Hells Angels are here and so are the cops

Softball game slated for Saturday

It is not only Arts Festival weekend in Crested Butte, it is the weekend that more than 500 Hells Angels are expected to motor into the valley on their way to Sturgis, South Dakota. In fact, some of the motorcycle club members began arriving in the area as early as last Sunday and could be seen in both Crested Butte and Gunnison as part of their U.S.A. Run.

Local law enforcement officials say they are ready. “I am anxiously looking forward to the week,” said Crested Butte chief marshal Tom Martin. “Everything is going according to plan. They’re here. And it will be business as usual. We’ll do what we always do, and how we always do it, but with more personnel.”
Martin said an additional 150 law enforcement officers will be in the valley to help keep the peace while the Hells Angels are here. Most of those supplementary officers will be stationed in Gunnison, site of the Hells Angels main compound, but about 30 extra cops will be seen in the north end of the valley, depending on the need.
“We have seen some of them up here already and it’s not a big deal,” Martin said.
“We’ll be staging out of the Parish Hall up here. It is our understanding that the majority of them will be taking off Sunday morning and heading to Sturgis, which opens August 9.”
A similar gathering of the Hells Angels took place in the valley in 2002. Martin said there were very few problems with the motorcyclists at that time, in part because there was a strong law enforcement presence. They are duplicating that strategy this weekend. It is estimated that the beefed-up police presence will cost the town of Crested Butte about $8,000.
As a side note, another duplication from the 2002 event will be a softball game between members of the Hells Angels and some local athletes. That game is scheduled to be played in Gunnison Saturday at 2 p.m. No word on whether the locals plan to bring their agro game to Jorgenson Park or take a more relaxed approach to the competition. Last time the Hells Angels club members seemed to take the game as a photo op and in fact were seen handing out ice cream to the kids.
Martin said all county law enforcement personnel have been preparing for this event for the last six months. “We’re ready and now it is time to just do what we do,” he said.