Bikers Are Mum After O.C. Brawl

The investigation into a bloody melee between rival motorcycle gangs at a Costa Mesa swap meet has been stymied by tight-lipped participants, Orange County Sheriff’s Department officials said Saturday.

Detectives were trying to determine the amount of property damage and the number of injuries resulting from the brawl, which erupted at an Orange County Fairgrounds exhibition building shortly after 8 p.m. Friday.

“The problem is we’ve got no willing victims,” Lt. Larry Abbott said. “It’s a real tough group to talk to. They don’t like cops.”

The fight, according to the Sheriff’s Department, involved members of the Vagos and Hells Angels motorcycle clubs. Abbott said members of a third club, the Mongols, were also at the swap meet, which was devoted to motorcycle parts. Abbott said it was unclear whether members of the third group entered the fight.

According to witnesses, the incident started between a small group of Vagos and Hells Angels and quickly spread as they grabbed things such as handlebars and gas tanks from vendors’ tables and bludgeoned each other. The fight lasted about five minutes before the combatants began to run. Authorities said 60 to 70 people were involved.

Only one man has been arrested: a swap meet vendor who allegedly pushed a police officer. Police also recovered a .38-caliber revolver from the scene Friday night, though witnesses reported no shots being fired.

Investigators spent much of Friday evening and Saturday morning following up on a rumor that at least one man was so seriously hurt that he might have died. They were unable to find such a person.

Abbott said police in Long Beach reported that two bikers had appeared at an emergency room there saying they had been in a fight. However, the men, who suffered unspecified injuries, said the fight did not occur in Costa Mesa.

The swap meet was sponsored by Intershows Motorsports Promotions Inc. Officials from the company and the Orange County Fair declined to comment Saturday.

Dozens of officers from the Costa Mesa, Irvine, Huntington Beach and Newport Beach police departments responded to the brawl, along with sheriff’s deputies.