Gang’s All Here as Angels Strike a Pose at City Hall

It wasn’t the publicity shot of the city’s dreams but the image will live on the walls of Hells Angels clubhouses the world over.

In town for their 50th anniversary, hundreds of Angels massed Tuesday for a remembrance photo on the steps of Ventura’s stately City Hall. A few hours later, they gathered for a closed party at a downtown club as police cruisers rolled through the streets and foot patrols strolled downtown sidewalks.

The Kodak moment capped a leisurely afternoon on the second day of the Hells Angels World/USA Run--an event that drew 400 to 500 leather-clad men from places as unlikely as Liechtenstein and as distant as Australia.

Police were out in force, as they had been for the Angels’ high-decibel arrival Monday. Officers from seven agencies on Monday issued 32 citations, mainly for motor vehicle violations. They made six arrests: two for concealed weapons and the rest for outstanding traffic warrants, according to police.

The gathering officially ends today. However, some Angels may linger for a few days, said George Christie Jr., the Ventura chapter president who is seen as the group’s emerging national leader.

With no major crimes definitively tied to the Angels’ visit, some residents criticized the police for being overly aggressive.

“It’s a police circus out there, with the bikes and the dogs and the horses,” fumed Natalie Siman, owner of Natalie’s Fine Threads on Main Street. “But where are they when I call them because a guy is exposing himself in my window?”

Down the street at the Star Lounge, a group of St. Patrick’s Day celebrants tippled at noontime as bartender John Johnson praised the Angels’ deportment the night before.

“There were about 20 in here, drinking mainly Bud and Jack Daniels,” he said. “They were very well-mannered. One of them from Holland was very sad because of all the law enforcement. He said, ‘In my country, boys ride the ponies and girls ride the bicycles.’ ”

At Cigarettes Cheaper, assistant manager Brie Mallory said she couldn’t understand why police were pulling over Hells Angels for what seemed to be trivial violations.

“You could rob a bank on the other side of town and get away with it because the police are down here harassing the Angels,” she said. “I’m embarrassed for my town.”

Police have said they are treating the Angels no differently from anyone else.

Mayor Jim Friedman said he had heard no complaints of harassment. He knew only of local motorcyclists’ anger at the sudden ban on motorcycle parking downtown. But Friedman said the no-parking signs would come down today or Thursday.

“As mayor, I have chosen to place 110% support in the ability of the police to deal with this most unique and unusual security situation,” he said. “I’m not about to second-guess the police chief.”

Friedman said the cost of the city’s elaborate security arrangements had not yet been tabulated.

Mindful of public relations, the Angels trod gingerly--at times almost comically.

At a downtown corner, a member from British Columbia stepped out of a rented Taurus and was about to cross the street. As soon as he stepped off the curb, an Angel from Ventura grabbed him in a bearhug from behind and warned: “Don’t jaywalk, brother!”

The Angels’ Christie took a low-key approach to the high police visibility.

“I’m not going to comment on that because the public already has,” he said, “but I think the horses were a nice touch.”

Police on Tuesday estimated that 400 Angels were staying in Ventura. Hotel managers told the Ventura Visitors and Convention Bureau that about 210 hotel rooms were occupied by Angels--or at least by men wearing leather jackets emblazoned with winged skulls.

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised,” said a manager at the Holiday Inn. “They’re very nice, very polite; they’re just average people.”

And what could be more average at a big reunion than a group photo?

In the first public display of an essentially private celebration, hundreds of Angels rumbled up to City Hall late Tuesday afternoon, jammed the steps all the way up to the doorway, and said, “Cheese.”

“We were in our office and could hear them coming and coming and coming,” said Andrea Anderson, a city public relations and marketing specialist. “I can just see the calendar that will come out: ‘Greetings and happy holidays from Ventura!”

Afterward, the bikers took off down Poli Street, turned down the hill and roared down Main--giving downtown the spectacle it had missed when the Angels bypassed it on Monday.

Staff writer Scott Hadly contributed to this story.