Texas biker-shooting suspects sue for release from jail

AUSTIN, Texas — In what could be the beginning of a mountain of lawsuits connected to the May 17 Waco, Texas, shootings that claimed nine lives, two Austin-area suspects have sued, seeking to be released from jail.

Jimmy Lee Pond, 43, and Thomas Paul Landers, 58, have filed writs seeking their release. They have remained incarcerated at the McLennan County Jail with bail set at $1 million US since police filed sweeping charges against more than 170 bikers present during the shootings at the Twin Peaks restaurant.

The lawsuits claim that Pond and Landers were not involved in the shootings. They were standing near an informational booth on the opposite side of the restaurant from where the shootings hap- pened when gunfire erupted, the suits say.

“You can’t charge someone just because they were wearing a motorcycle club patch,” said George Lobb, an attorney for Pond.

The suits might be the first in a string of litigation filed against the city of Waco and McLennan County.

Adam Reposa, a lawyer for Landers, represents seven bikers arrested after the Twin Peaks shootings and is considering a class-action lawsuit, sources said.

On Friday, 30-year-old Matthew Alan Clendennen of Hewitt sued Waco and McLennan County in federal court, claiming his arrest was illegal and seeking damages because of his inability to operate his business while in jail, court documents said.

In a blanket arrest affidavit filed after the shootings, Waco police charged 172 bikers at the scene with engaging in organized crime, a first-degree felony, alleging that every biker at the scene was wearing the colours of a criminal motorcycle gang and in possession of illegal weapons.

Few of the bikers arrested have been released. But Thursday, three Austin-area bikers — Jonathan Lopez, Theron Rhoten and Ryan Craft — were released after judges granted them bail reductions to $25,000, The Waco Tribune-Herald reported.

Lobb would not say what motorcycle club Pond was affiliated with, citing attorney-client confidentiality. Records showed Pond was arrested in Williamson County in 1993 on a charge of misdemeanour possession of marijuana.

However, Lobb said Pond has no affiliation with any criminal gangs and he is the sole breadwinner in his household.