OFF THE WIRE
agingrebel.com
A story published yesterday by the Orlando Sentinel raised troubling
questions about the prolonged shootout on September 30 between two separate and
distinct Warlocks Motorcycle Clubs in the parking lot of a VFW Post in Winter
Springs, Florida. The two clubs were the Warlocks who wear a Phoenix-Warbird on
their backs and the Warlocks who wear a Harpy. The Harpy Warlocks was founded in
Philadelphia in 1967. The Warbird Warlocks MC was founded the same year and is
widely regarded as the preeminent three piece patch motorcycle club in
Florida.
The Sentinel report, written by Henry Pierson Curtis
and Rene Stutzman, states that the motorcycle run at which the shooting occurred
was a Harpy Warlock event and that the gun battle erupted after a small pack of
five Warbird Warlocks rode into the parking lot. Three of those men, Harold
“Davey” Liddle, Peter “Hormone” Schlette and David “Dresser” Jakiela died of
gunshot wounds.
Feud
The Sentinel states the event “was hosted by sworn enemies of the
Orlando Warlocks, a break-away faction called the ‘Philly Warlocks’ or
‘Harpies.’” Curtis and Stutzman also wrote, “Relations between the clubs were so
tense, Warlocks National President John ‘Big John’ Boudreau previously told the
Orlando Sentinel, that all Orlando Warlocks ‘were warned not to go’ to the
fundraiser.
Sources have told this page that the establishment of the Harpy Warlock
chapter in Florida was connected to a power struggle between another major
motorcycle club and the Warbird Warlocks. The same sources linked a fire at the
Warbird Warlocks Melbourne clubhouse to the same dispute.
Other sources have alleged that the dead men went to the Winter Springs event
armed and with the intention of starting trouble.
Self Defense
Four Harpy Warlocks have been arrested: David Maloney, Victor Amaro, Robert
Eckert and Paul Smith. Sources have stated that three of those men had been
expelled from the Warbird Warlocks, that they voluntarily spoke to police when
they were arrested and that all four claim they acted in self defense. All four
are accused of three counts each of second degree murder. The Sentinel
reported that Maloney parked a Jeep at the event and that the car contained “two
Mossberg 12-gauge shotguns, a .38-caliber revolver and a.357-magnum revolver
along with a bullet-proof vest and an undisclosed amount of ammunition.”
Maloney has said that he received death threats after he was voted out bad by
the Warbird Warlocks. He shot a Warbird Warlock outside Jonny Rotton’s Bar Out
Back in Sanford, Florida in 2011. He was not prosecuted after police concluded
that Maloney had acted in self-defense.
The Sentinel also reported, “The killings have led to widespread
rumors within Central Florida’s biker community and anonymous emails and phone
calls to reporters alleging that undercover law enforcement officers, who
routinely stakeout gatherings of ‘outlaw bikers,’ witnessed the shootings.”
Within the last month, a very informed source denied ATF or FBI involvement
in the shooting or the alleged power struggle to The Aging Rebel. The
same source denied knowledge of any ongoing investigation of the Phoenix-Warbird
Warlocks.
The Sentinel reported that local police declined to comment on
police surveillance of the shootout.
