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Most witnesses felt that the Angels had drawn first blood; the tortured ethic of the hassle dictates that the man who goes for his hardware last loses face. Most present also believed that the Angels were not expecting a ruckus, or they would not have been outnumbered 6 to 1. If that is true, the Angels showed much better reactions than the cops, who had been forewarned by a federal narcotics agent. When the Breed rolled up to the hall, an off-duty patrolman immediately notified police headquarters, and two dozen wagons and cars full of police were dispatched. But the police lieutenant in charge was told inside the hall that there was no trouble, so he dispersed his men outside. When the brawl broke out, only five policemen and three private guards were inside the auditorium.
Like Elephants. With ten of their band held in Cleveland without bail on charges of first-degree murder and another lying in state (in full Angel regalia with his cycle by the coffin) in a Lower East Side Manhattan funeral parlor, the Angels might have been expected to lie low for a while. Yet even as dozens of the clan gathered to pay tribute to "Groover" Coffey, some 15 to 30 Angels pushed their way into a nearby leather goods shop and began to rough up the owner. When his 17-year-old girl friend appeared, one Angel reportedly said: "We're here for a funeral, but this looks like a party." Then eight of the group allegedly dragged the girl to a loft above the shop and tortured and raped her repeatedly for six hysterical hours. The Angels were arrested and booked on charges of rape, sodomy, assault, criminal trespass and unlawful imprisonment.
There is likely to be more purposeful violence between the Breed and the Angels. Said one biker: "Angels are like elephants—they never forget." Does the prospect of another round of bloodletting worry the Angels? No, says New York Angel President Sandy Alexander: "Who has fear in the fraternity of the doomed?"