LYNN – The Hells Angels’ clubhouse on Fayette Street in Lynn was raided by the FBI and local police early Thursday morning.
A spokesperson for the FBI’s Boston office said they are conducting “court-authorized activity” in connection with a federal investigation but declined to comment further to protect the integrity of the investigation.
According to neighbors, the raid began around 4:30 a.m. A neighbor who wished to remain anonymous said she woke up at 4 a.m. and heard a loud commotion around 4:30 a.m. At 5 a.m., she said she heard loud commotion and “a banging sound” and saw police blocking off the neighborhood. She also described seeing an “army truck” with a battering ram. Other neighbors said the truck was an armored SWAT vehicle.
The neighbor said that FBI agents then announced they had a search warrant and requested people to exit the building. After no one exited the building, the neighbor said law enforcement started breaking through the front door with a battering ram.
After the entrance was opened, the neighbor said she saw a remote-controlled robot with a camera enter the building. She also noticed what looked like a crisis negotiation van.
Around 6 a.m., six individuals from law enforcement entered the building with riot shields. Soon after much of the noise subsided and an individual in a white shirt and handcuffs was brought out of the building in police custody.
According to the neighbor, around 7 a.m, law enforcement exited the front of the building and moved around to the back. She says it sounded like they were breaching the back door of the clubhouse and heard “metal on metal.”
Another resident in the area said she heard the sound of breaking glass and flashbangs coming from the building. She said that it was like “something out of a movie.”
This resident says she often passes the clubhouse and noted that Wednesday night there were more people at the clubhouse than usual and that they had “been there for a long time.” Both neighbors said that they had noticed two cars on either side of the neighborhood in the past week. They agreed that the cars seemed to be out of place, as they had not seen the cars before and the drivers left the cars running for hours at a time while inside.
This raid appears to be part of an international coordinated effort by the FBI, as other Hells Angels clubhouses in Danvers, Westport, R.I., and Toronto have been raided in the past 24 hours.
Emma Fringuelli can be reached at [email protected].
