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 Intimidation alleged: Father, daughter say club members taunted, threatened |
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| Intimidation alleged: Father, daughter say club members taunted, threatened |
   
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A group of Hells Angels rides toward East Missoula on U.S. Highway 200 Thursday afternoon, joining an increasing number of club members already in the area to attend the USA Run at Marshall Mountain. Police have reported few incidents with the Hells Angels, aside from an alleged confrontation with a driver on Interstate 90 on Wednesday evening.
Photo by KURT WILSON/Missoulian
Local authorities have had scant to do since members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club began arriving in town this week, but an alleged case of intimidation Wednesday evening terrified a teenage girl and roiled law enforcement.
Ron Running was driving his 17-year-old daughter home from a friend's house in East Missoula just after 5 p.m. when traffic along Interstate 90 slowed to a crawl. A pair of Hells Angels zoomed down the white center line in between the lanes of traffic, navigating the narrow corridor between Running's Suburban and an adjacent semi-truck, according to officials with the Missoula County Sheriff's Office.
?The first one slapped my (side-view) mirror forward, and then another one slapped the mirror and pounded on the hood with his fist,? Running said in a telephone interview.
Running said he noticed another group of bikers approaching, so he veered closer to the center line to prevent them from passing. The maneuver apparently angered the oncoming bikers, who interpreted it as an affront, Running said.
?The only thing I can say I did wrong was to move over closer to the semi so they couldn't come through,? Running said. ?But they'd already hit the mirror twice by then.?
Two bikers wearing New Jersey patches pulled in front of the Suburban and slowed to a crawl, taunting Running and his daughter, he said. To avoid trouble, he exited the interstate at Orange Street and called police.
Running's daughter was so alarmed by the experience she sent an e-mail to Missoula police and local news outlets.
?We feared for our life,? the girl wrote in the letter.
Missoula Police Sgt. Scott Hoffman said the chief of police has contacted organizers of the motorcycle club's USA Run, which kicked off Wednesday in the Garden City, and inquired about the incident.
?One of the organizers of the event is looking into it,? Hoffman said. ?But this is an example of the intimidation they are known for, so people need to be careful.?
Running said the hood of his Suburban was dented, but that neither he nor his daughter were injured. Running said police told him that the event organizer would contact the New Jersey chapter's leader and ask that Running be compensated for any damage to his vehicle.
The Missoula County Sheriff's Office and the Montana Highway Patrol are investigating the incident, but no arrests have been made.
Hoffman said that apart from the incident with Running, police haven't had their hands full with Angels-related incidents.
?There was a verbal altercation between two Hells Angels and a local guy at the Bodega [on Tuesday] but it never went anywhere,? Hoffman said.
Missoula Undersheriff Jerry Crego is stationed at the sheriff's department's command post at the Clinton Rural Fire Department, but reported little activity on the stretch of interstate leading to the Testicle Festival at the Rock Creek Lodge that started Thursday.
?Most of the Hells Angels are smart enough not to cause any trouble. They're really just an added element this weekend, and we have to be prepared for any problems because of what happened in 2000,? Crego said, referring to a downtown riot involving police and Missoula residents during the group's last run through Missoula.
Meanwhile, other Missoula residents were welcoming members of the club with gusto. Kool-Aid and lemonade stands catering to the motorcycle club have cropped up around East Missoula and up Marshall Mountain Road, where hundreds of Angels are camped through the weekend. One group of teenagers offered to clean the Angels' Harley Davidson motorcycles with an impromptu bike wash.
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/...nal/znews06.txt
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02.08.2008 10:58 |
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