Two Palm Beach County men are facing criminal charges following their alleged involvement in a fight and shootout between two rival motorcycle gangs in March outside a gas station in Central Florida.
Investigators took Steve Patino-Rangel, 43, of Loxahatchee and Kevin Koul, 34, of Boca Raton into custody July 2 as part of Operation Mongolian Beef, a multiagency effort that led to the arrests of 28 members of the Mongols biker gang.
Officers booked Patino-Rangel and Koul into the Palm Beach County Jail on out-of-county warrants. They are awaiting extradition to Volusia County, where investigators say they were involved in a brawl between rival gangs that led to gunfire outside a busy gas station in New Smyrna Beach, about 15 miles south of Daytona Beach.
Both men face a charge of aggravated rioting, a second-degree felony that carries a penalty of up to 15 years in state prison. The charge also implies that the incident involved 25 more or people.
Sheriff: Mongols, Warlocks involved in March 8 gang shootout
The FBI said the shooting took place March 8. During a news conference on July 2, Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said members of the Mongols arrived at the gas station on State Road 44 on the morning in question with intention of attacking members of the Warlocks, a rival motorcycle gang.
“Bullets were flying. Innocent people were there, children — a busy, busy, busy day,” he said.
Two members of the Warlocks were reported to have been shot, sustaining minor injuries. Using surveillance video footage, investigators identified seven people who were armed, including four who discharged their weapons, Chitwood said.
Three of the four who fired shots were also involved in a similar incident in Brevard County in 2023 in which members of the Mongols surrounded members of the Warlocks and fired at them, he said.
Guns, phones seized during July 2 FBI raids of bikers’ homes
One July 2, FBI and local agencies arrested 28 members of the Mongols and seized guns and phones and other evidence during raids at the defendants’ homes. Arrests were pending for three other men as of July 3.
The operation included a raid by FBI agents at Koul’s home on the 600 block of Northwest 16th Avenue in Boca Raton, near West Palmetto Park Road and Interstate 95, with agents carrying out bags and boxes filled with evidence, according to various reports.
Volusia County State Attorney R.J. Larizza said his office will use the evidence collected to determine if there will be additional charges.
“Can you imagine what it would be like to filling your car up with gas, or taking your grandkids by the hand and walking them into a gas station and all of sudden fighting and gunfire erupts?” Larizza asked. “We cannot tolerate that in the state of Florida. We shouldn’t tolerate anywhere.”
Leading the joint operation were the FBI’s Jacksonville Division, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, and the Seventh Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office, with assistance from other agencies, including the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and the Boca Raton Police Department.
Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Two Palm Beach County men arrested in statewide crackdown on Mongols motorcycle gang
Reporting by Julius Whigham II, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
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