Chandler's police union is upset with the vice mayor, saying he was present during a Hells Angels celebration in Cave Creek Sunday.
"I don't know how he can sit on the dais and talk about the issues that we're facing in Chandler with gang violence on one hand, and go out and support a violent gang like the Hells Angels on the other hand," said police officer Joseph McAuliffe, treasurer of the Chandler Law Enforcement Association.
In an e-mail to Vice Mayor Lowell Huggins and other council members, McAuliffe said Huggins spent Easter Sunday celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Hells Angels motorcycle gang.
"That's not even true," Huggins told the Tribune. "They're going to be 60 pretty soon."
Huggins said he rode with a high school friend to a saloon for lunch and left well before the biker gang swarmed the area with more than 700 motorcycles. The rally was held to celebrate a chapter's 50th anniversary with the club.
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"This officer is totally wrong in what he's thinking," Huggins said. "I just hope he does his investigations more thoroughly than this and doesn't jump to conclusions."
Huggins, a former Chandler police officer, was fired in 1985 for not obeying an order to disassociate himself from the Dirty Dozen motorcycle gang. A motorcycle enthusiast, he has previously said the real motive for his firing was his plan to run for the council.
McAuliffe said the union is seeking no action from Huggins.
"We just wanted to make it public that we think it's inappropriate for somebody of his position to be doing something like that," he said.
