Hells Angel, 2 Others Arrested

A member of the Ventura chapter of the Hells Angels and two other Thousand Oaks residents were arrested Thursday on suspicion of possessing four pounds of high-quality methamphetamine, sheriff’s deputies said.

Hells Angels member Edward Jay Gregory, 52, and Joseph Samuel Lively, 57, and his wife, Joan Victoria Lively, 43, are also accused of running a motorcycle shop in Thousand Oaks that allegedly contained numerous stolen parts.

Sheriff’s narcotics deputies--assisted by Oxnard and Ventura police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, California Highway Patrol and the FBI--arrested the trio following a 13-month investigation.

Surveillance of the trio began after authorities received a tip the three were allegedly shipping large quantities of methamphetamine to cities in the Midwest, authorities said.

Undercover officers infiltrated the organization and were led to two clandestine labs in the Sacramento area in January, authorities said.

On Thursday, after the three were arrested, authorities served search warrants at the Lively couple’s home in the 1200 block of Newbury Road in Thousand Oaks, where more than three pounds of the drugs were seized, authorities said.

About an additional pound of methamphetamine, the illegal weapons and stolen motorcycle parts were found at the Lively couple’s motorcycle shop in the 100 block of North Lewis Road, authorities said.

The arrests come less than two weeks after nine members of the Ventura Hells Angels were arrested in connection with a drug ring that allegedly targeted middle and high school students.

Deputies in that case seized cash, weapons and drugs. Gregory recently pleaded guilty to possessing 4.5 pounds of cocaine during a January 1998 arrest.

At the time of his arrest Thursday, Gregory was free on bail pending his sentencing in the 1998 cocaine case.