Feds: Gang may have reclaimed city clubhouses

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) -- Members of the Outlaws motorcycle gang may again be using two of their Fort Wayne clubhouses eight months after a multi-state raid resulted in the arrests of dozens of alleged gang members and a federal official says similar complaints about gang activity have been heard from residents in Indianapolis.

Tim Horty, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Indianapolis, told the News-Sentinel (http://bit.ly/WZvQsR) the new signs advertising the presence of the Outlaws have been put up outside two properties in Fort Wayne long associated with the gang. Federal officials are trying to seize the clubhouses through a civil court process under which a judge could rule the properties were used for criminal activity and hand them over to the government, Horty said.

"These are probably new members, but to say we know of any illegal activity going on there, we don't know that," Horty said.

Officer Raquel Foster, a Fort Wayne Police department spokeswoman, also said police were not aware such activity.

Chris Shatto, president of the Nebraska Neighborhood Association, said he was unaware of complaints from any nearby residents.

"What the folks down in that neck of the woods tell us is they're pretty quiet and don't cause much trouble in the neighborhood," Shatto said.

Dozens of members of the motorcycle group's chapters were arrested last July during raids . In a 70-page, 37-count charging document filed last July, 42 alleged gang members from Indiana, Ohio and Illinois were charged with a variety of offenses, including racketeering, extortion, drug charges, witness tampering, and operating an illegal gambling operation. In October, nine more were charged.

During the raids, FBI agents seized at least 35 guns, including assault rifles; a kilogram of cocaine and other drugs; more than $14,000 in cash; and more than a dozen cars and motorcycles, U.S. Attorney Joseph Hogsett said.

Federal prosecutors said at the time the arrests were aimed at dismantling a criminal organization where violence was part of doing business.

Information from: The News-Sentinel, http://www.news-sentinel.com/ns