Sheriff Wayne Byrd tells NewsChannel 15 they're investigating two different incidents in Darlington County where bikers were assaulted and intimidated by the outlaw motorcycle gang members.
/ Tonya Brown
Police are investigating two incidents in Darlington County where they say outlaw motorcycle gang members assaulted and intimidated other bikers in the county.
Police say tensions started to rise between the Hells Angels and the Warlocks at this year's fall bike rally in Myrtle Beach and say it's now spilled over into Darlington County. The sheriff there says he's not going to have it.
This past Saturday afternoon, dozens of police officers set up shop near a biker club in the Lydia community of Darlington County. They staged a show of force to stop a possible outbreak of violence between the Hells Angels and the Warlocks.
"When we have a known group of outlaws coming into the county, we're gonna check them out," said Darlington County Sheriff Wayne Byrd.
Police say they got a tip that something could do down between the bikers, following an incident last weekend in Darlington County.
Capt. Gary Streett said, "Hells Angels entered our county through intimidation and assault trying to cause others to comply with what they would want them to do we consider this to be a problem."
This problem started at this year's fall bike rally in Myrtle Beach, according to investigators. They say it's now made its way to Darlington County, where other bikers have been assaulted on at least two different occasions.
State police are helping to gather intelligence in this investigation, said Cpt. Kin McKenzie with the State Law Enforcement Division.
"This is a multi-jurisdictional effort to ensure that these outlaw motorcycle gangs do not get out of hand."
Sheriff Byrd says his gang investigators will continue to monitor this situation.
"We're not gonna stop. We're gonna stay up until they lose interest in Darlington County or we make some arrests."
Sheriff Byrd says he's not targeting other motorcycle enthusiasts, just the outlaw bikers who are coming into his county and causing problems.
The Florence County Sheriff's Office is helping in this investigation.
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Earlier story posted on carolinalive.com (3:52pm) -
Tensions between two outlaw motorcycle gangs that started at the fall bike rally in Myrtle Beach, have now have spilled over into Darlington County, according to the sheriff's office there.
Sheriff Wayne Byrd tells NewsChannel 15 they're investigating two different incidents in Darlington County where bikers were assaulted and intimidated by the outlaw motorcycle gang members.
Sheriff Byrd says he will not tolerate this type of activity in his county. He plans to arrest those involved in the assaults and run the rest of them out of town.
We'll have a full report on this story tonight on NewsChannel 15 at 6 and later today here on CarolinaLive.com.
