27Arrested After Rival Motorcycle Gang Shootout

OFF THE WIRE
CHINO VALLEY, Ariz. - Twenty-seven people have been booked on charges ranging from attempted murder and aggravated assault to participation in a criminal street gang after shootings that involved members of rival motorcycle gangs, the Vagos and the Hells Angels, the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office said Sunday.

Detectives estimated at least 50 rounds were fired during the shootings Saturday in the small community of Chino Valley, north of Prescott.

At least five people were shot, but none of the wounds was life-threatening, said Yavapai sheriff's spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn.

Detectives were trying to locate one injured gang member who was helped away from the scene in an unknown vehicle, he said.

The 27 suspects were booked at the Camp Verde Detention Center on charges including attempted homicide, aggravated assault, endangerment, participation in a criminal street gang, and unlawful assembly. Booking records and photographs were expected to be released on Monday.

Investigators remained in Chino Valley on Sunday, examining and recovering evidence. Several motorcycles were impounded.

The shootings brought dozens of Arizona law enforcement officers to the scene, including members of the Arizona State Gang Task Force. Sheriff's dispatchers started receiving calls about gunshots after noon, D'Evelyn said.

Gang members had confronted each other at that time and shots were fired along Yuma Drive between Road 3 and 4 North, according to a news release from the sheriff's department, The rival gangs use Chino Valley houses that are only blocks from each other on Yuma Drive.

Chino Valley is about 100 miles northwest of Phoenix.

In December, an Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman said an ongoing power struggle in northwestern Arizona between the Vagos and the Hells Angels had led to a series of violent assaults.

YCSO was assisted by numerous area law enforcement agencies including the Chino Valley Police Department, US Forest Service Law Enforcement, Department of Public Safety, Prescott and Prescott Valley Police Departments, and gang specialists assigned to GIITEM (Gang and Immigration Intelligence Enforcement Mission) the Arizona State Gang Task Force.