Outlaws indicted on 12 counts in NH

The 2005 attempted murder of a rival motorcycle gang member in New Hampshire is the first of numerous violent and criminal acts the Outlaws motorcycle gang is accused of in a 12-count federal indictment unsealed this week after federal agents charged more than two dozen members in seven states, killing one during a shoot out in Maine yesterday.

Joseph Allman and other members of the American Outlaw Association struck a Diablos motorcycle club member riding near Ossipee on June 22, 2005, with their vehicles, the indictment alleges. The roadway attack wrecked the Diablos biker's motorcycle and, while he lay unconscious on the side of the road, Allman allegedly stripped the unidentified rival biker of his vest and rode off.

Allman was president and enforcer for Maine chapter of the Outlaws, the indictment alleges. He is among 27 Outlaws members and associates charged Tuesday in the indictment handed by a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Va.

One Outlaws member, Thomas "Tomcat" Mayne, 59, was killed in a shoot out with federal agents Tuesday as they attempted to arrest him in Old Orchard Beach, Maine, the Associated Press reported. Mayne was regional treasurer and a former enforcer for the Maine chapter.

The national motorcycle gang is accused of being a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in murder, attempted murder, robberies, assaults, extortion arson, witness intimidation, narcotics and weapons violations across multiple states over a five-year period ending last week.

The arrests and Tuesday's shooting death of Mayne in Maine occur as Laconia Motorcycle Week moves into full-swing and follows a fight among members of the Outlaws, Hells Angels Motorcycle Club and Milford and Company motorcycle club at a Manchester restaurant in April.

New Hampshire police say their most current intelligence has prompted them to put the state on special alert.

"Right now, we have nothing to indicate anything is going to change at this point. But we are always aware of the history of rival gangs and we are always aware that things can change and we have plans in place if that happens," State Police Capt. Mark Myrdek, who heads the division's Investigative Services Bureau.

"We constantly have intelligence and monitor what goes on with the Outlaws motorcycle gang community. We're on top of it as well as we think we can be," Myrdek added.