ANAHEIM, Calif. " In more than 25 years at the helm of his biker-inspired Christian ministry, Phillip Aguilar has counseled Hells Angels, married Mongols and provided a place to crash for just about every hog-riding gangster and drug addict he's ever met.
But police say after years of bringing God to outlaws, Aguilar's chopper-riding Christians may have morphed into just the kind of gang they claim to save people from. Aguilar and four other members of the Set Free Soldiers will be arraigned Thursday on multiple weapons and gang felonies after a bar brawl that ended with two Hells Angels stabbed. One member is charged with attempted murder.
The case threatens to unravel Aguilar's counterculture Christian empire, a domain already well-known among bikers that's recently gained some traction in the mainstream. His church, which runs several Southern California rehab homes, recently inspired an A&E reality show pilot called "Saints and Sinners" and has close ties to a Christian rap group that's performed for U.S. troops in the Middle East and has an urban-influenced clothing line called Soldier Made.
Some of those in the close-knit and largely under-the-radar Christian biker community, however, now wonder if Aguilar is converting sinners in a ministry that demands neutrality " or if they're converting him.
"I'm in seedy places, I'm in bad places, I meet with bad people and some of the outlaws, you bet. The key question is, are you participating or are you their minister?" said Tom Longbrake, a twice-ordained minister with Bikers for Christ who's often crossed paths with Set Free Soldiers at biker charities.
"If they are trying to take Hells Angels' territory, that sure wouldn't be in line with the Bible."
Aguilar, 60, who declined repeated interview requests, is free on bail and plans to plead not guilty to the charges, said one of his sons, Hebrew "Roc" Aguilar, an associate pastor.
Lloyd Freberg, the attorney for Aguilar's son, Matt, who was also arrested, said those arrested are not gang members and were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Set Free Soldiers were attacked by the Hells Angels while they ate hamburgers and shot pool at Blackie's by the Sea after watching a member's son in a surfing contest, Freberg saud,'
Aguilar's attorney, Doug Myers, did not immediately comment Thursday.
"The police agencies are in a real feeding frenzy on this," Freberg said. "It's people's imaginations run amok."
But search warrant affidavits and police reports " portions of which are sealed " indicate the fight may have begun because the Hells Angels felt the Set Free Soldiers were on their turf. A Set Free pastor caught fleeing the fight with a bloody knife told police the brawl began when a Hells Angels leader confronted Aguilar and told him his group was not authorized to take the Hells Angels' business.
The pastor, who will also be arraigned Thursday in Orange County Superior Court, told police he was terrified of retaliation now that Set Free members had drawn Hells Angels blood.
A pre-dawn raid at the Set Free compound of four suburban homes just miles from Disneyland yielded gang paraphernalia, thousands of rounds of ammunition and dozens of guns and knives, said Sgt. Evan Sailor of the Newport Beach police. The knives included a tiny dagger designed to be hidden in a motorcycle gas tank.
Sailor said detectives were also alarmed by YouTube and MySpace videos that show members posing with guns and knives and riding their bikes with their faces covered with black handkerchiefs and, in one case, a skull mask.
One video identifies them as a "group of men who love Jesus and love to ride hard." Another ends with a young man holding what appears to be a machine gun as heavy metal music blares.
"To me, it's indicative of more than just a Christian group. It's indicative of an outlaw motorcycle gang," Sailor said. "It's not like they're showing Bible study classes."
Yet Hebrew Aguilar said the Set Free Soldiers are hardworking Christians who act and dress as they do so their gospel resonates with hard-to-reach sinners: the drug addicts, the outlaw bikers and the prostitutes.
A rap group affiliated with the church has performed for U.S. troops in Iraq, Kosovo, Hungary, Bosnia and Macedonia and appeals to soldiers too because of its tough demeanor, said the younger Aguilar, a 24-year-old who works on the related clothing line, Soldier Made.
"My dad, he's been a biker since he was younger so he has a lot of biker friends from every motorcycle club: the Vagos, the Mongols, the Hells Angels. He's married more bikers from outlaw clubs than anybody," he said.
"He says the Lord preaches to everybody and I'm not going to stop talking to people just because you want me to," he said. "The cops wonder why we're friends with so many clubs " but we never have issues."
The elder Aguilar's own checkered past, including a stint in state prison for child abuse and a former heroin addiction, gives him even more credibility with his ragtag flock. Many call him "Pastor Phil" or "The Chief" and don't seem to mind the sometimes iron-fisted control he exerts over those in his rehab homes.
Kevin Knuth, 29, showed up on Aguilar's doorstep in 2004 just out of jail, homeless and addicted to drugs. He's been there ever since, living in the rehab center or sleeping on Aguilar's couch and helping with errands, household chores and the clothing line for free.
"I don't relate to normal people very well. Because of where I've been and what I've done, a lot of people won't talk to me," said Knuth, who now wears a silver cross necklace and is drug-free and off probation.
"The only place I find any sort of sanity, the only place where I feel like I have any kind of family, is here with Pastor Phil."
Longbrake, the elder with Bikers for Christ, said he isn't sure what to think of the case " but even if it's true, he said, Aguilar's own work shows everyone can be saved.
"God does catch his fish and he cleans his fish," he said. "There's still redemption."
"""
On the Net:
http://setfreesoldiers.com
http://bikersforchrist.org