The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

I et. HI INIT. "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" 8- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, July 1, 1997 Para-Dice Riders held up by police blockade again From Page 1 opinion it amounts to bor- derline harassment. I know they've (police) got a job to do, but it totally inconve- niences the whole town, and for what?" he said. "These guys (club mem- bers and guests) have never caused one bit of trouble that I know of." Road blocks were set up at the fire hall on Durham Rd. 57 and at the end of Williams Point Rd. to check people police felt might have some connection to the motorcycle club. While checks of certain motorcy- clists, some wearing club colors, were made, officers with video and still cam- - eras recorded the action. In the three-hour period between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. police pulled over five vehi- Next Course July 7th Young Drivers of Canada cles, a Dodge truck and four Harley-Davidson motorcycles, for in-depth checks. All were eventually ailowed to proceed. At the road.check itself, some motorists were stopped briefly and others simply waved through. Staff Sgt. Schoenroch said the roadside checks can sometimes lead to police finding more serious infractions. "We check them for standard Highway Traffic ~ Act violations and any Criminal Code violations. By doing so, we hope to keep out weapons and drugs. We don't want a Quebec situation to devel- op." Quebec has been the set- ting for a protracted war between rival biker gangs. Local business people reported no problems relat- ed to the bikers' run, but did say that in general business is up during the club's annual pilgrimage to Scugog. Mayor Howard Hall, who also sits on the Police Services Board, visited the - main check point around 11 a.m. and was supportive . of the police action. "It's necessary for them (the police) to stay abreast of club activities," he said. "Overall I've had no complaints about it (the roadblocks). I think deep down the residents of Caesarea appreciate the police presence." When asked about the manpower needed to have 30 uniformed officers, the crime unit and two police service dogs on site for the day, Mayor Hall said, "this doesn't effect normal police service to the area; it Dental Care Jor the whole Jami ly A member of the Para- Durham Regional Police. Saturday to monitor memb Ss Dice motorcycle club has his bike examined by Police set up two check points in Caesarea last ers of the club and their guests as they arrived for an annual Canada Day Bash. This rider was allowed to proceed after a thorough check of documents and an examina that it conformed to the Highway traffic Act. doesn't take officers off street patrol, this is likely an overtime situation." Another local resident complained to officers on site, "You guys are here all day when nothing happens, spending all this money, but where are you at night? PORT PERRY "DENTAL CENTRE 238 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY ~~ * DR. J. HARDY * DR. L. GIDEON * Dr. MCINTYRE * DR. J. COTTRELL ¢ DR. C. BANFIELD ° Dr. T. KING Orthodontist Periodontist Please Call - 985-845 1 (DR. L. GIDEON Please cart 985-7952 ) 238 QUEEN STREET - PORT PERRY, ONT That's when the problems might happen, and you guys are long gone." As of Sunday morning Durham Police at 26 Division in Port Perry reported no unusual inci- dents in Caesarea on Saturday night. One firefighter who asked not to be identified -- as did most of the resi- dents the Star spoke with -- said the positioning of the roadblock, on 57 by the hall, could cause problems Durham Regional Police checked an"esti-- mated 100 bikers and laid a total of 20 charges in Caesarea last week- end. Police said that they encountered no problems with the visit- ing bikers. During their check, which was set up from 9 am. to 6 p.m. on Durham Rd. 57 last Saturday, regional police laid 14 Highway Traffic Act charges, four Compulsory 'Auto Insurance Act charges and two Criminal Code charges. These included three charges for no insur- ance; one charge of fail- ing to surrender insur- Police lay 20 charges 'authorized for vehicle tion of the motorcycle to see in the event of an emer- gency. "My concern is if we have to respond to an emer- gency call the fire hall lot is full of (police vehicles). hey assure us they can move them immediately but if they happen to have a bunch of motorcycles in there and even if it takes them one or two minutes to move all the vehicles so we can roll the (fire) trucks, that's one or two minutes too long in a fire situation." ance documents; 10 charges of improper hel- met use; one plate not one operation of a unsafe vehicle; one fail- ure to surrender a per- mit for a motor vehicle; one charge of no driver's license; one charge of driving while prohibited; and one charge of obstructing police, Durham Police esti- mate that about 200 rid- ers were present at the party including mem- bers from the Para-Dice Riders; Vagabonds, Lost Souls, Last Chance, and other clubs, - There were no alco- hol, illegal substance or weapons charges laid.