Motorcycle Gangmembers Arrested

Five members of the Vagos Motorcycle Club were arrested by Santa Barbara Sheriff’s deputies on Friday night after a traffic stop near the intersection of Highways 154 and 101 around 8 p.m.

The incident began when two motorcycles were stopped for running a red light, which caused three other bikers to stop in the middle of the highway and wait, according to a Sheriff’s Department press release. Since they were all wearing gear sporting the logo of the Vagos Club — which originated in San Bernadino in the 1960s and includes more than 600 members today — the deputies with the Sheriff’s Gang Enforcement Unit searched the vehicles and found semi-automatic handguns in the saddlebags.

Arrested on concealed firearm and gang enhancement charges were Kirk Koester, 46, president of the San Luis Obispo chapter of the Vagos, from Cayucos; his wife, Shannon Koester, 41, also of Cayucos; Byron Posey, 38, of Paso Robles; Daniel Chapman, 46, of Paso Robles; and John Gallagher, 41, of San Luis Obispo.