MJP –
I’ve been watching the FYI series “Gangsters: America’s Most Evil,” and the second episode of season one, “The Ultimate Outlaw: Harry ‘Taco’ Bowman, was about the Outlaw motorcycle gang.
The Outlaws biker gang was formed in McCook, Illinois in 1935, making it the oldest outlaw biker club and the third largest in the world. To my surprise, the narrator mentioned a deadly clash outside Buffalo. Of course, my ears perked up and I went into research mode.
The Outlaws Vs. The Hells Angels
The Outlaws were founded by John Davis in 1935 and was originally called the McCook Outlaws MC. In 1964, thirty years after it began, the club merged with the Cult biker club from Voorheesville, New York, the Gypsy Outlaws of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and the Gypsy Raiders in Louisville, Kentucky.
This move made it the second biggest “one percenter” club in the United States, only second to the Hells Angels. On January 1, 1965, the merged clubs incorporated and became known as the American Outlaws Association, according to Wikipedia.
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club originated on March 17, 1948, after several motorcycle clubs decided to merge in Fontana, California. Otto Friedli is credited with founding the club, although there are theories that it was founded on November 15, 1951, in San Bernardino, by Dick White, according to Wikipedia.
The Outlaws and the Hells Angels are longtime rivals.
The FIRST BIKER WAR | Hells Angels VS Outlaws
Rival Motorcycle Gang Members Involved In Shootout Near Buffalo
The two gangs have had many violent run-ins and one of them happened near us. The Lancaster Speedway Killings took place on September 26, 1994, just outside of Buffalo in Lancaster, New York. The two gangs got into a violent brawl that resulted in two people dying.
Lancaster Shooting: New Developments in the Investigation into 7-Year-Old Boy’s Death
At least eight other people were injured. The Outlaws and the Hells Angels reportedly had been drinking all morning prior to the fight. Semi-auto handguns, knives, and even clubs were used in the attacks. More than 10 gang members were arrested on gun and drug charges, according to Ranker.
One of the suspects, Outlaw gang member Randy Mark Yager, aka “Mad”, had been on the run for 17 years before he was arrested in Mexico in 2014. According to the U.S. Department of Justice,
“Yager is alleged to have participated in racketeering acts that included conspiracy to murder the Lancaster Speedway in Erie County, New York, where a member of the Hell’s Angels and a member of the Outlaws were each killed during the planned assault.”
He ended up taking a plea deal with the feds and was sentenced to 15 years behind bars.
