Dec 10, 2008 - 04:30 AM

By Jeff Mitchell

OSHAWA -- Recognize this place?

Well, you own it.

Welcome to 487 Ortono Ave., Oshawa -- a bit of a fixer-upper, but with unique potential: a reinforced front door fit for a bank vault, nine-foot steel fence, outdoor security cameras and a spacious area that can be used as a rec room or, as was the case with the previous owner, a booze can.

The previous owner? The Hells Angels.

Current title holder: The Attorney General of Ontario, acting on behalf of you.

Not much has happened with the property in the shadow of Hwy. 401 at Bloor Street and Wilson Road since the fall of 2006 when police, armed with a writ of seizure, laid siege to it. The Oshawa chapter of the club -- known among the Angels as the Asylum Crew -- assumed the digs from the Satan's Choice Motorcycle Club when the homegrown bikers were assimilated by their international brothers in 2000.

The newly-minted Angels decked out the building in the club's signature red and white and had a rendition of the menacing Death Head logo emblazoned on the red front door. Red letters on the white siding beside that reinforced steel door state simply, "Hells Angels Oshawa."

The police seized the clubhouse under the Province's Civil Remedies Act, legislation that allows the Crown to apply to the court for forfeiture of goods and property deemed to be proceeds or tools of crime. A voluminous and fascinating file at the Superior Court in Whitby describes what is essentially a bunker in which the Crown alleges the Angels convened to plot criminal activity.

As if that weren't enough, the government alleged the Angels were using a bar in the building as a booze can at which drinks were served and money collected, a contravention of the Liquor Licence Act.

The action was commenced Sept. 28, 2006, when Operation Tandem, an 18-month investigation into drug dealing among outlaw bikers, concluded with the arrests of 16 gang members and several associates on charges ranging from drug trafficking to conspiracy to commit murder.

Over the years police spent countless hours conducting surveillance at the clubhouse, meticulously documenting activity at 487 Ortono; it was the site of weekly "church" meetings for Angels to discuss club business, and members also held parties there.

Authorities have made occasional incursions armed with search warrants looking for Liquor Licence Act violations. For instance, in November 1989 police executed a search warrant, seizing cash and an account book itemizing bar tabs, as well as eight 40-ounce bottles of liquor. Several similar raids occurred over the years.

The clubhouse is designed specifically to keep non-Angels out, as is evidenced by the rebar welded over the tiny window in the front door. The building was "fully fortified to deter and slow the entry of police during the execution of search warrants," the Crown alleged.

"The door is consistent with the makeup of a bank vault," documents at the courthouse say.

The Province's legislation ultimately conquered all of those fortifications. On Sept. 2 of this year the property was forfeited to the Crown when the Angels opted not to contest the action. The Province was also allowed to keep more than $11,000 in cash found squirrelled away in a wall within the clubhouse, but several motorcycles seized in 2006 were returned to their owners.

The property now sits dormant but not forgotten. It still attracts gawkers who are able now to approach the once-menacing edifice without fear; some pose for pictures in front of what at first glance appears to be a derelict and nondescript shack.

And there's no immediate plan for the property, either, said Attorney General spokesman Brendan Crawley. The Province's file was last updated when the court case ended in September, he said.

"There's been nothing that's happened with the property since that time," Mr. Crawley said Nov. 28.

As for the Angels, their ranks were decimated by Project Tandem but one police source noted that while the club has taken a serious hit, it remains a viable chapter. The Angels’ constitution requires at least six members for a chapter to be recognized.

In the meantime, their former meeting place still stands on Ortono Avenue.

Empty.