Sheriff’s action at fight questioned

Deirdre Newman

FAIRGROUNDS -- Motorcycle vendors who witnessed a bloody brawl between

rival gangs at a swap meet on Friday night said the Orange County

Sheriff’s Department could have acted more quickly to quiet the melee.

“A lot of people got hurt and it probably could have been stopped

earlier,” said Jon Ericson, one the show’s vendors.

The fight at the Orange County Fairgrounds broke out at about 8 p.m.,

three hours after the motorcycle parts show started. It involved members

of the Hells Angels, Vagos and Mongols motorcycle gangs, said Orange

County Sheriff’s Lt. Larry Abbott.

According to witnesses, the fight started between a few people, but

quickly escalated into a violent confrontation as motorcycle parts were

used as weapons. Since there were only a few deputies covering the event,

they waited for reinforcements before moving in, said Sheriff’s Lt.

Hayward Miller.

The fight eventually involved between 60 and 70 people using whatever

they could get their hands on, including shock absorbers, gas tanks and

handlebars.

“It was really bloody,” Ericson said. “As people were running out,

more people were running in to take part in the fight. It was pretty

scary.”

Sheriff’s deputies who were providing security for the event were

assisted by police officers from Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Santa Ana and

Irvine.

Abbott said the original officers worked to contain the fight and once

the assisting officers got to the scene, things started to calm down.

The swap meet attracted close to 3,000 participants, Abbott said.

While some vendors said the officers did the right thing, others

harshly criticized the department’s procedure, asserting that the fight

had already ended by the time any effort was made to stop it.

“By the time the [full] Sheriff’s department came out, the bad guys

were gone and we’re the bad guys,” said vendor Dave Huber. “They’re paid

to protect and serve us, but who are theyprotecting?”

The officers closed the swap meet down and forced all the vendors to

clear out and leave their merchandise inside the hall until Saturday

afternoon.

Vendors who were satisfied with the Sheriff’s department’s conduct

said officers made a wise decision to hang back.

“The original sheriff’s deputies stayed very close, but were smart to

stay out of harm’s way. They couldn’t separate the good guys from the bad

guys,” said one woman, who did not want to give her name.

Motorcycle swap meets can create volatile situations, Miller said,

adding that in the future more scrutiny will be given to such events.

“When you get various [motorcycle] club members together, there’s

always a potential for some type of conflict,” Miller said.

One biker, Todd Brown, was arrested for assaulting a police officer.