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The first trial stemming from the 2015 shootout between rival motorcycle clubs at a Waco Twin Peaks restaurant ended late Friday afternoon when state District Judge Matt Johnson declared a mistrial. Johnson made his decision after jurors told him three times that they were hopelessly deadlocked as to whether Jacob Carrizal, the head of the Bandidos’ Dallas chapter, engaged in organized criminal activity including murder and aggravated assault.
The May 2015 shootout between the Bandidos and a rival club, the Cossacks, followed years of ill will between the groups. When it was over, nine bikers were dead and 20 more were injured. According to Carrizal, he and the rest of the Dallas Bandidos initially headed to Waco for a Bandidos meeting. When they arrived at Twin Peaks, they were surrounded by Cossacks who showed up to crash the meeting, Carrizal testified, and the Bandidos were left with no choice but to fight.
Jacob Carrizal
McLennan County
He said that as the clubs began fighting, he was swarmed by a group of Cossacks. One member of the rival crew, he said, tried to punch him inside of his helmet with a set of brass knuckles, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald.
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“I was fighting and kicking and trying to get away and they ripped off my face shield and tried to hit inside my helmet with brass knuckles,” Carrizal said.
Carrizal admitted shooting Jacob Rhyne, a Cossack, twice as Carrizal lay on the ground in the Twin Peaks parking lot. Rhyne died, but Carrizal said he only shot Rhyne because Rhyne was pointing a gun at him.
On cross-examination, prosecutors asked Carrizal about the Bandidos’ image as outlaw gang – Carrizal said the gang enjoys its tough reputation but no longer engages in criminal activity – and why Carrizal initially lied to officers at the scene. Carrizal said he was in shock after the gunfight and scared because he’d never been in trouble with police before.
Jurors first told Johnson they were deadlocked Thursday night, but the judge ordered them to continue deliberating. He did so a second time Friday morning before finally granting the mistrial when the jury came back a third time.
McLennan County officials did not announce when Carrizal will be retried.
