Joey Cresta
seacoastonline.com
Police say the Talon Motorcycle Club that opened a clubhouse in town in March has ties to the Hells Angels, a group identified by the U.S. Department of Justice as a "highly structured criminal organization."
The Talon MC's clubhouse in a warehouse on Route 33 is closed, pending litigation between the town and property owner Dennis Hayward. That litigation, filed in Rockingham Superior Court, centers on the lack of land-use approval to convert the warehouse into a clubhouse.
Other problems have arisen since the Talons moved in. Police Chief Michael Maloney said police received numerous noise complaints between May 14 and July 1. Nearby residents complained of loud motorcycles entering and exiting the clubhouse late at night, particularly on weekends, he said.
"The Talons are a motorcycle gang," Maloney said. "All these motorcycle groups want to be known as 'clubs.'"
Motorcycle clubs are a familiar topic for police in Laconia, where Bike Week takes place each June. Laconia Police Chief Chris Adams said he is familiar with the Talons as well as Hells Angels. The Hells Angels' Nomads Chapter has a clubhouse in Laconia and the Hells Angels' World Run was held in Laconia this year, Adams said. He said it is an event involving Hells Angels chapters from around the world; two members from each chapter are required to attend, he said.
Adams said there were no problems whatsoever in Laconia during the 2011 World Run, and only one biker was arrested during the 2003 World Run, also held in Laconia. He said federal and state authorities assisted local police during the World Run. Adams said the key for Laconia police is to maintain open lines of communication with the Hells Angels. He advised the same strategy for Greenland police.
"We're not going to discriminate against them," he said. "If they act unlawfully, we'll deal with it."
Maloney declined to say whether police were monitoring the Talon clubhouse at 1660 Greenland Road before it was temporarily shut down.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice Web site, the federal government classifies the Hells Angels as an "outlaw motorcycle gang," defined as an organization "whose members use their motorcycle clubs as conduits for criminal enterprises." The DOJ states there are more than 300 outlaw motorcycle gangs in the United States. Gang members engage in violent crime, weapons trafficking and drug trafficking, the Web site states.
The Hells Angels is a particularly influential group with 2,000 to 2,500 members in more than 230 chapters in the United States and 26 foreign countries. According to the DOJ, the Hells Angels "pose a criminal threat on six continents." The DOJ also states the group is involved in the production, transportation and distribution of marijuana and methamphetamine, and the transportation and distribution of cocaine, hashish, heroin, LSD, PCP and "diverted pharmaceuticals."
The Hells Angels are also responsible for assaults, extortion, homicides, money laundering and motorcycle theft, the DOJ states.
Adams said police have had their share of Hells Angels run-ins. For instance, in 1998, there was a large brawl between Hells Angels and uniformed officers, he said.
"It can happen," he said. "The reality is, they do commit criminal acts. Each chapter is different, of course."
Adams said the Hells Angels has also become big business. The group sells trademarked merchandise and has associate clubs around the country.
"I believe they (Talon MC) are associated with them," he said.
There are strong suggestions on the Talon MC's facebook.com page that the club is affiliated with the Hells Angels. The page's main picture includes an image with the words "Support 81 World" on it. Adams said 81 stands for Hells Angels; H is the eighth letter of the alphabet and A is the first. The page also contains links to other pages for Sonny Barger, a Hells Angels founder, and multiple pages supportive of Hells Angels clubs around the world.
Some of the page's friends have links on their personal pages indicating they are "1 percent" bikers. Adams said "1 percenters" are the 1 percent of the biker population who view themselves as outlaws who do not conform to society's laws.
"It is a potential warning sign," Adams said.
Attempts to reach local members of the Talon MC were unsuccessful. Jim Maimone, the tenant at 1660 Greenland Road and a Talon member, did not return a request for comment placed through his attorney, Brad Lown.
An e-mail sent to an administrator of the Rockingham County Talon MC Web site received a response stating "Talon MC has no comment, thank you."
During a recent Greenland Planning Board meeting, Maimone did speak with the Herald and said the club is not like gangs depicted on television. "We're not the 'Sons of Anarchy,'" he said, referring to the motorcycle gang on the TV show of the same name.
He also said the group puts on charity events, including a ride in honor of Camden Hughes, the Texas boy allegedly murdered by his mother and left in a wooded area in South Berwick, Maine.
Talon MC had advertised the second annual "Poker Run" as taking place at the Greenland clubhouse on Aug. 7. Town attorney Peter Loughlin said the event did not occur there because of a judge's order from July 21 that sent the case to the Planning Board, stating the warehouse not be used as a clubhouse until the planning issues are resolved.
The Planning Board met Aug. 18 and decided to give Hayward a month to get the town a new site plan for review. The issue is expected to come up at the board's Sept. 15 meeting.
The court case was continued until a date after the Sept. 15 meeting, according to town building inspector Bob Cushman.
