Pike's Pub defendants lawyer up; face criminal gang enhancement
- Jamie Duffy
- Jul 1
- 3 min read
ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. ---This week the Allen County Prosecutor’s office dealt a blow to the six defendants in the Pike’s Pub battery case.
The prosecutor’s office added an enhancement for criminal gang activity that could make a difference in sentencing, if the six men, or any of them, are convicted.
The motion to add this third count will be heard Aug. 11 in front of Superior Court Magistrate Sam Keirns. The enhancement works similarly to Indiana's gun enhancement that can add between five and 20 years after an individual is convicted of a crime and uses a gun. The jury deliberates on the enhancement charge separately.
Chief Deputy Thomas Chaille, with the Allen County Prosecutor’s Office, has taken the lead on this case for the state.
For further reading on this case:
Because of the seriousness of the charges and the threat of the enhancement that could double their sentences, if convicted, the men are lawyering up.
So far three have retained attorneys. They have until July 27 to find an attorney or a public defender, according to online court documents.
Douglas Zuber, 66, the first to lawyer up, has retained Travis Friend, an attorney with Haller Colvin here in Fort Wayne, court documents say.
Justin Wert, 35, whose address is in Churubusco, has hired Joshua Steller Moudy, as his lead retained attorney, and associate, Grace Burhyte Atwater, both with the firm, Kammen and Moudy, out of Indianapolis.
Christopher Yoho, 42, has also retained an Indianapolis attorney, Charles Chrystal Hayes.
Impton, 52, Minick, 44, and Warnock, 58, have no attorney, as of yet. There’s always the option of having a public defender.
Retained attorneys don’t come cheap. The going rate in Fort Wayne is believed to be in the neighborhood of $250 to $300 an hour. You can double that amount for an attorney practicing in Indianapolis.
The men were charged June 11 with battery resulting in serious bodily injury, a Level 5 felony, and criminal mischief, a misdemeanor, after the May 30 beating of a Black man at the Waynedale bar.
The sixth suspect, Vard Warnock, was charged on June 18 after another man was misidentified, and removed from the case.
The six defendants were wearing jackets and T-shirts with the Outlaws Motorcycle Club logo and design.
The men were identified from a widely circulated video of the attack on the victim, James Simmons, that went viral on social media.
As The Probable Cause has indicated in previous articles, the Outlaws Motorcycle Club is taken seriously by the U.S. Department of Justice.
“The Hells Angels, Mongols, Bandidos, Outlaws, and Sons of Silence pose a serious national domestic threat and conduct the majority of criminal activity linked to OMGs, especially activity relating to drug-trafficking and, more specifically, to cross-border drug smuggling. Because of their transnational scope, these Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs are able to coordinate drug smuggling operations in partnership with major international drug-trafficking organizations (DTOs), the DOJ website says.
“There are more than 300 active OMGs within the United States, ranging in size from single chapters with five or six members to hundreds of chapters with thousands of members worldwide.”
To date, there’s no indication that the federal government has plans to get involved in this case. According to the prosecutor’s office, the men will be tried together. The only differentiation is that one defendant, Justin Wert, was also charged with strangulation.
The Allen County Sheriff’s Department who conducted the investigation determined that Wert was the one who was at the victim’s neck.
“The battery eventually ends up going to the ground where Wert has James in a headlock while other members wearing ‘Outlaw’ attire kick and punch James. James was interviewed and said that his breathing was impaired as a result of the pressure applied to his neck by Wert,” the probable cause affidavit, written by Detective. Cpl Keith Wallin, states.
This article will be updated as information comes in.
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