BIKER CLUB ON DENVER DOORSTEP

The Hells Angels motorcycle club has started a chapter in Denver, and law
enforcement officials fear that the city may now have one biker group too many.

The move comes as the area's dominant motorcycle gang -- the Sons of
Silence -- struggles to recover from a massive federal indictment in late 1999.

Detectives are more worried about a national biker group called the
Bandidos, which has a chapter in Denver. The Bandidos and Hells Angels have
a history of warfare.

In a fight over Canadian drug turf, Hells Angels, the Bandidos and an
associate gang have shot, bombed and even used rockets to try to wipe each
other out, according to Canadian news reports.

The five-year battle in Quebec has resulted in more than 160 homicides.

Although no one is predicting that local hostilities will reach that level,
the situation has officers sharing notes. It is rare to have two, much less
three, major gangs on the same turf.

The Sons of Silence is least equipped to meet the challenge, said Rich
Marianos, the agent in charge of the Colorado Springs office of the Bureau
of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms.

"The likelihood of them even having the resources to conduct some kind of
outlaw biker war seems to be strongly diminished," he said, pointing out
that the government confiscated hundreds of firearms when they raided the
Sons of Silence in October 1999.

But he is concerned about the Bandidos, who have deep pockets and a
national network to rival the Angels.

So is Jim Wattles, an expert on bikers who tracked Denver clubs for 25
years as a Denver police intelligence officer.

"The real problems are going to be with the Bandidos," said Wattles. "This
kind of changes things in the pecking order."

Wattles, who retired from the force last year to become an investigator for
the Colorado Division of Gaming, said the Hells Angels' sudden appearance
in Denver came when a local biker club called the Brothers Fast decided to
"repatch" -- dismissing their club and becoming members of the Angels.

"This little romance between the Hells Angels and the Brothers Fast has
probably been going on for a couple of years," he said. "The Brothers Fast
were invited out to the Hells Angels' 50th birthday party. They were
invited to the Hells Angels' USA Run out in California, which occurred
about the same time -- a couple years ago."

Police began to see Brothers Fast members in small groups at a Hells Angels
clubhouse in Arizona.

About five or six months ago, Wattles said rumors began circulating that
the Angels were actively advising the Brothers Fast, which had not been
known as an outlaw club, to repatch.

On June 13, 33 members of the Brothers Fast removed their Brothers Fast
patch from their jackets. Only one member, who is in his 60s, declined,
Wattles said.

The new Hells Angels will remain a "prospect chapter" for at least a year,
during which they will show the "Colorado rocker" -- a patch at the bottom
rear of their biker jackets. After that, they will wear a Hells Angels
patch above the rocker.

"The Brothers Fast are no more," Wattles said.

The Sons of Silence, formed in Colorado in the late 1960s as a small gang,
eventually became one of the "Big Five" of America's biker gangs, joining
the Pagans, Outlaws, Hells Angels and Bandidos.

With chapters in seven states and one in Germany, the Sons number between
175 and 200, according to the ATF's Marianos.

The Sons are much smaller than the other Big Five gangs, according to law
enforcement officials. The 1999 raids further endangered their membership
in the elite of outlaw bikers.

Those raids culminated a two-year ATF undercover operation in which agents
worked inside the Sons organization, buying machine guns and drugs.

The case resulted in 22 indictments against 49 individuals. Eighteen have
pleaded guilty and one was found guilty at trial. One was acquitted, and
cases against six others have been dropped.

Twenty-seven cases are pending, with the main conspiracy trial scheduled to
begin Aug. 20.

The FBI estimates that the Hells Angels, with about 1,800 members, take in
up to $1 billion a year in drug money.

The 33 new Hells Angels in Denver will outnumber the 15 to 18 Bandidos.

The outcome of any turf battle could hinge on whether the Sons of Silence
remain neutral, Wattles said. They have had peaceful relations with the
Bandidos for years, he said.

Mariano doesn't think the Sons will take sides. "With the Sons, the wind is
out of their sails," he said.

Denver police have no plans to increase surveillance until there is
evidence that crimes are being committed, said Capt. Vince DiManna, head of
the police intelligence bureau.

The State Patrol is taking a more active posture.

"We are actively pursuing this," said investigator Chris Schaefer.