CITY police are scheduled to bring fugitive outlaw biker Billy Bowden back to Winnipeg tonight following his arrest last Friday by RCMP in British Columbia, sources say.
The ex-Hells Angel was reportedly arrested in the swanky ski resort town of Whistler.
Bowden has been on the run since Jan. 10 when an arrest warrant was issued against him for failing to appear in court on drug and gun charges.
He was scheduled to begin his preliminary hearing after being charged in January last year with possessing a loaded nine-millimetre semi-automatic Glock handgun and a small quantity of ecstasy.
Bowden's co-accused, Ken Houston -- a former Winnipeg police officer -- walked away a free man after the Crown stayed all its charges based on an apparent lack of evidence against him alone. The Crown has one year to re-lay the charges if they wish.
Houston and Bowden were nabbed in a back lane in the 500 block of Corydon Avenue when officers with the organized crime unit stopped Houston's Dodge Durango.
At the time Bowden was a member of the Manitoba chapter of the Hells Angels. Last fall he was kicked out of the gang for undisclosed reasons. However, sources said the vote by other gang members to expel him was unanimous.
Bowden had been a Hells Angel since July 2004.
One of the times Bowden was seen in public in Winnipeg was last Nov. 18 at the Empire Cabaret, the same night Jeff Engen was fatally stabbed at the club.
No one has been arrested for Engen's slaying.
Police have not released any information about the killing, but the victim's family believes the suspects entered through a back door, avoiding a front-door security check and video surveillance cameras.
Owner Sabino Tummillo recently gave up his liquor licence, and there is a sign on the door indicating the space is up for lease.
Police recently released a sketch of a man they wanted for questioning in the Engen matter. It's not known if police ever identified him or if investigators ruled him out as a suspect.
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