Bash and crash
David Nankervis
19feb06
A CHANCE encounter in a city street between rival bikie gang members
has led to a brawl, police raids and the ramming of the Rebels bikie
headquarters.
The incidents are the latest in the simmering feud between two of
South Australia's most notorious gangs, which has resulted in
numerous incidents in recent years – including one in which shots
were fired at a crowded awards nights at AAMI Stadium last May.
The latest drama began about 3pm on Friday when a fight broke out
between two Rebels members and a Hells Angel member in a side street
off Franklin St.
Police said the fight resulted in injuries, but no one sought
medical treatment. Police also believe no weapons were involved.
Five hours later, police instigated a series of raids, starting with
the Rebels' clubrooms at Eric St, Old Noarlunga, and private
addresses of known Rebels and Hells Angels members in the
metropolitan area.
About noon yesterday, a truck rammed the large fortified steel gates
of the Rebels' headquarters in Royal Park, ripping them off their
hinges before smashing into a roller door inside the compound and
then speeding off. Police were expected to lay property damage
charges against at least one gang member, believed to be a Hells
Angel member.
But the special anti-motorcycle gang unit Avatar yesterday played
down speculation of a possible gang war.
"We do not talk along the lines of gang warfare," the officer in
charge of Operation Avatar, Detective Inspector Graham Goodwin,
said.
But he said police were investigating whether the clubrooms were
rammed as a payback after the brawl the previous day.
"This behaviour involving confrontation between gangs won't be
tolerated and we will throw all resources necessary at these people
if they want to carry on putting the public in danger," Det-Insp
Goodwin said.
A resident who lives near the Rebels' compound said he heard a loud
bang and then saw a truck speed off immediately afterwards.
Police said no one was injured when the truck hit the compound and
they were still trying to establish the driver's identity.
Another resident, Glenis Costello, 57, said the truck made a huge
crashing noise when it hit the gates.
"I heard a great big crash, then the sound of a burglar alarm," she
said.
Det-Insp Goodwin said police had talked to leaders of both clubs
about the incidents. "While the city fight did cause injuries, no
one required medical treatment," he said.
Rebels members had made no complaint to police about their clubrooms
being rammed.
However, members told Avatar officers the ramming was an "accident"
involving a vehicle linked to the gang.
The ongoing feud is believed to have begun eight years years ago
when Rebels members bashed a Hells Angel in the Heritage Hotel,
city, before he shot and wounded two of them and a female bystander.
In the AAMI Stadium incident, two shots were fired among a crowd of
6000 people attending the Adelaide Dance Music Awards. No one was
hurt.
Tensions between the rival clubs are also believed to be linked to
the bombing of the Rebels' Brompton clubhouse in July 1999, and the
shooting deaths of three Rebels outside their Wright St clubrooms in
October that same year.
A turf war between the two gangs, involving their links with several
city nightclubs over who provides security guards, is also believed
to be a factor.