The Doof Clenas Motorcycle Collective - HA member shot at Sturgis by law officer

Monday, August 11, 2008

STURGIS -- A member of the Hells Angels motorcycle club was shot early Saturday morning at the Loud American Roadhouse on Main Street in Sturgis, Sturgis police said, and the Seattle Police Department said one of its officers was involved.

Police responded to the bar about 1 a.m. after reports of gunshots. They said later that two shots were fired.

Police said Saturday morning that the victim, whom they did not identify, was hospitalized and that they had detained a member of the Iron Pigs motorcycle club as the possible shooter but on Saturday afternoon said there could be numerous suspects, that no one was in custody and no arrests had been made because they were still investigating. Sturgis Police Chief Jim Bush said police detained and questioned numerous people at the scene to determine who was a suspect and who was a witness.

"We're still trying to ascertain for sure who did the shooting," Bush said Saturday evening. "We have suspects. We have a lot of information to put together."

The Iron Pigs are a motorcycle club open to law enforcement and firefighters who ride American-made V-Twin bikes, according to the club's Web site.

The person who fired the shots is a law enforcement officer, Sturgis police said in an afternoon press release, but they didn't release the names of anyone involved.

The Seattle Police Department issued a statement that one of its officers was involved in an off-duty shooting in Sturgis and that four other Seattle officers were present.

The Seattle police chief dispatched a team of investigators Saturday night to Sturgis to gather information.

"The Seattle Police Department considers this a matter of utmost seriousness," the statement said. "All five officers will be placed on administrative reassignment (relieved of duty) pending further investigation by the South Dakota authorities."

Between 400 and 500 people were in the bar at the time of the shooting, police said, and the rock band Judd Hoos was playing. Police told people to "hit the deck" after the shooting.

Daytona Beach, Fla., resident Nick McCallum was working at a T-shirt shop across the street when he heard the shots.

"It was pretty much pandemonium," he said. "The whole place just flooded out. A lot of people screaming, a bunch of craziness. I wasn't sure what it was."

Dean Kinney, an owner of the bar, said that before the shooting, he and his employees noticed a number of Hells Angels gathering in and outside of the bar and called police as a precaution, so extra officers were at the scene at the time of the shooting.

Kinney, who was outside the bar during the shooting, said he was told that a scuffle broke out before the shots were fired.

He said the police did a good job of controlling the scene quickly and said that he thought police had detained the shooter.

"What I've been told is that our security guys identified him as the shooter," Kinney said. "I'm certain he never got out of the bar."

The shooting victim was taken to a hospital and was still hospitalized as of Saturday afternoon, police said, though they would not say where.

However, late-night conversations heard on the police scanner indicated the victim was taken to Rapid City Regional Hospital.

At 1:32 a.m., a request was made for an airlift to Regional Hospital. Rapid City and Pennington County officers were directed to the Regional Hospital emergency room for "security issues." At 1:52 a.m., Black Hills LifeFlight advised that four people were on board coming from Sturgis and would be at Regional Hospital in eight minutes.

At 1:58 a.m., Sturgis police advised Rapid City dispatch that there were "two or three Angels going to be with their buddy" at the hospital. If more than four arrived, they were to be directed to park at the hospital's rehabilitation unit parking lot, where police were waiting.

Later in the night, police were tracking bikers on Interstate 90, checking for their gang "colors."

At 3:10 a.m., three more bikers arrived at the emergency room, and an officer said: "They are aware of the rules in the E.R. We're not expecting more, but you never know." Some officers were released from their security posts, and others were told to adjust their positions so they could see into the waiting room.

The Sturgis Police Department is investigating the shooting, along with federal, state and county law enforcement agencies.

Chief Bush said the last shooting that occurred in Sturgis during a rally was in 1990 inside Gunner's Lounge, also involving two motorcycle clubs.

Kinney said the fight and shooting were unusual for his bar.

"In the years we have been doing this, we have almost no trouble during the rally," Kinney said. "It was surreal, that's for sure."

Bush said the incident is not related to the biker-gang shooting in Custer State Park during the 2006 Sturgis motorcycle rally.

As a result of that incident, Hells Angels members Chad Wilson, 32, of Lynnwood, Wash., a suburb of Seattle, and John Midmore, 34, of Valparaiso, Ind., were arrested, accused of shooting at members of the Outlaws biker gang and others Aug. 8, 2006, at Legion Lake Resort in Custer State Park. Five people were wounded in that shooting, but all lived.

Wilson and Midmore are scheduled to go on trial on numerous felony charges in November.

Eye witness report....

to Chopper My Cents
wrote on Aug 10, 2008 4:47 PM:

" I was there and know intimately what happened. The Iron Pigs did nothing to provoke the beating that the shooter sustained. The group was doing everything possible it appeared to avoid a confrontation including offer to buy drinks for the HA despite taking verbal abuse from them. The two members of the HA blind-sided and beat the heck out of the shooter.

Second, if trouble didn't happen at the front bar area it would have happened at the rear bar where another group of HA's were being jerks and itching to cause trouble.

Third, there absolutely was no undercover FBI in the bar. The only reason the response was instant was because the calvary was called before the shooting happened. The staff and management of the Loud American notified the police of pending trouble and the cops/FBI/DCI/ATF were coming in the front and back door in force as the shooting happened.

Everyone knew something bad was going to happen as the color-wearing Hells Angel began coming in the bar around midnight.

To the idea that "No Colors" should be
"enforced" at bars. Who is going to enforce it? A kid making $10-12 an hour working the door at a bar? They have no business confronting those thugs. They are not trained. They did exactly what they were supposed to do which was notify law enforcement. "