4 min read · Nov 29, 2017
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Members of the Dirty One’s motorbike club gathered on Sunday on the corner of Atlantic Avenue and 4th Street in Brooklyn. One of their own, Steven Vargas, was shot dead there on Thursday. His killer is still at large.
“Jack, the Ripper” Mendoza, parked his Harley Davidson in front of the spot Vargas was shot. He organized the Dirty Ones to gather there on Sunday. Around a dozen from various New York chapters showed up by noon. Most were dressed in biker jackets with the Dirty One’s logo, a grim reaper holding a scythe.
According to friends, Vargas was in Brooklyn on Thursday to meet a date. Vargas was killed at approximately 8.20 PM. He was stabbed and shot multiple times in front of a Dunkin Donuts.
Ali Anca, a cashier at Halal Grocery who was there the night Vargas was killed heard the gunshots and ran out to see what was going on. “We heard the shots — boom, boom, boom, four,” he said, “I saw the blood coming I don’t know if it was his mouth or nose.”
Mendoza said they gathered not only to see where Vargas died, but also so the police know Vargas was loved. Some expressed concerns the police may not taking the case seriously because Vargas is a biker.
They expressed concern that forty-eight hours have passed and no suspect has been identified. Police did have a security camera footage of Vargas’s killer. As a part of the NYPD Crime Stoppers Program, the police are offering cash rewards up to $2,500 for a tip that leads to an arrest and indictment.
Liz Perez, Vargas’s sister, is hopeful the cops will find their brother’s killer. Perez said distraught in front of her and Vargas’s home in Staten Island, “maybe they’re trying to protect us by keeping us in the dark.”
Vargas’s death is a shock to the Dirty Ones. “He’s a good guy. He had no problems,” said Mendoza. He thinks Vargas was just at the wrong place and time, given that “we have no problem with anyone right now.”
Mendoza said, “The Dirty Ones are good guys, we’re humble, we don’t step on anyone’s toes, but this guy, he’s stepping on our toes.” Pistol Pete Miranda, a close friend of Vargas said, “if they catch him, he’s going to be dead. Even if he does time, he’s going to be dead. We got people in and out (of prison).”
The Dirty Ones is a motorcycle club founded in the 1960s with chapters all across America. In 2012, a few of their members were charged with trafficking high caliber weapons. Their motto is “Dirty Ones For Life, For Life Dirty Ones”.
Miranda is frustrated by why Vargas had to die, “shoot him in the leg come on, why kill him?” He says this is the first time in Dirty One’s history that someone died from a shooting. “We would get stabbed, chained up, go to the hospital get stitches, but never got shot dead.” A few of them grumbled about the timing of Vargas’s death. Vargas’s birthday was in just four days. Vargas would have been forty-eight.
During the day, Vargas worked at the Board of Education serving lunches to kids. At night, he loved hanging out with his ‘brothers’ drinking beer at the Staten Island Chapter of the Dirty Ones.
Vargas was known as “Psycho” by his fellow bike members. Miranda, said he was called Psycho because “he loved to be crazy,” he pauses, “he loved to back you up. He’s the guy you call if you have a flat tire and he’ll be there in five minutes, we’d be like why did you do this for him. You’re crazy.”
The Dirty Ones lost another member last year. Santos Maldonado passed away from a heart attack. A few members had a patch with his name and the date he died on their biker jackets. Perhaps, Vargas’s name and dates will soon be on their jackets as well.
Mendoza doesn’t want the public to misunderstand Vargas’s legacy. He thinks many people misunderstand bikers because of the TV show Sons of Anarchy. Mendoza said bikers are not like that, “Yes, twenty to thirty years ago in the West they would do stupid sh*t, like raping girls and selling drugs.” He said Vargas and the Dirty Ones just enjoy the feeling of wind on their faces and the camaraderie of belonging to a brotherhood. He said “we’re trying to build New York. We’re good guys. We do cancer runs, if we had the means we’d be in Puerto Rico or Mexico helping people.”
Mendoza rips up a poster off a telephone pole that featured a photo of Vargas’s killer. “He was a stand-up man, a good kid.”
