Wheels coming off
RIVAL GANGS BATTLE FOR POWER, SAYS SOURCE

By JASON HALSTEAD
March 10, 2010

Winnipeg police are anticipating a flare up in violence between biker gangs in the city.
In an affidavit filed in court on Feb. 3 to obtain a search warrant for a handgun at an Elmwood home which led to numerous weapons charges for a suspected Hells Angels associate, a gang unit cop predicts a violent clash between the Hells Angels and the reconstituted Rock Machine.
"Tensions are extremely high between these groups and violence is imminent," said the veteran cop in the affidavit.
The Rock Machine has been making inroads into Manitoba since Project Divide took down more than 30 members or associates of the province's Hells Angels in December, including every member of the outlaw motorcycle gang's puppet group, the Zig Zag Crew.
"Members of the Rock Machine have been capitalizing on the fact that the Hells Angels members and supporters are low in number and have been 'flying' their colours throughout the city of Winnipeg, thus enraging the Manitoba Hells Angels," police wrote in the affidavit.
It's unknown what the link is between the current Rock Machine and the gang of the same name that virtually disappeared after a six-year gang war with the Hells Angels in Quebec in the late 1990s that left more than 150 dead. When the Rock Machine folded in 2000, most remaining members patched over to the Bandidos while others defected to the Hells Angels.
According to the court document, the local conflict came to a head in January when a member of the Rock Machine was lured to a St. Vital-area automotive business that has alleged ties to the Hells Angels. Once there, he was severely beaten by members of the gang's recently formed puppet group, the Redlined Support Crew.
As a result, police said in the affidavit all sides have armed themselves as retribution is expected. Cops wrote Redlined Support Crew members and other Hells Angels supporters have been ordered to seek out Rock Machine members or associates and "take care of them by any means necessary."
A justice source also said he has heard rumours from police that violence is set to escalate.
"(The Rock Machine) are on the way, there is a power vacuum and things are going to get nasty," the source said.
A Montreal bike gang expert, investigative journalist Julian Sher, said it's not surprising to hear other gangs are moving in.
"Biker gangs are like sharks," Sher said. "They smell blood in the water. If they sense that top dogs like the Hells Angels are weak, they try to pounce. Winnipeg's always had that culture of rivalry between gangs, so when the big players come to town, that can just add more problems to the mix."
- With files from Dean Pritchard