For the police officer, the man’s body language was the giveaway. His combative stance and his abrupt hand movement hinted at the possibility of danger.
FORT WAYNE -- An FBI task force raided the Outlaw Motorcycle Club clubhouse, 1202 W. Main St., early Wednesday morning.
Agents boxed up evidence and searched the building with a dog, while tactical officers stood guard out front.
Tim Horty, spokesman for U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett, said that hundreds of federal, state and local law enforcement officers served simultaneous search warrants at locations in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and other locations connected with the Outlaws club.
Officials said more than 40 individuals were targeted for arrest.
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Related
- For more Fort Wayne and Indianapolis photos, click here.
- "It might be tomorrow, it might be weeks from now, but it is only a matter of time before you wake up to the sound of law enforcement at your door."
FYI
Last year, a federal judge in Virginia sentenced the Outlaws national president to 20 years in prison on racketeering charges related to a violent turf war with the rival Hells Angels.
In the summer of 2009, three northern Indiana members of the Outlaws motorcycle gang pleaded guilty to federal assault charges in eastern Michigan.
William "Jason" Elston, then 43, Bruce "Big Bruce" Wendel, then 40, and Danny "Milky" Neace each pleaded guilty to committing violent crimes in aid of racketeering, specifically assault.
They had been charged along with nine other Indiana and Michigan members of the motorcycle gang described by prosecutors as an international criminal organization. Wendel's and Neace's pleas stemmed from a fight with rival Hells Angels at a South Bend swap meet in April 2006.
Elston admitted to involvement in a critical-injury battery of a Fort Wayne man on Jan. 1, 2006. Federal documents alleged that Wendel, Elston, Ramon Rios and another club member conspired to assault the local man on the first day of 2006, but only Elston and Rios admitted involvement in the attack.
In 2004, a federal jury in Toledo found the president of the Fort Wayne Outlaws motorcycle club guilty of several charges in a racketeering/drug conspiracy case spanning several states.
Robert "Bob" W. Keeler, then 58, was one of 14 defendants who stood trial on the charges from a 101-page indictment. He was convicted of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute, more commonly known as RICO, and conspiracy to violate RICO.
He also was convicted of conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, LSD, ecstasy, valium and marijuana, as well as unlawful use of a communications facility.
Keeler was one of six men named in the indictment from Fort Wayne.
The indictment alleged Keeler often arranged the distribution of drugs, including cocaine, Valium, methamphetamine, LSD and Ecstasy. The drug trade allegedly provided financial stability for the local chapter.
Court documents detailed dozens of telephone conversations by Keeler arranging drug shipments. Overall, the indictment detailed more than a decade's worth of details - month by month – of alleged drug dealing, gun-toting and crime in at least four states by members of the American Outlaws Association.
Backgrounder
The Outlaws Motorcycle Club's Fort Wayne chapter has a clubhouse at 1202 W. Main St., painted black with white trim.
The two-story building is adorned with a sign depicting the organization's "Charlie symbol" – a skull with crossed pistons at the base of the neck. Another sign on the front of the building states that only Outlaws members are allowed inside.
According to court documents, the Fort Wayne club, along with others in Indianapolis, Detroit and Grand Rapids, Mich., is part of the Michigan Region, or Black Region, of the national club.
According to the American Outlaw Association website, the Outlaw motorcycle club was established in 1935, near Chicago.
It claims to be the largest motorcycle club in the world, with chapters in a number of countries.
There are four chapters in Indiana, the website said, in Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, South Bend and Gary.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
