Blaming Bandidos for blazes

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by Kristian Gravenor

Here's the police explanation for the fiery madness that has seen bikers terrorize residents of the island's southwest with a series of arson attacks. The Bandidos, formerly the Rock Machine, are trying to regain the drug distribution in bars they have lost to the Hells Angels in recent years. "A lot of the Hells are still in prison so the obvious motive is to regain control," says MUCPD's Doug Hurley. And the 16 suspects already arrested and several others, who will be sought as soon as the ink dries on forthcoming warrants, are not your regular jailbirds. "This particular group doesn't really care if people live. That's what we find particularly disgusting about this investigation. In general, people trying to control a bar will ask people to leave before tossing in a Molotov cocktail. But these particular fools set fires in stairwells or roofs. They have no regard for human life and property. They are dangerous," says Hurley.

The miscreants have even lit up homes upstairs from bars in order to attack the drinking establishments below. "One of the best places to set a fire is on the roof, and from there it travels and you can't see where it's going," says Hurley, who notes that local Bandidos are all probationary members hungry for status. "My theory is that their basic thinking is: 'Let's burn this bar and we'll get some money and we'll get in with the head honcho, so we'll get a rep and get accepted.'"