Australasian biker news
Bikies 'want blood'
26feb06
THE theft of a Hells Angel's "colours" by members of a rival gang, the
Rebels, may be the spark that ignites a major bikie gang clash.
The Sunday Mail has learnt the theft
was the catalyst for the ramming of the Rebels' headquarters at Royal Park
last Saturday, less than 24 hours after the colours – the insignia-clad
jacket worn by bikies – was stolen.
Police have closely monitored the
activities of both gangs for the past week amid expectations of more violent
retaliation by Hells Angels' members against the Rebels.
Several police sources said yesterday
they believed there was "little chance" the theft of the colours would be
settled with just the ramming of the clubrooms. "For these people, their
colours are their life, they are sacrosanct," one senior source said.
"It is unlikely they will let it rest.
They will want blood for this."
While there were no bikie-related
incidents last week, a Christies Beach uniform patrol discovered a Rebels
associate allegedly carrying an unregistered, loaded handgun.
The patrol searched a car in which a
Rebels member and the associate were travelling after it was stopped at
Hackham at 4am last Saturday.
The man, 28, was charged with firearms
offences and given police bail to appear in Christies Beach Magistrates
Court at a later date.
Detective Superintendent Deane
Paynter, officer in charge of the Drug and Organisation Crime Investigation
Branch – which includes the Avatar anti-motorcycle gang unit – yesterday
said police were "aware of the situation and the current tension that
exists".
"We are well and truly monitoring it
with a view to preventing any further escalation of any violence between
either gangs or individual members," he said.
While refusing to comment on the theft
of the colours, Supt Paynter indicated many incidents involving club members
were not "sanctioned" by club hierarchy. "The violent nature of bikies and
their culture frequently brings them to clash with each other," he said.
"But not all of the violent incidents
are club sanctioned and sometimes things happen that are not sanctioned. A
lot of the violent incidents are never reported to police and the individual
retaliations are not reported either.
"But we are aware of instances of
violence between motorcycle gang members. Sometimes that tension is
heightened by individual events and it ebbs and flows."
In the latest incident, the colours
were taken by two Rebels members after they bashed a Hells Angels gang
member in the city on Friday, February 17. The brawl occurred in front of
Peter Stevens Motorcycles in Franklin St when the trio encountered one
another in a chance meeting.
The next morning, a truck rammed the
steel gate of the fortified headquarters of the Rebels in Royal Park,
ripping the gate from its hinges.
Avatar detectives have tried to
question numerous gang members over the incident, but have been met with the
traditional bikie "code of silence".
Parallels have been drawn between this
incident and the incident which resulted in three Rebels members being
gunned down in Wright St in October 1999 by several Hells Angels members.
The catalyst for the Wright St
shootout was a brawl in Rundle St between Rebels and Hells Angels members
shortly beforehand.
Avatar officers are aware many
interstate Hells Angels members arrived in Adelaide for a club function at
their Ponde property, near Mannum, this weekend.
Police were also monitoring a big
group of Rebels members who travelled to Whyalla on Friday.
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