Boulder City stays quiet with Mongols Motorcycle Club in town
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About 300 members of the notorious motorcycle club, known as the Mongols, converged on Boulder City this weekend for a conference. Video by ktnv.com
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Boulder City, NV (KTNV) -- About 300 members of the notorious motorcycle club, known as the Mongols, converged on Boulder City this weekend for a conference.
Stores and restaurants in the small town geared up for the influx of people. But many business owners say profits actually went down.
"Unfortunately, it seems it wasn't a good thing for business," says Beth Walker, owner of Grandma Daisy's Candy & Ice Cream Parlor. "It was much slower than a typical weekend. I think a lot of our regular customers left town or stayed-in. They were worried it was going to be chaotic."
"All the businesses were hurting," adds John Kaposta, owner of Tony's Pizza & Subs. "We didn't have hardly any business here at all. All our locals were scared to come out. And the extreme police presence was too overwhelming for everyone."
Kaposta, like many others, believe the Mongols didn't venture out into the city because law enforcement was unwelcoming.
Boulder City police officers had back up from Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, and the FBI.
Stephen Stubbs -- a Boulder City resident and attorney for the Mongols in Nevada -- says it was completely uncalled for.
"The police weren't keeping the peace, they were just being bullies," he says.
Stubbs showed Action News a stack of traffic tickets that he says were handed out to bikers while they were in town. One of them was his own ticket. On Friday, Stubbs was cited by a police officer for jaywalking.
"The police say they wanted to protect the city of Boulder City," he says. "I don't see how there's any protection in the harassment's that were happening. It got to the point where the Mongols felt they needed to keep to themselves. Unfortunately, for Boulder City, that meant they spent a lot less money here than they could have."
But the Boulder City Police Chief says it's better to be safe than sorry.
He points to the motorcycle club's violent past. In 2002, a fight at the Laughlin River Run between the Hells Angels and Mongols left three people dead. Another brawl between the rival groups happened at a Las Vegas wedding chapel in 2008.
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