Hells Angels Allege Police Harassment After Ride

Claiming police officers harassed bikers after a weekend charity motorcycle ride, Ventura County’s Hells Angels leader said Monday that group members will fight their traffic citations and may even file a lawsuit against the Simi Valley Police Department.

“I think that the lesson police will learn will probably be administered by the judicial system,” said George Christie, president of the Ventura County chapter of the Hells Angels. “Legal action will be taken.”

The comments came one day after the San Fernando Valley chapter of the Hells Angels hosted a “poker ride” that ended at Simi Valley’s Elks Lodge on Kuehner Drive. About 15 police officers monitored the event, which attracted about 1,500 bikers.

Police arrested five and issued 46 traffic citations.

Given the sheer number of participants--and complaints from residents during last year’s event--police said their reaction was absolutely justified. Not to mention polite and courteous.

“Our officers weren’t out there to pick on anyone,” said Police Chief Randy Adams in an interview Monday. “They were there to keep the peace and make sure traffic was maintained [safely].”

City leaders reached Monday were split on the issue. Council members Sandi Webb and Paul Miller backed the officers’ actions.

*

But the extent of police response worried former Mayor Jim Smith and Councilwoman Barbara Williamson.

“I support our Police Department 110%,” said Williamson, who went to observe the poker ride personally after she received complaints of harassment. “But I was concerned when I went down there about how many officers I saw. . . . I don’t care if you’re the Hells Angels or a resident in this community, no one should be harassed by the Police Department if they’re not breaking the law.”

The event--which also roared into town last year--sparked a community controversy long before riders arrived on their Harley-Davidson “hogs.”

Earlier this summer, a batch of Simi Valley police officers returned their “officer of the year” plaques to the Elks after the fraternal organization’s members voted to allow the Hells Angels-sponsored event to take place at their lodge. Last year’s 3,000-person ride raised about $6,000 for various children’s charities, Elks leaders have said.

Sunday’s police presence had nothing to do with the earlier protest, said Lt. Neal Rein. He could not say offhand if any of the protesting officers had also monitored the Sunday event, although the first officer to object, Det. Jay Carrott, did not work over the weekend.

About 15 officers from the Simi Valley Police Department, Ventura County Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol, plus three city parking control employees, oversaw the five-hour event, Adams said.

“I went out there myself to monitor the situation all afternoon,” he said. “Quite to the contrary [of the Hells Angels’ claims], I don’t believe our officers harassed anyone. They were polite and courteous and often issued warnings instead of citations.”

Officers issued countless verbal warnings to ride participants. They also arrested five people on criminal charges of breaking conditions of parole, being under the influence of drugs, possessing methamphetamine or fake driver’s licenses, and providing false information to a police officer.

Officers wrote another 46 citations for a slew of traffic infractions--failing to stop at a stop sign, driving on the wrong side of the street and driving an illegally modified motorcycle among them.

Hells Angels leader Christie said he will fight his ticket for operating his Harley without turning on his headlight--as is required for late-model motorcycles. A handful of others will do likewise, he said.

“I think it’s pretty evident that we were singled out,” Christie said. “I don’t think the Simi Valley Police Department should be doing that. It’s apparent to me that they’re pouting and throwing a temper tantrum” after the summer protest.

Former Mayor Smith, an Elks Lodge member who has attended the event for the last two years, said officers were overzealous considering how peaceful both rides were.

“I would say that it was a little bit of overkill,” said Smith, who was a council member for most of the 1970s. “There wasn’t any problem on the Elks property this year. . . . Last time, there was no trouble either, so why did they put an army of police units on the street along with the Highway Patrol?”

*

Council members Webb and Miller--both of whom know their way around a motorcycle--disagree.

“I don’t think we were overreacting at all,” said Webb, a member of the biker rights group ABATE--or American Brotherhood Aimed Toward Education. “Apparently, last year we had a lot of complaints from citizens, so we beefed up patrols.”

Miller, a former Simi Valley police chief and a Harley aficionado for 25 years, said as near as he can tell, all the citations issued were valid.

Because motorcycle laws regarding turn signals and headlights have changed in the last few decades, Miller did ask the department to double-check some citations to ensure that the people ticketed weren’t riding bikes that predate the laws. Those citations will be dropped before they ever reach a courtroom, he said.

“I think the people who are crying discrimination are the ones who were cited for legitimate reasons,” the former police chief said. “So they’re going to sue us for enforcing the law? Just because they’re Hells Angels, don’t they have to follow the laws on signaling and mufflers? Do they get a special pass because they’re H.A.? Then let them sue. I don’t care.”