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David Atwell
David Atwell (born 1965) is a Canadian outlaw biker, gangster and police informer who played a key role in the Ontario Provincial Police's Project Develop operation against the Hells Angels between 2005 and 2007.
Atwell was born into a middle-class family in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario and started to work as a bouncer in Toronto-area bars as a teenager. On 18 October 1983, Atwell started working as a security guard at the age of 18. His mentor was "Jim", a British immigrant and a former Royal Marine who flagged him as a "natural" for the security business, taking him under his wing to train him to be a bodyguard and a security guard. Atwell described "Jim" as a tough veteran of the Falklands War who had seen combat, and who taught him much about serving as a bodyguard.
Through his guard duties at the Falcon's Nest nightclub in the 1990s, Atwell came to know members of the Para-Dice Riders, a Toronto outlaw biker club, with whom he often socialized. Atwell became friends with one of their leaders, Thomas Craig aka "TC", whom he described as a man who "...liked to drink, liked to party and he liked to fight". Atwell was recruited into the Para-Dice Riders by their secretary Donny Petersen. Atwell described Petersen as a "quick study and very smart". Douglas Myles, the vice president of the Para-Dice Riders, stated he was willing to sponsor Atwell in as a new member, an important endorsement. In September 1998, he joined the Para-Dice Riders. He came to be known as "Shaky" because one Para-Dice Rider stated his chances of being successful were "shaky" at best. In September 1999, Atwell was promoted from being a "hang-around" (the lowest level in an outlaw biker club) to being a "prospect" (the second level).
In 2000, Walter "Nurget" Stadnick, the national president of the Canadian Hells Angels, made an offer to most of the Ontario biker gangs to allow them to join the Hells Angels "patch for patch", allowing them to enter the Hells Angels with patches equivalent to their current patches. Atwell recalled about Stadnick's offer: "There was a vote, and 51 per cent of the Para-Dice Riders decided to join the Hells Angels. The other 49 per cent could remain Para-Dice Riders, and many did. My friends were part of the 51 per cent, so I went with them." On 29 December 2000, in a much publicized ceremony, most of the Ontario outlaw biker gangs such as Satan's Choice, the Vagabonds, the Lobos, the Last Chance, the Para-Dice Riders and some of the Loners travelled to Hells Angels' "mother chapter" clubhouse in Sorel, just south of Montreal to join the Hells Angels, making them at one stroke the dominant outlaw biker club in Ontario. As a result of the mass "patch-over" in Sorel, with 168 outlaw bikers becoming Hells Angels, the greater Toronto area went from having no Hells Angels chapters to having the highest concentration of Hells Angels' chapters in the world. Atwell got lost on his way to Sorel, and when he arrived was ordered by the Para-Dice Riders national president, John "Winner" Neal, to report to serve his new masters in the Hells Angels. Atwell described his role at the party as "...cleaning tables, getting drinks and food for the full patches". Atwell described the new Ontario Hells Angels as submissive to the long-standing Quebec Hells Angels with some even going so far as to affect French accents in an attempt to sound like the Quebec Angels.
Atwell stated about joining the Hells Angels: "I had my apprehensions, but I was told that nothing would change except the patches we wore on our backs. We didn’t have to kick up 10 per cent of our earnings. My sponsors at the Para-Dice Riders had to vouch for me, or else I never would’ve been accepted. I don’t have what it takes to become a member of an established chapter of Hells Angels". Atwell stated most of the Hells Angels had what he lacked, namely: "That predator instinct and natural criminality—people who can take advantage of things like the fentanyl epidemic in Canada. They’re feeding it."
As a result of the mass "patch-over", Ontario went from having no Hells Angels chapters to having 14 Hells Angels chapters. The two Para-Dice Rider chapters in Toronto both became Hells Angels chapters. In addition, the former Satan's Choice, Last Chance and Loner chapters all became Hells Angels chapters to give Toronto a total of six Hells Angels chapters. One of the new chapters was the Niagara chapter led by Gerald "Skinny" Ward, a man who did not know how to ride a motorcycle when he joined the Hells Angels, but the Niagara chapter came to be the richest Hells Angel chapters as Ward had something close to a monopoly on drug dealing in the Niagara peninsula. As Ward and his gang were not bikers, Stadnick's decision to allow them to join the Hells Angels caused some tension, requiring Stadnick to visit Toronto to resolve the dispute. Atwell stated that he last spoke with Stadnick while serving as a guard at that meeting, describing Stadnick as cordial, but very cagey and careful about what he said.
Atwell described the life of a Hells Angel as one of privilege, stating: "Being a Hells Angel is not like being a normal person. You get treated differently by everyone, and you get used to it pretty quickly. If I went to any bar in Scarborough, there would be no doubt that I was not going to wait in line, that there was always a great seat empty for me and that there would be a cool beer on the table before my butt hit the seat cushion. Of course, there was never any talk of me paying for anything. I couldn’t have if I tried. My patch was like an entry pass for anything I wanted, a credit card I never had to pay off. But not all the attention Hells Angels get is positive. My weekdays were spent rolling around Scarborough like some kind of nobleman visiting the village paupers in my domain. That’s really what it felt like, because that’s really how people treated me...The club doesn’t just take over your life, the club is your life. Being a Hells Angel is not like any other career, because there is no off switch. Even when you’re not with the club, you’re doing something related to the club. You’re a Hells Angel 24/7, and the people close to you just have to put up with it"
On 4 April 2002, he was arrested by the Toronto police after selling drugs to a woman who turned out to a police informer, leading him to be charged with drug dealing, forcing him to live on bail for the next twenty months, during which he incurred large legal debts and was forced to live with his father to save money. Though the charges were ultimately dropped, he was left deeply in debt, all the more as he was fired from the security company that was employing him in 2004 after it was established that he was a Hells Angel following a security check by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on the guards scheduled to be present at an event attended by Prime Minister Paul Martin. The RCMP told Intercon Security that it was unacceptable for a Hells Angel like Atwell to be serving as one of the guards to be present at the speech to be given by Martin, leading Intercon to terminate Atwell's employment immediately as the company did not wish to lose its contract with the federal government. The drug charges were stayed in February 2004 when a judge ruled that police had not obtained a proper warrant for the bug that recorded him selling the drugs. Atwell rose up the ranks of the Hells Angels Downtown Toronto chapter to become the sergeant-at-arms, and a "full patch" Angel (the highest level in an outlaw biker club).
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David Atwell
David Atwell (born 1965) is a Canadian outlaw biker, gangster and police informer who played a key role in the Ontario Provincial Police's Project Develop operation against the Hells Angels between 2005 and 2007.
Atwell was born into a middle-class family in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario and started to work as a bouncer in Toronto-area bars as a teenager. On 18 October 1983, Atwell started working as a security guard at the age of 18. His mentor was "Jim", a British immigrant and a former Royal Marine who flagged him as a "natural" for the security business, taking him under his wing to train him to be a bodyguard and a security guard. Atwell described "Jim" as a tough veteran of the Falklands War who had seen combat, and who taught him much about serving as a bodyguard.
Through his guard duties at the Falcon's Nest nightclub in the 1990s, Atwell came to know members of the Para-Dice Riders, a Toronto outlaw biker club, with whom he often socialized. Atwell became friends with one of their leaders, Thomas Craig aka "TC", whom he described as a man who "...liked to drink, liked to party and he liked to fight". Atwell was recruited into the Para-Dice Riders by their secretary Donny Petersen. Atwell described Petersen as a "quick study and very smart". Douglas Myles, the vice president of the Para-Dice Riders, stated he was willing to sponsor Atwell in as a new member, an important endorsement. In September 1998, he joined the Para-Dice Riders. He came to be known as "Shaky" because one Para-Dice Rider stated his chances of being successful were "shaky" at best. In September 1999, Atwell was promoted from being a "hang-around" (the lowest level in an outlaw biker club) to being a "prospect" (the second level).
In 2000, Walter "Nurget" Stadnick, the national president of the Canadian Hells Angels, made an offer to most of the Ontario biker gangs to allow them to join the Hells Angels "patch for patch", allowing them to enter the Hells Angels with patches equivalent to their current patches. Atwell recalled about Stadnick's offer: "There was a vote, and 51 per cent of the Para-Dice Riders decided to join the Hells Angels. The other 49 per cent could remain Para-Dice Riders, and many did. My friends were part of the 51 per cent, so I went with them." On 29 December 2000, in a much publicized ceremony, most of the Ontario outlaw biker gangs such as Satan's Choice, the Vagabonds, the Lobos, the Last Chance, the Para-Dice Riders and some of the Loners travelled to Hells Angels' "mother chapter" clubhouse in Sorel, just south of Montreal to join the Hells Angels, making them at one stroke the dominant outlaw biker club in Ontario. As a result of the mass "patch-over" in Sorel, with 168 outlaw bikers becoming Hells Angels, the greater Toronto area went from having no Hells Angels chapters to having the highest concentration of Hells Angels' chapters in the world. Atwell got lost on his way to Sorel, and when he arrived was ordered by the Para-Dice Riders national president, John "Winner" Neal, to report to serve his new masters in the Hells Angels. Atwell described his role at the party as "...cleaning tables, getting drinks and food for the full patches". Atwell described the new Ontario Hells Angels as submissive to the long-standing Quebec Hells Angels with some even going so far as to affect French accents in an attempt to sound like the Quebec Angels.
Atwell stated about joining the Hells Angels: "I had my apprehensions, but I was told that nothing would change except the patches we wore on our backs. We didn’t have to kick up 10 per cent of our earnings. My sponsors at the Para-Dice Riders had to vouch for me, or else I never would’ve been accepted. I don’t have what it takes to become a member of an established chapter of Hells Angels". Atwell stated most of the Hells Angels had what he lacked, namely: "That predator instinct and natural criminality—people who can take advantage of things like the fentanyl epidemic in Canada. They’re feeding it."
As a result of the mass "patch-over", Ontario went from having no Hells Angels chapters to having 14 Hells Angels chapters. The two Para-Dice Rider chapters in Toronto both became Hells Angels chapters. In addition, the former Satan's Choice, Last Chance and Loner chapters all became Hells Angels chapters to give Toronto a total of six Hells Angels chapters. One of the new chapters was the Niagara chapter led by Gerald "Skinny" Ward, a man who did not know how to ride a motorcycle when he joined the Hells Angels, but the Niagara chapter came to be the richest Hells Angel chapters as Ward had something close to a monopoly on drug dealing in the Niagara peninsula. As Ward and his gang were not bikers, Stadnick's decision to allow them to join the Hells Angels caused some tension, requiring Stadnick to visit Toronto to resolve the dispute. Atwell stated that he last spoke with Stadnick while serving as a guard at that meeting, describing Stadnick as cordial, but very cagey and careful about what he said.
Atwell described the life of a Hells Angel as one of privilege, stating: "Being a Hells Angel is not like being a normal person. You get treated differently by everyone, and you get used to it pretty quickly. If I went to any bar in Scarborough, there would be no doubt that I was not going to wait in line, that there was always a great seat empty for me and that there would be a cool beer on the table before my butt hit the seat cushion. Of course, there was never any talk of me paying for anything. I couldn’t have if I tried. My patch was like an entry pass for anything I wanted, a credit card I never had to pay off. But not all the attention Hells Angels get is positive. My weekdays were spent rolling around Scarborough like some kind of nobleman visiting the village paupers in my domain. That’s really what it felt like, because that’s really how people treated me...The club doesn’t just take over your life, the club is your life. Being a Hells Angel is not like any other career, because there is no off switch. Even when you’re not with the club, you’re doing something related to the club. You’re a Hells Angel 24/7, and the people close to you just have to put up with it"
On 4 April 2002, he was arrested by the Toronto police after selling drugs to a woman who turned out to a police informer, leading him to be charged with drug dealing, forcing him to live on bail for the next twenty months, during which he incurred large legal debts and was forced to live with his father to save money. Though the charges were ultimately dropped, he was left deeply in debt, all the more as he was fired from the security company that was employing him in 2004 after it was established that he was a Hells Angel following a security check by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on the guards scheduled to be present at an event attended by Prime Minister Paul Martin. The RCMP told Intercon Security that it was unacceptable for a Hells Angel like Atwell to be serving as one of the guards to be present at the speech to be given by Martin, leading Intercon to terminate Atwell's employment immediately as the company did not wish to lose its contract with the federal government. The drug charges were stayed in February 2004 when a judge ruled that police had not obtained a proper warrant for the bug that recorded him selling the drugs. Atwell rose up the ranks of the Hells Angels Downtown Toronto chapter to become the sergeant-at-arms, and a "full patch" Angel (the highest level in an outlaw biker club).