DA: Rt. 48 W.O. Shooting Was Retaliation

Prosecutors allege man’s death tied to motorcycle club rivalry

By Staff Reports
The Tube City Almanac
November 24, 2025
Posted in: Crime and Police News, White Oak News

A Liberty Borough man who died after being shot multiple times on Route 48 in White Oak was targeted by members of a rival motorcycle club in retaliation for his alleged role in a fight in Washington County, Allegheny County prosecutors allege.

Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. has charged three men in connection with the Oct. 12 death of Kenneth Hayman, 33.

Hayman, who police identified as a member of the War Dogs Motorcycle Club, died at AHN Forbes Hospital in Monroeville about one hour after police said three armed men attacked him at the intersection of Lincoln Way and Route 48 in White Oak.

In court records that were unsealed on Friday and made available to Tube City Almanac on Monday, prosecutors allege that Jacob A. Baker, 33, of Mt. Pleasant; Victor E. Cruz, 27, of Jeannette; and Albert J. Renchko, 36, of Wilmerding targeted Hayman on Oct. 12.

Prosecutors allege that the three men attacked Hayman after learning that Hayman was part of a brawl between rival motorcycle clubs on Aug. 16 at the Forty Bar & Grill on Route 40 just outside of Washington, Pa.

According to published reports, more than 60 people were involved in an incident that morning that seriously injured a patron of the bar and led to damage on the property.

The incident led to the cancellation of a scheduled charitable motorcycle rally in Washington the following weekend.

In a criminal complaint, prosecutors said that the seriously injured man in Washington County had been a member of the Pagans Motorcycle Club.

According to the complaint, a confidential informant told Allegheny County police detectives that Baker, Cruz and Renchko were also members of the Pagans and that they had “conspired to intercept Hayman on his route and give him a beating.”

Prosecutors allege that on Oct. 12, Cruz was driving a Chevrolet Silverado truck that was tracked on video surveillance following Hayman’s motorcycle on Route 48 near Route 30.

Police said the license plate on Cruz’s truck was a forgery.

According to police, when Hayman stopped his motorcycle at the intersection of Lincoln Way and Route 48, three men — who police identified as the suspects — exit the Chevrolet truck and approached him. Police said one of the men appeared to be armed with an axe handle.

Police said that according to surveillance video, Hayman got off of the motorcycle and into a crouched, defensive position, as if he was about to fire a pistol, and one of the three suspects appeared to have retrieved something — possibly a handgun — from the Chevrolet truck.

According to the affidavit, police said their investigation indicates that Hayman and at least one of the suspects exchanged gunfire. The affidavit alleges that Baker fired the shots that wounded Hayman.

The three suspects then got back into the Chevrolet truck and fled west on Lincoln Way, police said. Hayman went inside a nearby Wendy’s restaurant seeking help, where he collapsed, police said.

The affidavit states that when first responders arrived at the scene, they found a 40-caliber pistol and a 45-caliber pistol in Hayman’s possession. The 40-caliber weapon was empty and appeared to have been recently fired, according to the information in the complaint.

Police also recovered 11 spent 9-mm shell casings at the intersection, according to the complaint.

Using license-plate cameras, police said the truck involved in the incident was tracked as far as Blythedale in Elizabeth Twp.

Police said an identical truck, registered to Cruz but with a different license number, was recovered a short time later in Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland County, according to the affidavit.

Police obtained warrants for visual and audio surveillance of the three suspects, according to the affidavits, and recorded their conversations about the incident.

According to court records, an Allegheny County judge approved a request from the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office to seal the arrest warrants to protect the identity of a witness.

Court records indicate that Baker was arrested Oct. 27 and charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy. He is being held in the Allegheny County Jail without bond pending a preliminary hearing.

Cruz was arrested Oct. 30 and is charged with aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy, court officials said. Renchko was arrested Oct. 27 and also is charged with aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy. He is being held in the Allegheny County Jail without bond pending a preliminary hearing.

Originally published November 24, 2025.

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