Hells Angel member facing attempted murder charge

VISTA (CNS) – A preliminary hearing is scheduled Tuesday for a Hells Angels member accused of using a car to run down and seriously injure a pedestrian following a confrontation outside an Oceanside bar.

Anthony James Medvec, 31, is charged with premeditated attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and leaving the scene of a serious injury accident. He was taken into custody about eight hours after the Nov. 25 hit-and-run crash on South Coast Highway at Cassidy Street.

The chain of events that led to Medvec’s arrest began around 4 p.m., when he and two other patrons of PCH Sports Bar and Grill at 1835 S. Coast Highway began making inappropriate comments to the daughter-in-law of the victim when she walked past the establishment with her husband and the victim, Oceanside police Lt. Leonard Cosby said.

The harassment escalated and Medvec allegedly yelled that he was going to hit the trio. The group continued to walk away, but as they were crossing at Cassidy Street, Medvec allegedly sped through the intersection in a white Lexus and struck 60-year-old Michael Dean, who was walking with a cane in the crosswalk, Cosby said.

The driver fled, but witnesses followed, the lieutenant said.

Dean was taken to Palomar Medical Center in Escondido to be treated for a collapsed lung and several broken bones.

Police later determined that Medvec, a documented Hells Angels motorcycle gang member and federal probationer who was required to wear a GPS tracking device, had been driving the Lexus, according to Cosby. The device led officers to his home in the 4900 block of Yuma Avenue, where he was arrested without incident.

Following today’s preliminary hearing, a judge will determine if enough evidence was presented for Medvec to stand trial.