BRITISH COLUMBIA COMPUTER STOLEN Guns, stolen ID put biker in jail:

Guns, stolen ID put biker in jail

Raid turned up police uniforms at Hells Angel's home

By Paul Walton, Daily NewsSeptember 2, 2009

A Nanaimo Hells Angel arrested in June after police found a stolen police badge and uniforms in a raid at his home, and then arrested while on bail in August for an identity theft scheme, was sent to prison on Tuesday for three years.

Lawrence Dean Bergstrom, 37, had been in custody since Aug. 19 when Nanaimo Mounties raided a residence on Hecate Street where Bergstrom was staying. His lawyer did not say why he entered the surprise guilty plea in provincial court.

Bergstrom is well-known to local police as a member of the biker gang and on June 11 they raided his home on Twilight Way in Extension. The raid, with the heavily armed RCMP emergency response team leading the way, ended with the seizure of the stolen Saanich police badge, firearms, RCMP uniforms and a computer stolen from Sears that contained personal details about customers.

Appearing before Judge John Joe in provincial court, Bergstrom said nothing except to whisper to his lawyer, apparently about having two laptopcomputers seized by police returned to him.

Crown prosecutor Ron Parsons said police found an unlicensed .22-calibre handgun, a 300 Weatherby rifle and a loaded 12-gauge shotgun. Bergstrom was arrested in Victoria a day after the raid even though he had said he would turn himself in.

Parsons said that when police became aware Bergstrom was living on Hecate Street they began watching the residence. On Aug. 19, with enough evidence for another warrant, the emergency response team again went into action at about 8 p.m. Parsons said police found two replica assault rifles and discovered evidence indicating an identitytheft operation. They found stolen passports, a stolen social insurance card, a stolen pilot's licence, and a stolen B.C. Care card.

Bergstrom is one of the defendants in the seizure of the Nanaimo Hells Angels clubhouse on Victoria Road, and in 2008 was acquitted on appeal for punching a police officer at a Kamloops motel in 2005.

Bergstrom's lawyer, Stephen Taylor, said his client just wants to go back to operating his tattoo shop. "He wants to get off the radar of the police and live a law-abiding life," said Taylor.

PWalton@nanaimodailynews.com

250-729-4230