Wednesday, April 23, 2003 | 10:49 a.m.
As motorcyclists roar into Laughlin today for the 21st annual River Run, more than 500 Metro Police officers will be monitoring the event via a carefully planned system designed to catch any rumblings of potential violence.
The estimated 80,000 motorcyclists expected to turn out between today and Sunday for the River Run will encounter security checkpoints, metal detectors and new rules aimed at preventing the deadly violence that marred last year's event.
"The theme is prevention," said Lt. Tom Smitley, commander of Metro's substation in Laughlin, a town of 8,000 residents on the banks of the Colorado River, about 100 miles south of Las Vegas.
"We watched other motorcycle rallies after last year and realized the key is increasing officer presence."
Last year a brawl with guns, knives and wrenches left three motorcycle gang members dead -- two Hells Angels and one Mongol -- and injured at least 12 others at Harrah's Laughlin. Another Hell's Angel was shot to death on Interstate 40 in California, about 115 miles from Laughlin.
Since then, biker gang-related homicides have occurred in Arizona and Reno, leading police and motorcycle gang experts to wonder if these killings are a precursor to violence at the River Run.
Last year's fatal fray came after months of skirmishes between Hells Angels and competing biker gangs such as the Mongols, Bandidos, Pagans and Outlaws.
Earlier in the night on Saturday, April 27, 2002, Metro broke up a fight between the Hells Angels and Mongols at a T-shirt stand. Smitley met with Hells Angels leaders to defuse tensions between the groups, but the members walked out of the meeting.
Three hours later members of the Mongols stormed Harrah's, where the Hells Angels were staying, and the casino floor erupted.
"It's hard to know what's going to happen," said Patrick Schneider, U.S. Attorney in Phoenix and president of the International Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigator's Association. "I think everyone's on edge, worried that there is a potential for violence."
Daniel "Hoover" Seybert, the president of the Cave Creek (Ariz.) Hells Angels club, was shot to death outside a bar in Phoenix on March 22. Two days later a member of the Mongols was stabbed in the back at a gas station in Reno, and a Hells Angel is a suspect. Authorities aren't sure if the two killings are connected.
Davy Weller, 56, a retired insurance broker with homes in Las Vegas and Sun Valley, Idaho, isn't allowing last year's violence to keep him from attending this year's River Run.
"Our feeling is it was an isolated instance," Weller told the Associated Press. "I've always been impressed in Laughlin how well everyone gets along. I'd be shocked if there were any problems this year."
Others apparently feel the same: Hotels report that they will be close to full occupancy this weekend, and Ken Cuppetelli of Dal-Con Promotions, the California company that promotes the event, said the number of vendors increased from 120 last year to 820 this year.
Cuppetelli said "about 98 percent" of the people who attend the River Run aren't outlaws.
Metro isn't taking any chances. Motorcycle gangs like to claim they are "1 percenters" -- the 1 percent that causes all the trouble.
"We've put together a rock-solid plan, similar to how Metro deploys officers on New Year's Eve," Smitley said. "We have mechanisms in place to prevent criminal acts. We will be able to gauge the climate of outlaws to stop a problem before it becomes a problem."
Last year 145 officers were on duty for the River Run, but this year more than 300 uniformed police officers and 200 undercover officers will be patrolling the town. About 70 backup officers will be available if anything happens. A contingent of motorcycle gang specialists from as far away as Finland and Canada will also be on hand.
Laughlin hotels and Dal-Con Promotions are picking up the tab for the cost of extra officers.
The undercover officers will mingle with attendees, gathering information and reporting back to the "Laughlin intelligence center," or Metro's command post, where officers will evaluate the information, Smitley said.
Metro will also be setting up driving under the influence and drug checkpoints in Laughlin and Searchlight, a town about 40 miles north of Laughlin. They will check driver's licenses and conduct searches if probable cause exists, Smitley said.
Medical and police helicopters will be based in Laughlin and Bullhead City, Ariz., a city of 42,000 residents across the Colorado River.
Officers and volunteers plan to distribute brochures on the helmet law and how to prevent motorcycle theft. There will be a ban on cans and bottles and a curfew for those under 18.
Schneider, of the motorcycle gang investigator's association, said while there's always the potential for violence whenever rival motorcycle gangs are in the same place, he has confidence in Metro's plan to prevent such incidents.
"We'll be very interested in what transpires," he said. "But one thing you can never measure is deterrence. How can you measure something that doesn't happen?"
At least seven Laughlin hotels are banning the display of club insignias, or "colors," on their properties: the Ramada Express, the Riverside, the River Palms, the Flamingo, Harrah's, the Golden Nugget and Avi. Some hotels, such as the Golden Nugget, will have metal detectors at entrances.
Michael Coldwell, spokesman for the Flamingo Laughlin, said the ban on colors is to prevent guest confrontations, adding that security presence at the Flamingo will be "10 times what it is during a normal weekend."
Extra security will also be rolled out at Harrah's Laughlin, where the melee took place last year, according to Madeleine Weekley, Harrah's spokeswoman.
"Rest assured that we are taking appropriate measures to ensure a safe event this year," she said.
After last year's violence Laughlin officials briefly considered canceling this year's five-day event, which will include concerts, a poker run, trade show exhibits, a custom bike show and the Miss River Run contest.
But Andre Carrier, vice president and chief operating officer of the Golden Nugget Laughlin and chairman of the town's organizing committee, said the event is too important.
One study showed that the River Run added $25 million to the town's economy last year.
But perhaps more importantly, Carrier said, the event is important to Laughlin's identity.
"People find a town on the banks of the Colorado River that's really neat and they come back and encourage others to come," Carrier said.
"This is a 21-year event here. This is our Mardi Gras. This is our county fair. This is our regional festival. There is only a sense that these traditions continue."
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