Latest lawsuit follows NYPD raid on outlaw group�s downtown base

THE long-running turf war between the Hells Angels and New York Police Department (NYPD) is set to escalate over the next two weeks as the outlaw motorcycle club seek to take its legal victories over the city's finest past the million dollar mark.

The latest move in an increasingly acrimonious dispute that has already seen the bikers win court settlements against the police worth $800,000, follows the biggest police operation Manhattan has seen since the aftermath of the World Trade Center atrocities. Lawyers for the Angels are preparing to sue the city after an investigation into an attack on a woman escalated into a full-scale armed raid on their downtown headquarters.

"There were snipers on the rooftops, a helicopter hovering above and the entire street was cordoned off. Hundreds of men milled about in bulletproof vests and there in the middle of them was New York City's one and only tank. All of the post-9/11 paraphernalia was there. All the boys, all the toys and all the weaponry. They turned 3rd Street into Fallujah," said Ron Kuby, the bikers' long-serving lawyer.

He added: "They were doing it to create shock and awe, but all they achieved was to make a gang of hairy, scary outlaw bikers look like sympathetic characters and the victims of excessive police force. Given the Hells Angels reputation, that's no mean feat."

Hundreds of police swooped last week following the beating of a woman found bleeding on the pavement outside the group's clubhouse door. Detectives investigating the incident were refused entry to the building and told to come back with a warrant. They got one, delivering it in an armoured personnel carrier backed by an overwhelming force of anti-riot units, Swat teams and hostage negotiators.

Although one member was arrested and questioned, no charges have been brought following the operation. Interrupting a strategy meeting with members of the club, however, Kuby confirmed that he will file a civil rights suit against the police within weeks.

"This will be the third major suit against the city and will take the total they've had to pay through the $1m mark," said Kuby. "Thanks to the police, New York City has already given every one of those guys a new motorcycle and I've bought a very nice house in the country. America is a wonderful place."

NYPD would not comment on the prospect of punitive court proceedings. At a press conference in the immediate aftermath of the raid, however, the operation commander expressed his conviction that the police response had been measured.

"Based on the seriousness of the victim's injury, the history of the location and the refusal of those present to co-operate with the police, local commanders used appropriate resources to complete the initial investigation and entry," said chief Michael Collins.

Although Hells Angels chapters elsewhere have been implicated in a catalogue of violence, murder and major crime, the New York branch has been comparatively quiet. In 1987, chapter president Paul Casey pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy, manufacturing and distribution and in 1990 a 14-year-old boy was killed in a fireworks incident involving Hells Angels.

"The vast majority of trouble involving these guys happens directly outside their clubhouse," said Kuby. "In fairness they do tend to be somewhat overbearing in the immediate neighbourhood, but people can't seem to leave them alone. They either want to prove they're tough guys or try to be their friends and that's always going to end badly. Unlike most people in this country the Angels don't want to be the next American idol. They just want to be left alone. I don't know why, but that seems to piss people off."

The Angels have occupied their East Village clubhouse since the 1960s, and are one of the area's few remaining links with its radical past. Traditionally a hotbed of counter-cultural activity, recent years have seen regeneration march through the neighbourhood, and the abandoned sixth-floor building the Angels bought for a pittance now commands a seven-figure sum.

Dominating the immediate area around their HQ, the Hells Angels maintain a round-the-clock, high-profile presence in the vicinity. They have commandeered the sidewalk and parking bays outside for the exclusive use of members.

"If you leave them alone they'll generally ignore you, but they do make intimidating neighbours. They rule this block like a private kingdom," said one resident.

Whatever their reputation, the Angels have a history of defeating the authorities in court. In 1999 a police failure to follow the terms of a search warrant netted Angels a $565,000 windfall, and two years later they got $247,000 after officers conducted an illegal search.

"The Angels view the police with the same sort contempt they do the rest of civil society, so you've got a problem there that's always going to mean trouble," said Kuby.