SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A member of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang accused of fatally stabbing a rival at a Hillcrest taco shop last year pleaded not guilty to murder and other charges Friday.
Michael Edward Ottinger allegedly killed Fernando Fernandez on March 16, 2010, at the Los Panchos restaurant on Washington Street. Fernandez was a member of the Mongols biker gang, a rival of the Hells Angels for decades, according to Deputy District Attorney Paul Reizen.
Ottinger, who was already in federal custody on narcotics charges, was part of a group of 11 Hells Angels members rounded up for a variety of alleged crimes, the prosecutor said.
Reizen said he is also charged with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and mayhem for the January 2010 stabbing of Jesus Morales, the son of the Mongols president.
Other charges against Ottinger involve an assault on a woman, a pair of home-invasion robberies and a residential burglary. He is also a suspect in a 2010 assault on a Hells Angels supporter who was hit with a baseball bat because he was texting the former girlfriend of a member, Reizen said.
Superior Court Judge David Szumowski ordered Ottinger held without bail.
He faces life in prison if convicted.
