Mondel “Mad Dog” not only left this world as a legendary character within the Los Carnales Motorcycle Club, he was equally as much a cornerstone within the Houston Police Department. He was known by everyone in the Department as MADD Martin. He was the Vice President of the Houston Police Officers Association and during that time he, along with his great friends Gary Blankenship and Mike Mitchell created and founded the Assist the Officer Foundation for Officers and their families who faced catastrophic injury or death of an officer.  He was also the Houston Police Departments Liaison (through the HPOA) to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and was instrumental in the HPOA’s sponsorship of a scholarship calf in the Calf Scramble Committee.  MADD Martin was an avid motorcyclist and Harley Davidson enthusiast.  He realized a dream of having other officers and close friends or family members ride together on their Harleys in a way that personified his personality, that being a rebel, and an individual with strong values but also a strong sense of freedom and “outside the box” thinking.  He did not want to just have the typical “choir practice” that was well known years ago to be a bunch of officers getting together and tailgate partying.  He was just enough of a rebel that he was attracted to the individual expressions of freedom and camaraderie or devotion that motorcycle clubs seemed to exhibit. He liked the concept of the bond between those club members, but he was very much tied to his morals and in keeping in tune with the law and enforcing the same.  MADD Martin knew many officers who belonged to the Blue Knights Motorcycle Club, as well as members of other clubs, but none of them lived the vision he had.  He was asked many times to join them on rides, but MADD Martin followed no one.  He was a leader in every aspect of his career and personal life.

MADD wanted that V-Twin thunder around him and under him.  He wanted to ride with other Harley owners and he wanted people to know that he and the people he rode with would stand by each other and would not let the 1% clubs keep them from enjoying the same freedoms they had.  MADD Martin wanted to improve the public’s perception of Harley Davidson Motorcycle riders and to let everyone know that there were good people who could ride together and be bound by their similar morals and beliefs in good over evil. MADD Martin approached a few close police officer friends (one being Russell “Pescado” Fisher) to discuss his dream about a motorcycle group that could band together and ride whenever possible, and to promote his ideas of helping others at the same time, thus beginning another Mondel Martin legacy that will live forever, the Los Carnales Motorcycle Club.  MADD Martin became the first founder and the first President of the Los Carnales Motorcycle Club. MADD Martin then became “Mad Dog”. No matter the role he was in, whether it be on duty as a Police Officer or as the President of the first structured Law Enforcement Only club that wears a three-piece patch Colors, Mad Dog was respected and admired by everyone who knew him.  It was his club and everyone knew it. It was his way or the highway, and everyone respected that.  A few months after the club was founded, a few of his close civilian friends (one being Charlie “Old Man Charlie” Vinton), who Mad Dog knew to be of sound character and beliefs and whom he had ridden with for quite a while, gathered together with him and Russell and a few others at the Wescott Inn.  After tipping a few and having a “come to Jesus” meeting about how to conduct themselves in support of Law Enforcement and Los Carnales MC, the La Familia MC was established by Mad Dog and Pescado as an arm of the Los Carnales MC.  Mad Dog went on to realize that in order for the club to grow, chapters would have to be created that would allow other riders from other agencies other than the Houston Police Department and other parts of town to more easily attend meetings to conduct club business.  Therefore, four of the original members of the club, Brian “BT” Surginer” , John “Big John” Oglesby, Lonnie “Dutch” Truman, and Skip “Big Cat” Todd, were allowed to form the very first network chapter (the Galveston Chapter, which shortly later changed the chapter name to the South Houston Chapter).  These four members were known by the other club members as “The Four Horsemen”.

Mad Dog also allowed external agencies to begin petitioning for charters to begin chapters in outlying areas.  Other than the Galveston (South Houston) Chapter, Mad Dog allowed Charters for the Bay Area Chapter, the West Houston Chapter (no longer exists but its members were absorbed into other existing chapters), the Golden Triangle Chapter (no longer exists, some members absorbed by the Bay Area Chapter), the Montgomery County Chapter, and the Dallas Chapter (dissolved in 1999), while he was the National President of the Los Carnales Motorcycle Club.  His vision was real, his vision materialized, and his passion was at hand.

Then, late one evening, on March 27, 1999, after leaving a club gathering with a couple of other members, a young female driver ran a stop sign and pulled into the roadway directly in front of Mad Dog, and he was killed.  During his last conscious moments, he knew that he was riding free down the road with brothers in the wind and wearing his colors with pride.  There are many stories that can be told about the times many members had with Mad Dog, but the commonalities that all of the stories have is that he was one tough man, could drink all night and outlast everyone, ruled the club with a tight grip that reinforced the bond between all members, rode hard everywhere he went, and if you ever got out of line you knew you were going to get up close and personal with him real quick.  If you wanted to ride with Mad Dog, you had better be able to keep up.

Mad Dog Martin was an icon and a great leader in both his professional career and his personal life.  Through his dedicated efforts, he has provided the rest of us with a means to live his dream, and in turn, satisfy our own dreams.  He provided an avenue for those of us who live in an authoritarian type of profession to also be able to express our individual freedoms and hold true to our extended family of brothers who ride with the wind in our faces and enjoy the company of like-minded bikers.