SHOT OVER HELLS ANGELS’ PARKING SPOT
Shot for moving Hells Angles HQ parking cone
A biker shot a man in the gut for moving an orange traffic cone that was holding a parking spot outside the Hells Angels’ East Village clubhouse early Sunday, police said.
David Martinez, 25, was riding in the passenger seat of his Mercedes-Benz at around 1:20 a.m. when his friend, who was driving, had to stop because a livery car was blocking his way on East Third Street, cops said.
Martinez got out to move the cone — one of several the bikers had set up to hold spots near their headquarters — so the Mercedes could pass, according to police sources.
But a Hells Angels member wearing the group’s distinctive insignia on his jacket came out of the clubhouse and told Martinez not to touch it, cops said.
The two began arguing, and three other men piled out of the Mercedes, at which point, the biker threw a punch at Martinez, according to police.
Other bikers spilled out of the clubhouse at 77 E. Third St. and a fight ensued, during which an Angel was knocked to the pavement by a man who was preparing to kick him, cops said.
A prospective Hells Angels member, who was also on the ground, pulled out a handgun and fired a single shot that struck Martinez in the abdomen, the sources added. The shooter is believed to be a “prospect” because he wasn’t wearing the Hells Angels’ official death’s-head patch.
Martinez’s pals — including one woman — loaded him into the Mercedes and rushed him to Bellevue Hospital.
His wound was not considered life-threatening, and family members said he underwent surgery and was in stable condition.
Three suspects, all described as white men believed to be riding motorcycles, were being sought by cops.
The shooter was described as wearing black boots, jeans and a jean jacket over a red hoodie. He may walk with a limp, cops said.
The NYPD was reviewing surveillance video from the area and was also seeking a search warrant for video from inside the Hells Angels clubhouse, which has four cameras outside.
The Hells Angels zealously protect the parking spaces outside their clubhouse, which has an official-looking sign that says “NO PARKING EXCEPT AUTHORIZED HELLS ANGELS” affixed to the brick facade.
A Google Maps image also shows traffic cones blocking spaces on both sides of the street out front, with large amounts of space between motorcycles.
Cops took the cones they found on the street Sunday morning, sources said.
Famed civil-rights lawyer Ron Kuby, who has represented several members of the club in the past, said he was unaware of the shooting when reached by The Post.
“No white man on a motorcycle has contacted me with respect to this incident,” he said.
East Village residents have complained for years about the parking situation outside the Hells Angels clubhouse, saying the infamous biker gang was known to routinely use traffic cones and sawhorses to reserve spaces on the block.
“If you try to park, they say you can’t park there, and people move away,” one resident complained to The New York Times in 1999.
At least eight cones and a sawhorse were found blocking spots on both sides of the street just a week before that resident spoke to the newspaper.
Although there have been no reported incidents or arrests on record relating to parking disputes, many in the neighborhood have come forward and voiced their concerns, including members of Manhattan Community Board 3.
“They have nothing but curses for their neighbors,” one resident told the New York Observer in 2005, when a new NYU dormitory was erected next door and was threatening to push the bikers out.
“The s--t hasn’t hit the fan yet with whoever’s going to go in and out of that dorm building and park their cars in front of that building,” that resident added ominously.
While the parking situation outside the clubhouse has been a thorn in the side to residents, most who live in the area have said they enjoy having the bikers around — because it lowers the crime rate.
“They’re not the nicest people in the world. I mean, they would cut your leg off in a heartbeat,” Don Muldoon, a retired cop who served in the East Village’s Ninth Precinct for 26 years, told the Observer. “But the funny part was, there was very little crime on their block, although we did find some unconscious people lying there once in awhile, you know? Of questionable moral fiber.”