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A violent confrontation between members of rival motorcycle clubs in Lindenhurst last September has resulted in gang assault indictments for five men, Suffolk District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced Friday.
The clash, which spilled onto Sunrise Highway in broad daylight, involved alleged members of the Pagan’s Motorcycle Club on one side and the Demons of Hell (a Hells Angels support group) along with a Hells Angels member on the other, Tierney said.
Multiple people were injured in the Sept. 14 rumble, including a 76-year-old man who suffered a brain bleed.
The violence erupted just before 3:30 p.m., when members of the Demons of Hell and a Hells Angels member allegedly interrupted a memorial service for a Pagan’s member at a Lindenhurst bar. The confrontation quickly escalated, with at least 15 individuals converging at a nearby Route 66 gas station off Sunrise Highway.
“This was a brazen and dangerous outbreak of violence that put our community at risk,” Tierney said. “What began as a confrontation between rival motorcycle gangs quickly escalated into a chaotic melee in the middle of Sunrise Highway involving weapons and resulted in numerous serious injuries.”
Prosecutors said the altercation involved knives, hammers, baseball bats and other weapons.
Roger Clarke, 53, and Christopher Clarke, 21, both of New Hampshire and both alleged Demons of Hell members, are accused of stabbing and beating a Pagan’s member with a hammer. The victim required emergency surgery for stab wounds.
Roger Clarke is also accused of stabbing another Pagan who was trying to flee, inflicting lacerations to the victim’s liver and colon that necessitated emergency surgery.
Three alleged Pagan’s members — Joseph Bivona, 46, of Centereach; Michael Baffa, 57, of Farmingville; and Robert Miller, 54, of West Babylon — are accused of beating the 76-year-old alleged Hells Angels member with baseball bats and other weapons.
The elderly man suffered a brain bleed that required multiple emergency surgeries and ongoing medical treatment.
The five defendants were arraigned this week in Suffolk County criminal court in Riverhead, each on a bevy of charges that included first-degree gang assault. The top charge carries a sentence of up to 25 years in prison.
Top: Phillips 66 gas station where the September biker gang brawl occurred (Google Maps Street View).
