became the Vagos Motorcycle Club.
The original members were Rudy “Puro” Esparza (President), Gil Carrasco (Vice President), Whitey (Secretary/Treasurer), Lucky (Sgt. at Arms), Freddy Ruiz, Harley Hog, Animal, Crazy John Estrada, Tom Tom, Moose, Squirrel, Alex Estrada, and Little John Bocanegra.
The founders of Vagos Motorcycle Club had a Mexican heritage, which led to the color green being selected for the club. The word “Vagos” in Spanish means “vagabond”, “gypsy” or “travelling person”, someone who is always up to something. Two other names for the club were considered, Coffin Dodgers MC and Satan Saints MC.
The first chapter to open was in San Bernardino, California, which is nicknamed the “Berdoo” chapter. San Bernardino was a hot spot for founding motorcycle clubs, also founded in the area were the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.
The second chapter was the Vagos Motorcycle Club Victorville chapter, which involved patching over of Cossacks Motorcycle Club.
The third chapter was the Vagos Motorcycle Club Los Angeles chapter, made up of members from the Talons Motorcycle Club.
The fourth chapter was the Vagos Motorcycle Club San Gorgonio Pass chapter, started by some of the Berdoo chapter members and their friends.
The fifth chapter was the Vagos Motorcycle Club SGV (San Gabriel Valley) chapter. This was made up of past members of Dirty Dozen MC, Highwaymen MC, Verdugos MC, Vendettas MC and Ghostmen MC.
The sixth chapter was the Vagos Motorcycle Club Monterrey chapter, consisting of past members of Sabers MC, Dirty Dozen MC and Highwaymen MC.
The seventh chapter was the Vagos Motorcycle Club Pomona Valley chapter, with members of Nacoda Breed MC.
The eighth chapter was the Vagos Motorcycle Club Antelope Valley chapter, where members came from Brothers MC.
Chapters in Mexico then opened approximately 15 years later in Mexicali, Mexico.
In 2013 Vagos Motorcycle Club opened chapters in Australia and Sweden.
The majority of members of the one percenter motorcycle club are Caucasian or Hispanic.
Vagos MC Patch / Motto
The Vagos Motorcycle Club patch consists of the Norse god of Mischief, Loki. He is depicted riding a motorcycle. The Vagos Motorcycle Club patch was designed by a member of the Berdoo chapter who was in prison at the time.
The Vagos MC motto is “We Give What We Get”.
One of the Vagos Motorcycle Club abbreviations is 22, as the 22nd letter in the alphabet is the letter “V”.
The Vagos Motorcycle Club colors are green, which links back to the Mexican heritage of the Vagos Motorcycle Club founder.
Vagos also use the motto “VFFV”, meaning “Vagos Forever, Forever Vagos”. This format is used by many clubs, for example the Bandidos “BFFB”.
Vagos MC Chapters
Vagos are spread throughout the world, with a strong presence both in Southern California and Mexico.
- Vagos Motorcycle Club United States Chapters
- Vagos Berdoo San Bernardino, California chapter
- Vagos Victorville chapter
- Vagos Los Angeles chapter
- Vagos San Gorgonio Pass chapter
- Vagos Hollywod chapter
- Vagos Sacramento chapter
- Vagos San Jose chapter
- Vagos Compton chapter
- Vagos Pasadena chapter
- Vagos SGV (San Gabriel Valley) chapter
- Vagos Monterrey chapter
- Vagos Pomona Valley chapter
- Vagos Antelope Valley chapter
- Vagos Venice chapter
- Vagos Central Valley, Stockton, California chapter
- Vagos New York chapter
- Vagos Nomads chapter
- Vagos Arizona chapter
- Vagos New Mexico chapter
- Vagos Illinois chapter
- Vagos Utah chapter
- Vagos Florida chapter
- Vagos Arkansas chapter
- Vagos Mojave chapter
- Vagos Motorcycle Club Mexico Chapters
- Vagos Ocotlan chapter
- Vagos Hormiga Tlalpan chapter
- Vagos Coronel chapter
- Vagos Malpaatla chapter
- Vagos Tonito chapter
- Vagos Morelia chapter
- Vagos Centro chapter
- Vagos Guanajuato chapter
- Vagos Toluca chapter
- Vagos Zamora chapter
- Vagos Alvaro Obregon chapter
- Vagos Coyocan chapter
- Vagos Tlaquepaque chapter
- Vagos Zapopan chapter
- Vagos Guadalajara chapter
- Vagos Motorcycle Club Australia
- Vagos Motorcycle Club Canada
- Vagos Motorcycle Club Brazil
- Vagos Motorcycle Club Europe Chapters
- Vagos Scandinavia chapter
- Vagos Nomads Europe chapter
- Vagos United Kingdom chapter
- Vagos Germany chapter
- Vagos Switzerland chapter
Famous Vagos MC Members
Rudy “Puro” Esparza – Founder/President
Born November 16, 1935 and died August 14, 2013 in Joshua Tree, California. He was one of the Vagos Motorcycle Club founders and the first President.
Vagos MC Crime / In The Media
1974 – 4 members of Vagos Motorcycle Club are convicted of murder and sentenced to death for the murder of William Velten, a student at the University of Mexico. Richard Greer, Ronald Keine, Clarence Smith and Thomas Gladish were on death row for 17 months, however were saved when Kerry Rodney Lee confessed to the murder.
1998 – Over a dozen members of the motorcycle club are arrested for kidnapping as well as on drugs and weapons charges after a two year investigation by undercover agents.
2002 – The ex-wife of a police detective in Pomona, California attempts to hire a member of the Vagos Motorcycle Club to murder he ex-husband. The motorcycle club contacted the police and advised of the situation.
2004 – 26 members of the one percenter motorcycle club are arrested and $125,000 in cash, weapons and drugs is found.
2006 – March 9, 2006, an operation titled “Operation 22 Green” is conducted where 700 ATF, local police and sheriff departments came together to arrested 25 members of the club.
2007 – December, 2007. 6 members of the motorcycle club are arrested for burglary, robbery, coercion and kidnapping in crimes occurring in August 2007. The crime involved a member of Vagos Motorcycle Club who wanted to leave, so was then beaten, kidnapped and robbed.
2009 – June, 2009. 3 members of the motorcycle club are arrested on June 9 and June 10 and charged with sexually assaulting a woman in San Jose, California.
2009 – December 31, 2009. The unmarked headquarters of the Hemet Gang Task Force was filled with natural gas via a hole in the roof. The gas was detected by two members of the law enforcement group and they exited the building quickly without causing any explosion. A day before this event the Vagos Motorcycle Club had been next door at a church, attending a funeral for one of their members.
2010 – February 23, 2010. A member of the Hemet Gang Task Force opens a security gate at the complex and a homemade gun booby trapped to the gate fires, nearly hitting the task force member in the head.
2010 – March 5, 2010. A member of the Hemet Gang Task Force returns to his unmarked police car which was parked outside of a convenience store. He discovers that there is a homemade pipe bomb which has been hidden underneath the car.
2010 – March 17, 2010. Police arrest 30 members of the Vagos Motorcycle Club in relation to the attempted attacks on the Hemet Gang Task Force on December 31, 2009, February 23, 2010 and March 5, 2010. As part of these arrests there were also raids in Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah across 73 locations. Multiple weapons were found in the raids, along with the discovery of a meth lab. A $200,000 reward was posted by law enforcement for information regarding the attacks on the Hemet Gang Task Force, which at the time were labelled as “urban terrorism”.
2011 – March, 2011. Vagos Motorcycle Club sues the Riverside County Law Enforcement or defamation in relation to the attacks on the Hemet Gang Task Force. On August 1, 2011 the case was settled and ties between the club and the attacks removed. Law enforcement arrested two people unrelated to the club for the attacks.
2011 – August, 2011. Vagos Motorcycle Club are involved in a shooting with Galloping Goose Motorcycle Club near Waynesville, Missouri. The fight was said to involved approximately 20 people.
2011 – September 23, 2011. Jeffrey Pettigrew, the Hells Angels San Jose chapter President is killed in a shooting involving members of Vagos Motorcycle Club. The event occurred at John Ascuaga’s Nugget, also known as the Nugget Casino Resort, in Sparks, Nevada. On September 29, 2011, Vagos Motorcycle Club member Ernesto Manuel Gonzales is arrested for the murder. Vagos Motorcycle Club Los Angeles chapter Vice President Gary Rudnick is also arrested in relation to the event and leader plead guilty to murder in the second degree.
2017 – 16 June, 2017. 23 members of the Vagos Motorcycle Club, including several high ranking officers, are arrested in an operation that spread across California, Hawaii and Nevada and are accused of murder, racketeering, kidnap, assault and drug dealing. Some of the arrested are believed to have been involved in the 23 September 2011 shooting of Jeffrey Pettigrew.
The arrested men were: Pastor Fausto Palafox, aka ‘Tata’, Albert Lopez aka ‘Al’, Albert Benjamin Perez, aka Dragon Man, James Patrick Gillespie, aka Jimbo, Andrew Eloy Lozano, aka Hulk, Ernesto Manuel Gonzalez, aka Romeo, Victor Adam Ramirez, aka Slick, James Walter Henderson aka CJ, Steven Earl Carr, aka Big Steve, Robert Alan Coleman, aka Mayhem, Jeremy John Halgat, aka Maniak, Paul Jeffrey Voll, aka Shyster, John Joseph Siemer, aka Rocky, Bradley Michael Campos, aka Candy Man, Cesar Vaquera Morales, aka C, Diego Chavez Garcia aka Boo, Edward Claridan Chelb, aka Recon, Johnny Russell Neddenriep aka Johnny Bolts, Darin Kieth Grieder, aka Midget, Thomas Granville Garretson, aka Tommy Guns, Bert Wayne Davisson, aka Flash, Matthew Keith Dunlap, aka Big Mat, and John Chrispin Juarez, aka Quicky.
2017 – 29 July, 2017. In Santa Fe, New Mexico, Vagos MC member David Andrew Cordova and his son David Ray Cordova fire over 20 shots from a car at a home of a Bandidos MC member. David Andrew Cordova is shot and injured in the arm during the incident, however it is not clear who fired the shot that hit him.
Vagos MC Enemies and Allies
Vagos MC Enemies:
- Hells Angels Motorcycle Club are enemies
- Galloping Goose Motorcycle Club are enemies
Vagos MC Allies:
- Mongols MC are allies
Vagos Books:
Vagos Book – Vagos, Mongols, and Outlaws: My Infiltration of America’s Deadliest Biker Gangs by Charles Falco and Kerrie Droban.
Charles Falco was a large scale methamphetamine dealer in 2001, reportedly earning $500,000 a year, when he was arrested by law enforcement and provided a deal by the ATF to infiltrate outlaw motorcycle clubs. First it was Vagos MC, where he rose to the role of “Officer” (second in charge) in the Victorville, California chapter. He later joined the Mongols and lastly the Outlaws where he became the Petersburg, Virginia Vice President. Find out more on Amazon (link opens in a new tab).
Gods of Mischief: My Undercover Vendetta To Take Down The Vagos Outlaw Motorcycle Club by George Rowe.
An account of how the author assisted the government by infiltrating Vagos MC. A view looking in from an outsider, with discussion of the author’s troubled childhood and his personal struggle. It doesn’t make our list of the best outlaw motorcycle books, but there aren’t too many books around covering Vagos. Find out more on Amazon (link opens in a new tab).
Terry the Tramp: The Life and Dangerous Times of a One Percenter by K. Randall Ball (Easyriders magazine writer Keith “Bandit” Ball)
This is the biography of Terry Orendorff. Terry “The Tramp” is the former International President of Vagos MC, a position which he held for several decades. The book takes you through his life, but also provides an insight into the biker culture, particularly around the 1970s and 1980s. Find out more on Amazon (link opens in a new tab).
Read More:
- List of One Percenters Motorcycle Clubs
- Hells Angels MC
- Galloping Goose MC
- Free Souls MC
- Outlaw Motorcycle Club Books
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