It was Abe Lincoln who said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."
Now, the Arizona Attorney General's Office and the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club are testing that theory in a bidding war for the bikers' clubhouse in Phoenix. State prosecutors, who obtained a half interest in the property under forfeiture laws, are competing with the outlaw club's Cave Creek Charter to buy the house through a court-ordered auction.
Sonny Barger, a co-founder of the Hells Angels and member of the Cave Creek outfit (which is really in Phoenix), said the whole thing seems crazy: "Somebody in the state wants to say they threw us out of the clubhouse, even if they've got to buy it to prove it. Where do they get the money to do that?"
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Andrea Esquer, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Terry Goddard, said state lawyers would not comment on why they are trying to acquire the house, where the purchase money would come from or what the plans are for the building.
The tale begins in 1996, with the purchase of vacant land at 1121 W. Ironwood Drive in the city's Sunnyslope area. The buyers were Daniel "Hoover" Seybert, then club president, and Bob Eberhardt, who was vice president. Using money and manpower from their biker brothers, the men built an 1,800-square-foot structure that they completed in 1999. It has been used since then for twice-weekly Hells Angels gatherings, known as "church meetings."
Eberhardt said the clubhouse includes some special features: reinforced-steel door and window frames, surveillance cameras and a 40-foot-long bar.
In March 2003, Seybert was gunned down outside a Phoenix tavern by an unknown assailant, leaving his heirs as co-owners of the clubhouse with Eberhardt, owner of a concrete company. He ascended to the Hells Angels presidency.
Two years ago, law enforcement agents raided Hells Angels clubs statewide, including the house on Ironwood, as part of a huge federal sting known as Operation Black Biscuit.
The prosecution's case, once touted as a landmark success, collapsed this year. Most defendants went free or pleaded guilty to minor charges. Racketeering allegations were dropped. No one from the Cave Creek Charter was convicted. An associate who was guarding the house during the raid and got shot by police sued the government. The case is pending.
Meanwhile, state attorneys had filed seizure papers alleging that the clubhouse was acquired with criminal racketeering funds. Eberhardt contested that claim in Maricopa County Superior Court and beat the government.
"They accused us of a lot of things they couldn't prove," he said.
However, because Hoover's heirs did not fight the confiscation, the state became half-owner of the property.
"I don't know how they could do that to Hoover. He was dead," Barger said.
The result: a house divided. Eberhardt said the Hells Angels never stopped using the place or paid attention to a state notice banning guns and alcohol from the premises.
To resolve the situation, a special commissioner was assigned to determine the building's fair-market value, which turned out to be $150,000. The house was put up for auction, with plans for Eberhardt and Arizona to split the proceeds. Two bids were submitted, each for $150,000. One came from Eberhardt, the other from Goddard's office.
In court on Wednesday, Judge Kristin Hoffman gave the contestants seven days before a new round of bidding.
It is unclear whether the state will make a new offer and, if so, why. If the state were to prevail, the attorney general most likely would then auction off the house, a standard practice with homes obtained by forfeiture.
Eberhardt has upped his bid to $160,000.
If the government wins, Eberhardt said, Arizona will be paying money to the Hells Angels. If that happens and the group loses its house? Eberhardt said he has a couple of options: He owns a house across the street suitable to become the new headquarters. Or he could take his proceeds and buy another place elsewhere in Phoenix: "I'd like to get in an even nicer area with even more expensive homes," Eberhardt said.
Wilma Fenby, 74, who has lived across Ironwood Drive for the past 29 years, said the Hells Angels have been good neighbors. "The only time I go outside after dark is if they're over there," Fenby said. "I'm more scared of the dopers. Since the bikers moved here, they don't come around anymore."
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