Santa Claus On A Harley…

Joe Morreale was gunned down in cold blood in a LaMarque bar last month. Police and the biker community are determined to find the killers.

When Joe Morreale was ready for a cold beer, he would often say "I feel a Budweiser front coming in…" His favorite place to meet this change in the weather was Murphys On Main, an unpretentious and friendly little icehouse on Main Street in LaMarque, just around the corner from Joe's Highway 3 business, Custom Specialists.
The last Budweiser front of Joe's life came through LaMarque on Friday, October 11th a few minutes before midnight. According to eyewitness accounts, two masked gunmen entered the bar and demanded money from the bartender. After getting the money from the cash register, the men tried to rob the eight patrons. One of the customers began to struggle with one of the gunmen. Morreale then lunged at the other man, in an attempt to prevent the crime, and was shot twice in the ensuing struggle. One bullet hit him in the arm, and one in the chest. The shooter then struck the first patron in the head with the butt of his pistol. The robbers then left the bar on foot, travelling north on First Street. Another patron went outside and fired shots as the pair fled, but apparently missed. One gunman dropped his pistol at the scene, and it was recovered by police.
Police believe the pair were also involved in the robbery of Jackies Tavern in Bacliff on August 31. The Jackies incident was perpetrated by three masked robbers. Because the robbery happened in Galveston County, detectives from LaMarque and the Sheriff's Office are working together.
A reward fund has been established for information in the murder, and the amount at press time had reached nearly $12,000.00 in cash, all of it deposited in the bank. The amount taken in the robbery was reportedly about $700.00.
Retired Robbery Detective Jerry Daniels believes the killers will be caught. "They're not complete amateurs, because they used masks and came in right at closing time. But they aren't professionals either, or they would have known better than to rob a biker bar, kill someone over $700, and drop your gun. The reward is huge, too. Somebody is going to claim the reward, and the case will be solved."
Joe grew up in LaMarque, but was well-known all over the area for his dry sense of humor, charity work with the Toy Run for the Shriners Burn Center, and his custom workmanship on motocycles.
Galveston Police Officer Butch Stroud said "All the law enforcement agencies with bikes knew Joe. I have seen funerals for very important people with a lot less police officers than Joe had. He was always there for us, to do whatever it took to get us going". In addition to hundreds of motorcycles, there were representatives of all local police agencies in the funeral procession.
But Joe's expertise with motorcycles was not the reason so many came out to honor him. Friends remember him as a big-hearted man who helped everyone he could. His former wife Cindy said that he worked on bikes for people who couldn't afford to pay him. "We have literally stacks of accounts still owed, but since he died, a lot of those people are coming in and paying, it just shows how people felt about him".
Joe's dad, JJ Morreale, started the Custom Specialists as a garage business in the late 1960's, and Joe grew up around the shop. He graduated from LaMarque High School and went to work with his dad, a quiet, dignified man who raised his son to be honest, hardworking, and charitable.
It was JJ who started the annual Christmas Toy Run 10 years ago to benefit the kids at the Shriners Burn Hospital. Over the years father and son have made sure hundreds of kids had some joy at Christmastime, with lots of help from bikers and others in the community. The Toy Run was an incredible sight as it came down Seawall Blvd, with scooters side by side for over a mile, and trucks filled with toys. The Toy Run will now be named after Joe, and will be held on December 7th this year. Boxes of toy donations are already piling up at Custom Specialists.
Wayne Reinsch, owner of Murphys On Main, will host a party after the Toy Run featuring a live band and some good food for the riders. "This will be our tenth year doing this, so there will be a lot of people who knew Joe there" he said.
Police reports describe the assailants as one white male and one Hispanic or dark-complected male. Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact La Marque Police.