PORTLAND, Maine – A Londonderry, New Hampshire, man who was involved in a Manchester shooting in 2010, is wanted by the Portland Police Department in connection with a fatal Maine shooting in July. Both shootings stemmed from a brawl between two motorcycle gangs.
Kristofer Haken, 45, of Londonderry, is one of seven men associated with the Outlaws Motorcycle Club who police believe is connected to the shooting death of Susan McHugh, 54, of Gray.
Six Maine men have been charged in connection to McHugh’s death, which police say happened the night of July 30 in Portland during a fight between two motorcycle clubs.
Haken was convicted on assault charges in 2011 when he shot a teenage bystander during a fight between members of the Outlaws and Hell’s Angels outside a Manchester pizza shop.
Portland police said Haken is dangerous and “may be armed.” He is believed to be a member of the Outlaws, according to a Wednesday post on the Portland PD’s Facebook page. He is described as 5-foot-9, 220 pounds with blond hair and blue eyes.
“Please do not approach him if you see him,” the Facebook post warns. Police urge anyone who has any information about Haken to call 207-874-8575 or to text keyword PPDME and a message to 847411.
In 2011, Haken, at the time of Manchester, was sentenced to a minimum of 7½ years after he pled guilty to assault charges stemming from what police described as a “turf battle” between the Outlaws and Hell’s Angels motorcycle club.
On April 16, 2010, Haken was in a car driving away from Luigi’s Pizza, on Valley Street, when he fired a shotgun out the window at three high school students who had arrived to buy a pizza and found themselves in the middle of the motorcycle gang brawl.
Jarred Pellerin, 18, was seriously wounded by pellet shots from the .20-gauge shotgun Haken fired, according to news reports at the time.
Haken at his trial claimed he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder from his military service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The July 30 incident began at Brookside Food & Drink in Westbrook, where McHugh and a group from the FSU motorcycle club that included her husband, Troy McHugh, and son, Travis Frechette, were seated at the outside patio.
Members of Higher Calling, an offshoot of the Outlaws, arrived at the bar, and the two groups tangled, which was caught on the bar’s surveillance camera, and shown at the court hearing.
McHugh and her group left the scene after the brief tussle. Surveillance video shows more Outlaws members arriving at Brookside on their motorcycles shortly afterwards.
Police did not specify whether Haken was part of the Higher Calling group, or the group of Outlaws that arrived later.
At 8:30 p.m., McHugh was shot at Samuel’s Bar and Grill in Portland, about three miles east on U.S. Route 302.
The shooting happened after the Outlaws arrived and attacked McHugh’s group with weapons including a sledgehammer, wrench and knife, police said.
McHugh was crouched behind a car, according to police, and took a shot with her husband’s gun. A man police say was Aaron Karp, 47, of Naples, Maine, then took nine shots at McHugh. She was hit by one and died at the scene.
The shooting was caught on surveillance video from an adjacent business, but it’s grainy and hard to identify the shooter. Police said at Karp’s bail hearing in July he can be identified by his hair and gait.
After the shooting, McHugh’s son, Frechette, picked up the gun and shot at the retreating Outlaws. Most of the Outlaws members left the scene before police arrived, but police found Haken, grazed by a bullet, still on site, according to news reports at the time.
McHugh’s husband, Troy, and a friend, William Holmes, were both hospitalized with skull fractures.
Karp was arrested and charged with murder in August. He is being held in Cumberland County Jail in Portland.
Charged this week with one count of conspiracy to commit elevated aggravated assault and two counts of elevated aggravated assault were Kaleb A. Cidre, 22, of Windham; Jason J. Keenan, 45, of Bath; James D. Moody 30, of Bowdoin; Caleb S. Pelkey, 33, of Portland; Nathan T. Walsh, 48, of Lewiston.
Portland police said they would not release any other information on the investigation.