• By
• ZUSHA ELINSON
• CONNECT

Prosecutors are considering criminal charges against four members of the Iron Brotherhood motorcycle club for their roles in a Christmastime bar brawl in Prescott, Ariz., that sent one man to the hospital.

Their nicknames are Tarzan, Mongo, Guido and Top Gun. They rode Harley Davidson motorcycles, wore vests decorated with skulls and some allegedly carried knives and brass knuckles.

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Moctezuma's Bar in Prescott, Ariz., where a brawl took place last December involving members of the Iron Brotherhood Motorcycle Club.

And their day jobs were police chief, county sheriff's sergeant, police officer and paramedic.

An increasing number of police officers are forming motorcycle clubs, and hundreds now exist nationwide, according to experts on motorcycle gangs. Gang investigators fear that such clubs, some of which have the trappings of outlaw biker groups, can hurt the credibility of law enforcement and undermine criminal cases brought against traditional gangs.

"In the last 15 years I would say that we've probably seen a tenfold increase in these clubs," said Terry Katz, vice president of the International Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigators Association, who works for the Maryland State Police. "The first ones were pretty straightforward—they were family-oriented clubs. What we see now as a trend is biker by night and cop by day."

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