Tehachapi News

Organizer fuming over surveillance at annual bike run

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Police surveillance of the recent Veterans Mountain Run has left the event organizer fuming, but both sides agreed last week to try to talk out their differences.
The fifth annual charity event drew about 750 motorcycle riders and 2,000 participants to Tehachapi to raise money for veterans.
On the second day of the event, uniformed officers from area law enforcement agencies appeared across the street from the VFW Post 5946 on Tehachapi Blvd., some taking pictures.
Event organizer Orion Sanders said there was no cause for law enforcement to show up.
“There were no incidents,” he said. “There were no fights, drugs, guns or knives. There was no illegal activity. The guys were hanging out and having a good time. They are regular people, for God's sake.”
Tehachapi Police Chief Jeff Kermode defended the show of badges as a necessary preventive measure against potential motorcycle gang violence.  Both men planned to meet to discuss their concerns.
Sanders said the contingent of photo-shooting law enforcement ruined a peaceful event and sent most of the partiers home early.
Both Kermode and Sanders confirmed that members of the Mongols and members of the Vagos clubs came to the event and participated in the charity motorcycle run, which has never had a gang presence. Kermode said 30 Mongols and 10 Vagos were in attendance; Sanders gave the numbers as “less than 20” Mongols and seven Vagos, and “I know them all.”
Kermode said the gang prevention officers numbered “20 to 24.”
Sanders said that all the participants came with respect to share a common cause.
 “They were here to support veterans,” said Sanders, who is president of event sponsor Funds for Freedom, Inc., a non-profit that makes money for veterans and children and has been the prime mover behind a veterans' memorial walkway at the Bakersfield VA National Cemetery.
The police department reported no arrests or violence connected with the bikers during the two days of festivities that  featured music, vendor booths, a 165-mile charity run and packed local motels.
VFW Post 5948, the host of the Mountain Run, closed its Tehachapi Boulevard compound off with a chain-link fence for the event. The city blocked Tehachapi Boulevard between Green Street and Mill Street to accommodate parking for all the bikes.
According to Kermode, the appearance of the clubs is a big concern for lawmakers.
“The Mongols are a large outlaw motorcycle gang,” Kermode said. They have shown up in several nearby cities, he said, and were involved in a deadly shootout four years ago in Laughlin, Nev., with members of the Hell's Angels club.
“We paid close attention to them,” Kermode said. “They are heavily involved in organized crime and the meth trade and they are known to be violent.”
In a scenario of eerie similarity, Kermode said that four years ago at a charity motorcycle run in the city Norco in Riverside County, members of the Vagos and the Hessians clubs engaged in a shootout between the VFW and a liquor store, severely wounding a firefighter.
“That's the potential that we're dealing with,” he said.
Kermode said that a fight at City Slickers restaurant where a group of Mongols were dining Friday night triggered a call to his cell phone from a concerned citizen, which led him to invoke a mutual assistance agreement and alert gang violence prevention officers from other Kern County cities.
 “They [Mongols] were not involved in the fight but they were involved in the provocation of the fight,” Kermode said. The incident “was what made us nervous,” he said.
“We put out the call at 10 a.m. Saturday and they were all here for a briefing at 6 [p.m.],” he said.
Kermode said that gang prevention officers from Delano, Arvin, Shafter, Bakersfield, Kern County and the FBI responded to the call. Bear Valley Springs police department contributed its new command post vehicle. They took up positions along the street across from the VFW.
The officers were taking pictures, he said, and event participants were taking pictures back.
Kermode said, “We did not harass. We did not make random contact. We did not do warrant checks. It was a matter of having a presence. They knew we were there.”
The event has been trouble-free for five years and draws weekend bikers from a wide area.
“This event has been low-key,” Kermode said. “Outlaw gang members have not been participating in previous years. [But] we didn't want to be caught short.”
Ninety-nine percent of the people “are good folks,” Kermode said. “We encouraged our officers to be friendly.”
The uniforms apparently made that job difficult.
“The presence of law enforcement is what made people nervous,” Sanders said. “It's what made people leave.”
Sanders said about 75 percent of the people who were enjoying the event left early, around 7 p.m., after observing the law enforcement officers taking photos from across the street.
 “They [event participants] were partying and having a good time and at the end the non-club member people would have left with this idealism,” Sanders said. “They would have enjoyed the raffle, had a few beers and gone home. That would have been the perception. Then they saw these guys wearing vests and the perception was that something major was going down. It was the opposite thing than was intended.
“They [clubs] would never come to a veterans event and disrespect veterans or the VFW…Their own club would have a problem with that. They will police their on own people if they ever thought they were doing something to disrespect vets.”
Sanders said, “They want the kudos. They want the public to know they support vets.”
The Veterans Mountain Run, Kermode said, “is a great event. I hope it continues. It's great for business. But if motorcycle gang members are there, we'll be there.”
Sanders intends to continue his fund-raising efforts for veterans.
 “We are doing a lot of good here,” he said.