OFF THE WIRE
http://www.prescottenews.com/?option=com_content&task=view&id=3867 Motorcycle Gangs Shoot It Out on Yuma Drive in Chino Valley Written by Lynne LaMaster Sunday, 22 August 2010 17:22 5Bump it!According to Yavapai County Sheriff's Office spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn, 27 suspects have been taken into custody following yesterday's motorcycle gang shooting.
The Hells Angels and the Vagos motorcycle gangs were identified as being the primary participants. D'Evelyn explained that detectives initially didn't want to identify the gangs involved, in case there were multiple clubs involved.
At least 5 persons were injured during the shooting, and one person is thought to have been injured and taken away in an unknown vehicle.
D'Evelyn gives a rundown on what is known so far:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38801651/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/ Police swarm Arizona town after biker gangs' shootout Rival clubs reportedly vie for control of community MSNBC Arizona law enforcement officers flooded into a small community north of Prescott on Saturday after a shooting involving motorcycle gang members.msnbc.com staff and news service reports updated 8/21/2010 11:19:46 PM ET Share Print Font: + - Police locked down a northern Arizona community Saturday after a shooting involving rival motorcycle gangs.
Four or five people were shot, and one was flown to a Phoenix-area hospital, Yavapai County sheriff's spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn said. No deaths were reported.
An unknown number of suspected motorcycle gangs members were detained.
Television images showed several dozen men and a few women dressed in biker garb outside a rural home in the Chino Valley area with Harley-Davidson motorcycles parked alongside. Heavily armed law enforcement officers watched over them.
Nearby, several dozen police vehicles blocked roadways into the area, and two men wearing biker garb were in plastic handcuffs.
Sheriff's dispatchers started receiving calls about the shooting shortly after noon, D'Evelyn said. Sheriff's deputies, state police and Chino Valley Police officers rushed to the area and began detaining "numerous" suspected motorcycle gang members. Chino Valley is about 100 miles northwest of Phoenix.
Officials said four or five people were injured in the shooting and that one was air-lifted to a Phoenix-area hospital. Two others were treated at Yavapai Medical Center and another was treated and released at the scene.
D'Evelyn said he did not know what motorcycle gangs may be involved.
Officers said up to 100 more bikers may be headed to the area.
Kim Stam, manager of a nearby bar, told ABC-15 that the shooting occurred between members of the Hells Angels and Vagos motorcycle clubs. She said a member of each club live right around the corner from each other.
"This has been coming for a long time," Stam said. "They want this to be their town, one of them."
In December, an Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman said an ongoing power struggle in northwestern Arizona between the Vagos and the Hells Angels has led to a series of violent assaults.
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