Hell’s Angel in Olympic Run Seized

Two years ago, George (Gus) Christie peeled off his leather jacket and motorcycle boots, hoisted the Olympic flame and easily jogged a kilometer near Point Mugu as part of the 15,000-kilometer Olympic Torch Relay.

On Friday, Christie, president of the Ventura chapter of the outlaw Hell’s Angels motorcycle club, was ordered held without bail pending his trial on charges that he attempted to arrange the killing of an unidentified federal prisoner in Arizona.

An affidavit filed in Los Angeles federal court alleges that Christie offered an unidentified man $500 cash and a car to arrange the killing. If convicted, Christie faces a maximum sentence of 2 1/2 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, Assistant U.S. Atty. Bill Price said.

U.S. Magistrate John R. Kronenberg scheduled an Oct. 20 arraignment for Christie, 39, who was arrested Thursday in Ventura.

The heavily tattooed Christie passed the hat among fellow bikers in 1984 to collect the $3,000 entry fee for the torch relay, earmarking the money for a Special Olympics program in Pottstown, Pa.

After running his leg in the relay, he said, the real “runaround” began as he tried to find out why retarded children in Pottsdown had not received the money.

He sued the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee and Special Olympics Inc. last year and became embroiled in a dispute with Special Olympics Chairwoman Eunice Kennedy Shriver over allocation of the money. Half the money went to Pennsylvania’s Special Olympics program and half remained with the national organization.

Retarded children and Hell’s Angels are alike, he said. People “know we’re there, (but) they don’t understand, and they don’t want to deal with us.”