Catch us live on BlogTalkRadio every



Tuesday & Thursday at 6pm P.S.T.




Thursday, March 17, 2011

New Zealand - Bikie gang run raises funds for MediMax

OFF THE WIRE
SOME GOOD PRINT FOR A CHANGE..............
BILL MOORE
 stuff.co.nz
Saturday's poker run by visiting Hells Angels and local motorcyclists resulted in a "sizeable" donation which would benefit the community, MediMax Sports Medicine and Ambulance managing director Maxwell Clark said yesterday.
The poker run, a charity ride that visited Mapua, Kaiteriteri and Appleby, was heavily policed in the wake of a series of police raids on the Red Devils gang headquarters and properties belonging to their associates on Saturday.
Mr Clark would not say how much the donation was. He said it was from Nelson Bays Motorcycle Events.
The Companies Office lists Nelson Bays Motorcycle Events at the Natalie St address which police raided on Friday during their crackdown on the Red Devils.
Police have said that the poker run was organised by the Red Devils, a Hells Angels puppet gang, and that the Hells Angels ensured it went ahead after all the key Red Devils were locked up.
Up to 100 riders were involved in the poker run, which had an entry fee of $20 and a first prize of $1000.
Mr Clark said the "good-sized" sum was enough to pay for "some much-needed equipment on the sports fields".
MediMax, which has six ambulances, is a private company that provides first-aid services to sports events around the region. Mr Clark said the company's fee from Friday night's Crusaders-Brumbies match at Trafalgar Park, and the previous week's Crusaders-Waratahs clash, had been donated to Christchurch earthquake relief.
He said that the publicity surrounding the Red Devils and Hells Angels connection with the poker run and the police raids on Friday, which found pipe bombs, illegal firearms and drugs, had not put him off accepting the donation.
"I'm not aware of all those connections and inter-connections," he said. "We work with a lot of motorbike events throughout the community. We don't sit there and judge people. We accept them for who they are, if they are trying to show some goodness in the community."
Mr Clark began MediMax in 1999. He was previously an ambulance officer with the Nelson-Marlborough District Health Board for 18 years, not with St John Ambulance, as incorrectly stated in an article yesterday.