Bike Week and rallies like it are a draw for outlaw motorcycle gangs, expert says

As motorcyclists roared into town last week for Bike Week, some leather-clad gangster-types on two wheels also rolled into the area as members of outlaw motorcycle gangs.

Outlaw motorcycle gangs are “quite prevalent” in Florida and their presence has been detected in every county in the state, said John Scaduto, who is the Southwest Florida regional director of the Florida Gang Investigators Association, which provides gang training to law enforcement.

And the possibility of gang violence always shifts law enforcement awareness into a higher gear at Bike Week and other biker events, Scaduto said in a phone interview.

“There's always a bit of apprehension on law enforcement to make sure that there's enough security to dissuade any problems that will take place during those events,” he said.

Motorcycle gangs like to flex at an event like Bike Week.

“Some of the clubs would like to have a display of dominance in a very public way,” Scaduto said. “It sends a message to the other clubs, and frankly, sends an indirect message to the public as well as law enforcement: We’re here.”

The Outlaws Motorcycle Club was the dominant club in Florida until about seven years ago, Scaduto said.

But now the Outlaws are being “severely challenged” in Florida by other gangs, including the Mongols, which are based in California, and the Pagans, which began in the mid-Atlantic states and have seen “a rapid expansion" across the country in the last three to five years, Scaduto said.

Scaduto said the main “super clubs" in the United States are the Hells Angels, Pagans, Outlaws, Mongols, Bandidos, Sons of Silence, Vagos and Iron Horsemen. The association has confirmed chapters of the Outlaws, Mongols, Pagans and Sons of Silence in Florida.

Some recent and past motorcycle club mayhem

Some incidents locally and throughout the state involving motorcycle gangs:

• Christopher Keating, who was known as “Louie da Lip” and was a member of the Outlaws, was stabbed to death in April 2017 at the former location of the Crooks Den bar in Daytona Beach. No one has been arrested in the 59-year-old’s killing but at the time police said they suspected the killer was a member of the Pagans.

• The Outlaws showed up in force during Bike Week 2017 when up to 80 members wearing their colors refused to leave from a bar after being told they could not stay. At least several bars along Main Street and other spots in the area prohibit people from wearing colors, which are the patches with the club's name and location.

• Germayne Farrell, a 51-year-old Daytona Beach resident, was one of two members of the Thug Riders Motorcycle Club who were shot dead on May 13 when they traveled to Georgia to retaliate against members of the Outcast Motorcycle Club in East Augusta investigators said.

• On Saturday, March 2, Monroe County Sheriff’s deputies arrested three members of the Pagans who confronted a man wearing an Outlaws T-shirt at a bar in Big Pine Key. The man with the Outlaws T-shirt was also detained. The Pagans took the man’s T-shirt and pinned him between cars, according to news accounts.

• Two members of the Mongols motorcycle gang were arrested last year in the 2022 murder of a man the Mongols believed to be an informant in Pinellas County, according to the Tampa Bay Times. A member of a group known as the Raiders and associated with the Mongols was also charged in the murder.

• Four Outlaws were charged with the murder of a member of the Kingsmen Motorcycle Club, a smaller outlaw club, in 2017 during the Leesburg Bikefest. In 2019, prosecutors dropped the charges against the four Outlaws, citing a lack of credibility with witnesses, according to news accounts.

• In 2017, the leader of the Cross Bayou chapter of the Outlaws was gunned down as he sat in his pickup truck at a traffic light in Pasco County. The shooters were members of the rival 69’ers Motorcycle Club. Several people were arrested including two 69’ers who were sentenced to life in prison.

Who are the Big 5 motorcycle clubs?

There are more than 300 outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMGs) in the United States that use cycling clubs as part of criminal enterprises, including violent crime and weapons and drug trafficking, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The Justice Department states that the Hells Angels, Outlaws, Mongols, Bandidos and Sons of Silence conduct the majority of criminal activity linked to the motorcycle gangs.

“You have just about every motorcycle club in the world now with a presence here in Florida,” Scaduto said.

He said based on a rough estimate there are probably a couple of hundred outlaw motorcycle gang members in Florida. But a well-connected member could have 30 people working for him and not necessarily in illegal activities.

“There are many involved in legitimate businesses,” he said, ”and many of the people don’t have criminal records.” He said an “awful lot” of motorcycle gang members can legally own guns.

The outlaw motorcycle gangs are following Florida's exponential growth, supplying the state’s growing population with narcotics and prostitution. They may also run protection rackets. Those could be subtle, such as if a bar owner doesn't pay a fee to a club, he may see an increase in fights at his establishment, Scaduto said.

Leon Sanders, a member of the Christian Motorcyclists Association, who was on Main Street Saturday in Daytona Beach, said the association sends representatives to the outlaw motorcycle clubs.

“There is a select group of people that take the word of God to the clubs themselves. We are neutral. We don’t take sides on anybody. They accept us for doing that,” Sanders said. “They are not any different than any other bad people out there.”

He said some outlaw bikers joined the Christian group.

“The ones that have gotten out of the group,” he said, “they’ve completely turned their life over to God. They are some of the best missionaries. They understand the rules of what all they go through.”

Sanders added: “They’ve been labeled certain ways and they are not all that way. Now some of them, they do have some problems. They’ve been to jail and stuff, but we all can be forgiven. That’s the important thing.”

Motorcycle club memberships on the rise

Motorcycle gangs are like traditional organized crime, like Tony Soprano on two wheels, not-so-Goodfellas with leather and chrome. Many have working relationships with cartels, Scaduto said.

Memberships in outlaw motorcycle clubs is on the rise, Scaduto said.

“Part of the increase frankly, is the proliferation of motorcycle TV shows that you know, kind of glorify the lifestyle,” he said, referring to "Sons of Anarchy" and "Mayans M.C."

Motorcycle clubs became prevalent in the United States after World War II with returning soldiers. The same thing is happening now.

“We've just had a couple of decades of soldiers coming back, looking for the camaraderie, what they perceive as the brotherhood," Scaduto said.

The motorcycle gangs are interested in the soldiers’ expertise in urban combat, knowledge of explosives and weaponry, he said. They recruit those members to pass on their knowledge to other club members, so they can be prepared for opposing gangs, he said.

“They're more worried about the other team, so to speak,” he said.

Women in outlaw motorcycle clubs

Some women wear vests with patches declaring “Property of” and the club’s name.

“The women that wear those vests are very proud of that vest,” Scaduto said.

The clubs have a different status for women. Some vests will say, for example, "property of the Pagans," but another vest could say property of the Pagans with a particular club member’s name.

A woman who is a property of a club chapter might be shared sexually or shared to be involved in criminal activity, which could be prostitution or massage therapy, he said.

Many of the club’s bylaws state that members must have an American-made motorcycle with Harley-Davidson being the biggest; some also ride Indian motorcycles.

Members in some of the subservient clubs will ride any type of motorcycle.

What does it mean to be a one-percenter?

Outlaw motorcycle gang members will refer to themselves as "one-percenters," in reference to a comment that 99% of motorcyclists are law abiding. The comment was supposedly made after a riot at a motorcycle rally in 1947 in Hollister, California.

“The 1% badge which is an indicator that they are in fact outlaws, and they are telling you they’re an outlaw,” Scaduto said.

Flagler County motorcycle clubs

Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly wrote in an email that the county "has some smaller affiliated start-up chapters and some local businesses are friendly to various motorcycle clubs. While the majority of their members are well-behaved, we monitor their activity and if criminal behavior is observed, offenders are arrested under our zero-tolerance policy."

Staly wrote he personally stopped two motorcycle club members who were violating traffic laws on U.S. 1 in Bunnell during Biketoberfest last year. During a previous Biketoberfest, an Outlaws Motorcycle Club member was arrested after fleeing from deputies and his motorcycle was seized.

Wrote Staly: "We will not tolerate illegal behavior or reckless and dangerous driving by any motorcycle club member in Flagler County."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Outlaw motorcycle clubs 'quite prevalent' in Florida as numbers rise