Steel Horsemen Motorcycle Club leaves Oconee; plans to stay in Athens area

The Steel Horsemen Motorcycle Club recently left Bishop.

Just weeks after Oconee County sheriff’s deputies and agents with three other law enforcement agencies raided the private clubhouse, the members decided to leave town.

No charges were filed against any members of the Steel Horsemen as a result of the June 30 raid, in which officers seized several items, including a cigarette pack with some “green leafy material,” more than $2,000 cash, a camera and some bar records.

Oconee investigators justified the raid based on investigations into complaints of gunshots, a sexual assault, and a belief the club was unlawfully selling alcohol and was associated with a violent motorcycle gang based in Texas, according to a search warrant.

“We are moving out of Oconee County, but not the Athens area,” club spokesman Zebulon Scott said in an email. “We feel like it was a media stunt put on by the Oconee County Sheriff’s (Office). The Steel Horsemen Motorcycle Club isn’t affiliated with any clubs and we are all taxpaying citizens.”

Oconee deputies said they entered the club in Novem

ber 2014 and documented that they saw the colors of the notorious Bandidos Motorcycle Club.

But Scott disputed the alleged connection with that club.

“Just (because) they claim it, don’t make it true,” he said.

Following the raid, deputies with the sheriff’s office and Steel Horsemen members communicated with each other regarding the investigation. No charges are expected, according to Investigator Chris Cannon.

“They indicated they would be leaving and they held true to their word,” Cannon said, noting that the club has shut down.

The club operated out of a rented house along U.S. Highway 441 in the city limits, but it was not visible from the highway due to trees and undergrowth.

Deputies obtained a warrant to search the club in June based on several criteria, including:

• In November 2012, deputies were called to the house on a report of someone in the area hearing gunshots. When an officer arrived, he found himself surrounded by a group of men who gave him concerns for his personal safety. He saw one man wearing a jacket with “Outlaws” on the back. (The Outlaws are a well-known motorcycle gang.)

• In June 2013, deputies investigated a fight in which one man was stabbed. An arrest was made.

• In November 2014, a woman complained she was raped during a party, but two members admitted they had consensual sex with the woman. No charges were filed.

• In November 2014, deputies entered the club and saw the colors of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club.

Deputies last year began investigating claims of illegal alcohol sales inside the club, which did not have a state license to sell alcoholic beverages. On four occasions, deputies seized the club’s trash when it was rolled to the roadside for pickup. Inside the trash bags they found numerous liquor bottles, beer bottles, shot cups and on one occasion the stem from a marijuana plant.

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