BIKER NEWS: Motorcycle clubs give back to community

BN- Members of local motorcycle clubs are finding ways to give back to the community, from hosting supply drives to pool parties around the city.

"The community helps us so we've got to give back. Especially for the kids," Ernest Price, President of Toros M.C., said.

Toros M.C. Corpus Christi recently organized a school supply drive for kids on the Northside.

"The Northside area, this is an area that is primarily minorities. Since we are a minority motorcycle group, we want to be sure that we captured those children that are on this side of town so they're not forgotten," said Charles Johnson with Toros M.C.

The local Road Hoggs also recently helped a Flour Bluff church hand out free water bottles following the boil advisory. Both clubs tell KRIS 6 News they hope to build good reputations for motorcyclists.

"Turn it around. It's misconstrued that all bikers are bad, and we're not," Price said.

The clubs are aware of violence between motorcycle groups in other cities. They have discussed it at the local Coalition of Clubs meetings. At the monthly meetings they also address how they can make a positive impact in the community.

"That is the goal of the whole coalition," Johnson said. "There are a number of clubs that are represented. We know what's happening in Corpus Christi, and it's nothing like anything that you see on TV."

Members of the clubs also told KRIS 6 News they have not encountered problems with tougher groups or criminal gangs on local roads.

"Not here in Corpus Christi. It's other places that you hear about mostly," Price said.

Motorcycle gang activity in the city has been down since the Corpus Christi Police Department formed its gang unit in the mid 1990s, according to Martin DeLeon, gang unit officer and President at Texas Gang Investigators Association.

However after a shootout killed nine motorcyclists in Waco, TX this spring, Corpus Christi law enforcement reacted to threats from outside gangs.

"It's part of our job, people make threats," DeLeon said. "We train for this kind of situation. Hopefully it all works for us and we go home safely."

This year's gang assessment from the Texas Department of Public does cite motorcycle gang activity in the South Texas region.

However DeLeon says the CCPD has not dealt with a bike gang related incident in Corpus Christi this year. He thinks it is unfortunate the actions of a few individuals can be misconstrued against a larger group trying to give back.

"It takes more than one group, or one organization, it takes them all," he said.

Meanwhile local motorcycle clubs hope their efforts around the city are noticed.

"Bikers get a rough name, but that's not the case. All bikers are not the same," Price said. "There are a lot that are willing to help out and make the community better."

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