INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana — (DMN) – FBI agents swept across parts of Indiana this morning arresting dozens of members of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. The U.S. Attorney’s office called the massive operation “the largest federal bust of alleged gang activity in Indianapolis history.” A task force of hundreds agents brought in from across the United States sought 43 Outlaws named in arrest warrants in areas of Indianapolis and the Northeastern Indiana city of Fort Wayne.
Agents were at the gang’s East Indianapolis clubhouse where police officers shut down part of New York Street to facilitate the investigation. WISH-TV reports that yellow crime tape surrounded the Outlaws building as several FBI agents in marked T-shirts were collecting evidence inside the clubhouse. An FBI task force raided the Outlaws’ Fort Wayne clubhouse in the 1200 block of West Main Street, the Fort Wayne Journal reported. Agents boxed up evidence and searched the building with a dog, while tactical officers stood guard out front. After the raid, crews removed the Outlaws’ sign from the Fort Wayne clubhouse, WANE-TV reported.
Search warrants were also executed in the Indiana cities of Franklin and Martinsville. Earlier this week, area police departments were called to help U.S. marshals serve arrest warrants in Johnson County, Indiana, according to the Daily Journal of Franklin. The arrest warrants were for a wide array of charges including racketeering and mail fraud, the source said. The suspects were gang members and associates, the source said. In 2009, 14 members of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club from Indiana and Michigan plead guilty to federal assault, drug, and other charges. Prosecutors described the Outlaws as an international criminal organization.
Wendy Osborne, the spokeswoman for the Indianapolis office of the FBI would not comment on the raids. U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Hogsett will hold a press conference at 2 p.m. about the raid.
A news release from the U.S. attorney called this morning’s action “a historic operation that involved more than 300 federal and local law enforcement agents and represents the largest federal bust of alleged gang activity in Indianapolis history.”
Mary Case, who lives across the street from Outlaws Indianapolis clubhouse, said she saw FBI agents there about 7:30 a.m.
She said the people at Outlaws Indianapolis usually watch over the neighborhood.
“In my eyes, they’re good people. They keep this part of this neighborhood safe,” said Case, who has been living near Jefferson Avenue and New York Street for more than a year. “I feel safe within this vicinity due to them being here. They don’t bother nobody.”
In 2009, 14 members and associates of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club in Indiana and Michigan pleaded guilty to federal assault, drug and other charges in Detroit.
Leaders, members and associates of Outlaws chapters in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Ind., Bay City, Mich., and the Detroit area pleaded guilty to crimes including assault with a dangerous weapon, cocaine and marijuana distribution and possession of hashish.
Prosecutors then described the Outlaws as an international criminal organization.
