MONTREAL, Oct. 10 -- Police security was tight Tuesday as some 150 motorcycle gang members and their families gathered to bury three of their own who were blown apart while trying to plant a bomb. With helicopters overhead, police frisked mourners and checked floral arrangements and the coffins themselves with metal detectors as members of the Rock Machine gang gathered for the triple funeral. Three Rock Machine members were blown to pieces Sept. 21 in what police called an ill-fated attempt to plant a powerful bomb at the fortified Jokers biker gang clubhouse. Police said the scheme went awry when a member of the Jokers, a gang affiliated with the Hell's Angels, fired a shotgun at the trio, which detonated the device. The three were blown into so many pieces it took investigators several days to determine exactly how many were killed in the blast, and several more days to identify them. Those killed were Benoit Grignon, 28, Daniel Paul, 26, and Pierre Patry, 27. Police patrolled streets for blocks around the suburban Verdun church where services were held. Police spokesman Paul Vidal told United Press International that three members of the Rowdy Crew, another gang allied with the Hell's Angels, were detained on the scene after they began photographing funeral-goers. 'It's not our policy to say how many police are engaged in the operation, but we have the area under control,' he said. Nervous residents peered from windows, fearing more violence in the gang war that in the past year has claimed the lives of 25 bikers and an an 11-year-old boy, who was killed when a bomb destroyed a biker's car in August.
Earlier Tuesday, a Molotov cocktail damaged a bar frequented by Rock Machine members and dynamite damaged a car dealership thought to be owned by Rock Machine members on Saturday. The attack against the Jokers' clubhouse followed by a day the funeral of Hell's Angels headman Richard (Crow) Emond who was gunned down in early September.
