Photo by MICHAEL GALLACHER/Missoulian

Bikers get welcome - and unwelcome - mats
By MICHAEL JAMISON of the Missoulian

Police Chief feels gathering not in best interests of community

While Missoula merchants are rolling out the welcome mat for the Hells Angels, Police Chief Pete Lawrenson is trying to roll it back up.

In a Jan. 20 letter to the Missoula Chamber of Commerce, Lawrenson wrote that "two Missoula area motels have received inquiries from a representative of the Hells Angels motorcycle club (gang) ... The two motels contacted each declined to accommodate the reservation request from this group for concerns from the past reputation of the Hells Angels."

Lawrenson writes, "The reputation of the gang included volatile alcohol consumption, criminal activity, racism and involvement in drug and prostitution activities."

And while he says he is uncertain whether that reputation accurately pegs today's Angels, Lawrenson's letter says, "I have heard that when the group identifies a city for their summer run as they have for Missoula this coming summer, it indicates they desire to establish a chapter in that city.

"As chief of police, I don't believe it would be in the best interest of our community to host an annual national gathering of the Hells Angels."

He closes by asking the Chamber's help in alerting local motels and hotels.
Hand-written across the bottom of one copy of the letter, presumably by a manager at a local hotel, is the warning to desk clerks, "Take no reservations," followed by two emphatic exclamation points.

"I talked with George Christie," Lawrenson says, "and he was mad about my letter to the Chamber. He thought I was being unfair, if not discriminatory."

Christie, president of the Ventura, Calif., chapter of the Hells Angels, says attorneys are reviewing the letter, considering possible legal action charging discrimination and violations of civil rights.

It's not an uncommon occurrence for Angels to be refused service or to be subjected to police
harassment based solely on membership in the club, Christie says. But whether protections against discrimination on the basis of race, color and creed extend to Angels, who wear their colors as part of their outlaw creed, is yet to be decided.

Lawrenson, for one, believes there is no legal liability in refusing service to the Hells Angels. He's careful to point out that nowhere in his letter does he directly recommend turning them away.

But that's just a game of words, and the intent of the letter is crystal clear, Christie says. He believes it might backfire, however, because by penning the alert, "The cops gave the community the chance to see law enforcement through our eyes."

And when the public begins to realize what the Angels are up against every time they go on vacation, Christie says, they begin to choose sides, often turning their backs on local authorities.

If the Hells Angels were to file suit, Christie says, it wouldn't be the first time they have done so in an attempt to preserve their rights.

The jury is still out on a constitutional case from Red Deer, Alberta.
According to Jim Humphrey, staff sergeant with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Red Deer, about 250 Angels blasted into town back in 1997 for a "corporate merger." The Grim Reapers motorcycle gang, Humphrey says, was being absorbed into the Angels network, a melding known in biker circles as a "patch over."

Police, alerted that the Angels were on their way, set up check stations on all roads leading to town, stopping every biker who came through. They checked that bikes and helmets met safety standards, checked identifications and checked gear for possible weapons. Meanwhile, all traffic not associated with the Angels was waved through.

Police regularly use such checks, especially when looking for drunken drivers on holiday nights,
Humphrey says.

"In this particular case, it was used to gather intelligence," he says. "We've been very open about that."

The Angels, however, have challenged the checkpoints in Canadian court, charging the searches were arbitrary and that their constitutional rights were violated. The court has yet to rule.

Nevertheless, Christie says, it is just one more example of police abusing their power when it comes to the Hells Angels. The bikers' reputation is such that police no longer wait for the Angels to commit a crime, Christie says. Instead, they arrest first and ask questions later.

"We're not going up there to burn the town down," Christie says of this summer's gathering in
Missoula. "How the town fares from a business standpoint will depend to a point on how the cops treat us."

Lawrenson's letter, Christie says, isn't a good beginning.

He'd rather stay in a nice hotel than a campground outside of town, he says. He'd rather be welcomed in restaurants and shops and bars and feel free to explore the downtown. But if the Angels are made to feel unwelcome, Christie says, they'll voice their disappointment with their wallets.

His question for merchants: "Do they want to make this a payday for them?"

"It could bring a lot of money to your town," says Kris Haldane, a Ventura restaurant owner who served Hells Angels during their 1998 run to her town. She didn't serve as many as she might have, however, because police banned motorcycle parking in the downtown and put cops on every corner.

"And the Hells Angels retaliated against the Ventura Police Department by not shopping or spending money," she says. "I can understand your police being concerned, but you certainly can overreact."

Doug Halter, president of the Downtown Ventura Community Council, agrees. "They came and they did spend money, but they didn't spend as much as they would have if there hadn't been such a police presence," he says.

J.D. Hays, police chief in Steamboat Springs, Colo., admits the Hells Angels spent a pocketful of money while they were in his town for their 1996 run, but he wonders if it was worth it. A few retail sales, he says, don't offset the fights and stabbings and general sense of chaos his town endured.

"The merchants can expect to make a lot of money," he says, "and the restaurants can expect some big tippers."

But, he warns, the nice-guy persona of the Angels is "a ploy to make people think they've changed their image. But they haven't. They're still thugs."

Mark Coronado, a patrol officer in Ventura, seconds Hays' assessment and, like Lawrenson, warns merchants to adopt a "buyer beware" approach to the bikers.

"They do spend a lot of money," he says, "but to think that they're your regular tourists and are going to be buying antiques, well, that's not who they are and that's not what's going to happen."

What's going to happen, shopkeepers say, is that the Hells Angels will buy a lot of liquor, a lot of beer, a lot of T-shirts and hats and clothing that says "Montana" on the front. They'll buy restaurant meals; they'll buy gas and groceries and tourist trinkets.

But Coronado's right. They likely won't buy antiques.

Ben Gero, president of the Steamboat Chamber of Commerce in 1996, says he didn't stock his store specially for the Angels' arrival, but he did call an emergency meeting of his executive board prior to the bikers' arrival.

The message: "Treat them well, or it will be a long weekend."

He recommends that shopkeepers "relax."

"It doesn't have to be a confrontation," he says. "It can be business as usual. Now, of course, it can easily be a confrontation, if you want it to be; they're ready for that if that's what you want. But if you relax, they'll come and go and everything will be perfectly fine."

"I took their money," he adds. "And their money's green just like everybody else's."

Vic Greenlee, owner of Steamboat's Old Town Leather shop, says he found Hells Angels to be polite customers who always paid in cash. "I don't think they're unlike any visitor or tourist," he says. "They come in, want to see the sights, experience the town, have a good time. They don't want to be hassled by the cops."

Which is exactly why Greenlee and other merchants can't understand Lawrenson's letter to the Missoula Chamber of Commerce. And, apparently, neither can many in Missoula's business community.

Signs of welcome already are popping up around Missoula's storefronts, with merchants saying they have no qualms about unfurling that welcome mat.

Steve Garr, owner of the Top Hat bar, says he is looking forward to the Angels' visit, and is even willing to discuss renting his bar out for an exclusive Hells Angels party.

"If they need a place we could definitely talk," Garr said. "I'm all for anything that generates business for downtown."

And his competition up the street agrees.
"I've never met a biker I didn't like," says Tami Ursich, owner of the Iron Horse Pub. "Well, maybe that's not exactly true. But for the most part, bikers are pretty decent folk."

She will welcome them to her bar, she says, as long as they are respectful to her and her regulars.
"It's going to do nothing but generate money for downtown," she says. "It will be great for us, as long as everybody minds their p's and q's. I mean, everybody's money spends the same."

You'll hear the same at the Harley-Davidson shop or a local coffee house. Up and down Missoula's downtown, merchants seem ready to welcome the Angels, despite Lawrenson's letter.

Rumors swirl around the city regarding where the Angels will gather.

Employees at the C'mon Inn, where Hells Angels are rumored to have booked all 119 rooms, said that certainly is not the case, and that while bikers have reserved a block of rooms, the majority of the motel is booked for other groups, including visitors participating in a children's swim meet.

Likewise, the folks at Marshall Mountain say they haven't heard the rumors about Angels descending on their resort.

"I don't know where we're going, but we're coming," Christie says.

And because they're coming, several businesses are openly courting the bikers, putting up welcome signs and offering special biker deals.

At Rock Creek Lodge, Shana Lincoln confirms the Angels have indeed been invited to park their bikes and pitch their tents for a rustic party in the woods, and she expects they'll spend a few dollars while they're there.

But despite the potential bottom-line gains businesses might expect, most with experience surviving Hells Angels' runs advise against becoming too cozy with the bikers.

According to Tom Ross, a newspaper reporter for the Steamboat Pilot in Colorado, the motel owners in his town who offered up their establishment were more than a bit shocked when Angels turned Steamboat's Iron Horse Inn into an armed compound, barricading it against police even when two of their members were shot inside.

As for Missoula business owners who follow in the footsteps of the Iron Horse Inn and make special arrangements with the Angels, Ross echoes Lawrenson's warning letter.

"I think they're going to regret this one," Ross says of merchants who vie for Hells Angels' dollars. "No one would willingly put themselves through this."