OFF THE WIRE
MINNEISKA, Minn. — They are the one-percenters, but they accounted for a whole lot more Saturday during the fall Flood Run.
At one point, police reported a pack of nearly 500 bikers — many members of the Hells Angels and Sons of Silence motorcycle gangs — cruising down Hwy. 61.
Authorities said a visible police presence quelled trouble before it started.
“We didn’t have to make any arrests,” Winona County Sheriff Dave Brand said.
Law enforcement agencies across southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin were geared for conflict after a brawl during the April version of the biannual run. Wisconsin-based Outlaws gang members crossed into Hells Angels territory and stomped several Angels outside two Minneiska bars, witnesses said.
Officials were worried the gangs would try for payback during Saturday’s run.
It didn’t happen.
“We haven’t seen any Outlaws on this side of the river,” Brand said early in the evening. “And I don’t think we will.”
The biannual fundraiser takes riders along both sides of the river between St. Croix Beach, Minn., and Winona.
Law enforcement agencies tracked bikers most of the day, passing news of biker gang movements over police radio.
Authorities were waiting when the bulk of the bikers thundered into Minneiska at about 2:40 p.m.
About 30 police cars and nearly 50 officers from at least five law enforcement agencies funneled the bikers through town.
Hells Angels from chapters across the Midwest joined Sons of Silence, Warlords and many unaffiliated motorcyclists in a sea of chrome that stretched the length of the small town.
In the end, sheriff’s deputies from counties on both sides of the river reported no serious problems.
“Some Hells Angels were stopped for running a stop sign up near Lake City,” Brand said. “But that was about it. We didn’t have any trouble.”
