Attack on Lexington motorcycle club cited in charges against 14 members of rival gang
An alleged attack on a motorcycle club in Lexington figures prominently in federal charges against members of a rival gang.
A federal grand jury last week indicted members of the Thug Riders Motorcycle Club (TRMC) chapter based in Dayton, Ohio, on charges of racketeering, assault in aid of racketeering, conspiracy and attempted assault.
The indictment names 14 TRMC members, though not all were charged in all counts.
One incident the indictment cites as an example of the club’s alleged illegal activities happened in Lexington in April 2023, when more than half a dozen club members rode from Ohio to Lexington to retaliate against a rival motorcycle gang known as the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, according to the indictment.
Members of the TRMC suspected two of their Kentucky members had been attacked by Outlaws MC members, the indictment says.
The two clubs have been in conflict over control of territory, according to the indictment.
TRMC members from Ohio met up with members from the club’s Richmond chapter at a gas station on North Broadway in Lexington and switched the Ohio license plates on their motorcyles with stolen Kentucky plates, the indictment charges.
Club members then went to the Outlaws MC clubhouse on Bryan Avenue and fired at least 192 shots into the building, according to the indictment.
The building was occupied at the time. The indictment did not say whether any Outlaws MC members were hurt.
The attack and the planning leading up to it were the basis for the conspiracy charge in the indictment against 10 TRMC members.
A Kentucky club member who allegedly helped supply stolen license plates, Joseph Michael Rader, 32, was arrested last week and was scheduled for an initial court appearance Monday in federal court in Lexington.
Background on Dayton club
The indictment says the TRMC established the Dayton chapter in 2019. Juan Anthony Robles, 45, one of the men named in the indictment, was instrumental in setting up the new chapter and is the current head of the organization in the Midwest, according to the charges.
The organization itself was founded as an “outlaw motorcycle gang” in 2004 and has chapters throughout the U.S. and in other countries, including Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and Germany, according to the indictment.
The organization makes money from dues from members, payments from support clubs and other methods that include illegal alcohol sales and stripper shows, the indictment says.
Members have engaged in extortion, identity fraud and violent acts including murder, arson and assault, according to the indictment.
Other incidents cited in the indictment include blowing up a vehicle owned by a former member of the club who hadn’t paid the $1,000 fee to get out of the organization, and firing more than 40 shots into a Chevrolet Tahoe at a Dayton liquor store, killing one of the occupants.
The men in the SUV had gotten into a confrontation with TRMC members after being turned away from a club event, according to the indictment.
The Dayton Daily News reported that about 300 police officers from various agencies took part in rounding up TRMC members in four states last week.
Federal authorities said at a news conference that police seized about 100 guns and 15,000 rounds of ammunition during the arrests, according to the newspaper.
This story was originally published June 17, 2024 at 10:51 AM.
