By Noelle Phillips
The Denver Post
The 17 Iron Order Motorcycle Club members found themselves divided, surrounded and outnumbered by a rival club in a stairwell at the National Western Complex.
The Mongols Motorcycle Club told the Iron Order members to move because the Mongols had designated that area as their turf for the Jan. 30-31 Colorado Motorcycle Swap Meet and Expo.
As the groups argued, a Mongol slapped a beer out of the hands of Johnny “Woops” Winston, a member of the Iron Order.
The fight was on.
Within minutes, one man was dead, two more were shot, one was stabbed and another two were seriously injured by punches and kicks, according to a 195-page report released Tuesday by the Denver Police Department.
The report includes interviews with dozens of witnesses, including Iron Order members, undercover cops and Derrick “Kong” Duran, a Colorado Department of Corrections employee who fired the fatal shot that killed Victor Mendoza, a 46-year-old Mongol.
Mongols did not cooperate with police, so their version of events was not in the report, although their attorney previously has accused the Iron Order of provoking the fight and throwing the first punch.
Duran, who was not charged in the shooting, told detectives that Mongols started the fight as he was trying to gather his fellow club members and leave. He is a vice president of the Fort Collins club and was the highest-ranking Iron Order member at the scene.
Duran fired the first shot in the fight from his .380-caliber Glock pistol as he was pushed into a corner and punched repeatedly.
“Mr. Duran is thinking, ‘They are going to kill us,’ ” the police report said.
A Mongol returned fired, grazing Duran and striking another Iron Order member. Duran fired a second shot, hitting Mendoza in the chest.
Later, Duran told police “he was not sorry he defended himself but he is sorry someone lost their life,” the report said.
The fight was fueled by racial tension and an ongoing, nationwide feud between the Iron Order and other outlaw motorcycle clubs.
Outlaw motorcycle clubs believe the Iron Order does not follow traditional protocols within the culture. They also say it draws heavily from the military and law enforcement and that its members pick fights with other clubs.
Indeed, the Iron Order in Colorado draws from law enforcement.
An undercover Aurora Police Department officer who was working at the January event told detectives that he knew of at least seven active law enforcement members in the club, including two Adams County patrol deputies, an Aurora police patrol officer, a federal officer at the Denver Mint, an ICE agent and a state corrections officer.
The report names the 17 Iron Order members who attended the expo, and The Denver Post’s research found four associated with the club who had served in the military.
The report also reveals that a large number of men in both clubs were armed as well as other motorcycle enthusiasts who were unaffiliated with a club but were attending the show.
Some had permits allowing them to carry concealed weapons. Some drew their guns but did not fire, while others never took their guns from holsters.
One Iron Order member told detectives, “the situation was made a lot worse because of the guns.”
The police report also describes a chaotic scene when police arrived at the shooting, with blood smeared on floors and bloody footprints leading to doors. Police also found bloody clothes, hats, boots and sunglasses scattered in the stairwell where the fight began and in the National Western Complex parking lot, the report said.
After the shooting, the event continued as people walked through and around puddles of blood and spent shell casings.
After Duran exchanged fire with Mongols, more shots were fired as police rushed to the scene. The shots can be heard in video footage filmed by an undercover Arvada police investigator.
No one was injured from the second round of shots, and police never identified a shooter.
Undercover officers from Jefferson County and Wheat Ridge also had volunteered to help Denver police monitor the expo. The police had gathered early Jan. 30 to talk about the event and meet the officers who would be undercover.
“It is well-known that certain motorcycle clubs and their members do not get along with each other, and at events such as this tension between the clubs can lead to fights, assaults and gunfire,” an Arvada investigator wrote in his report after the shooting.
Two undercover Arvada officers were near the stairwell when the fight began.
One wrote that he saw a black Iron Order member being dragged through some doors by one of his fellow club members. But two Mongols members rushed through and kicked the man, later identified as Winston, 26.
Winston later told detectives that a Mongol had made a racial slur, then knocked his beer out of his hand, saying, “What are you going to do?” the report said.
• Daniel “Penguin” McCallister, 27, who was shot.
• Matthew “Worf” Woelfle, 41, who was stabbed.
• Aaron “Prospect Duce” Mercer, 38, who was beaten.
All three told similar stories as to how the fight started.
McCallister has a bullet lodged in his liver that doctors were not able to remove, the report said. McCallister said he wanted to see justice for the person who shot him, but he also told investigators that Duran and others who fired guns had “made a poor choice,” according to a synopsis of his police interviews.
A second Mongol who was shot, 32-year-old Jared Chadwick, refused to talk to police and declined to press charges as he sat in a hospital bed, the report said.
The Mongols did not cooperate with the investigation because doing so would run counter to their outlaw ethos.
But the Mongols’ Las Vegas-based attorney, Stephen Stubbs, has said the Iron Order taunted his club’s members and threw the first punch. After the Iron Order started losing the fight, members drew guns and shot first, Stubbs has said.
While Duran fired the first shot, District Attorney Mitch Morrissey declined to press charges. Morrissey’s staff decided it would be likely that a jury would find Duran acted in self-defense, he said.
The expo, which has been held for 38 years at the complex, canceled its second day in January.
However, officials have not decided whether the show will be held in 2017, said Paul Andrews, chief executive officer of the National Western Stock Show and Complex. He said his organization is working with the expo’s promoter and police, and a decision should be reached soon.
Noelle Phillips: 303-954-1661, [email protected] or @Noelle_Phillips
Staff writers Jordan Steffen and Jesse Paul contributed to this report
The Military Times newspaper reported in February, the following:
The Iron Order is a relative newcomer, started in 2004 by a former Secret Service agent, but growing rapidly. One expert told Military Times the law enforcement-heavy Iron Order has a reputation for starting a fight then being the first to call police. The club’s attorney, however, says members of the charitable organization don’t want any trouble because they have important careers on the line.
Both the attorney and a report by federal investigators say violence often stems from the Iron Order’s choice to wear a certain style of patch.
“The Iron Order is one of the fastest growing motorcycle clubs in the United States,” according to a 2014 Justice Department report. “Members wear a traditional three-piece patch with a State bottom rocker. The fact that they wear the State bottom rocker has infuriated the [Hells Angels Motorcycle Club], Outlaws, Iron Horsemen, Pagans and Bandidos. More importantly, many of their members are police and corrections officers, active-duty military and/or government employees and contractors.”
To Read the Entire report click here: Military Times
(Colorado TV News Report)