Motorcycle gangs clash in New York

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Posted 9:11AM on Sunday, February 24, 2002

PLAINVIEW, N.Y. - Rival motorcycle gangs armed with daggers, baseball bats and a machine gun clashed at an indoor motorcycle and tattoo expo called the Hellraiser Ball, authorities said. One man was killed and at least 10 people were injured. About 60 people were in custody Saturday night and the number could grow, said Nassau County Chief of Detectives Herbert Faust. Faust said four people were shot, one fatally, and others injured when the fight erupted around 4:15 p.m. at the Vanderbilt, a concert and catering hall in Plainview, N.Y. Faust said the fight broke out between members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club, whose Long Island chapter sponsored the event, and a rival gang, the Pagans. As many as 100 Pagans showed up at the event, which drew about 1,000 people, many of them Hells Angels members, Faust said. ``There's been a long-standing feud between the two motorcycle gangs,'' he said. ``At some point, there was a major conflict. We have gunshots, we have people stabbed, a major fight.'' Several people who fled the scene were apprehended nearby, Nassau County Police Commissioner William Willett said. Police also recovered numerous daggers, baseball bats and an Uzi automatic weapon, Faust said. The expo had been under surveillance by police, but was not expected to be violent, he said. ``We had surveillance. We were aware of the event. We had no reason to believe it would have erupted into this type of conflict,'' he said. One man died in surgery and two others were being treated at North Shore University Hospital in Plainview, according to Betty Olt, a hospital spokeswoman. She would not describe their injuries. Nassau University Medical Center had treated nine injured people, hospital spokeswoman Shelley Lotenberg said. Police were searching for more suspects. Scott Casagrande of Medford, N.Y., said he was displaying a motorcycle at the show when he saw ``a herd of people running toward us, saying 'Get out, get out, there's gunshots.''' ``Everybody ran,'' he added. ``I heard gunfire downstairs but I thought nothing of it because a band was playing. It was very loud.'' According to the event's Web site, tattoo and piercing artists, motorcycle shops and other vendors paid up to $300 to rent space at the expo.