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25 cases pending three years after Twin Peaks shootout

Posted at 12:37 PM, May 17, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-24 21:31:42-04

Twenty-five bikers still have cases pending three years after the Twin Peaks shootout.

Nine people died and dozens were injured following the incident at the former Twin Peaks restaurant at the Central Texas Marketplace in Waco on May 17, 2015. On the third anniversary of the incident, bikers and supporters gathered outside the McLennan County Courthouse to remember those who died back then and to discuss what they refer to as motorcycle profiling.

At least 127 cases have been dismissed since February of the 155 bikers indicted for engaging in an organized criminal activity.

One of them was for Matthew Clendennen, a former member of the Scimitars motorcycle club.

The 32-year-old said he recalls running for cover when the shots rang out. 

"You show up with the intentions of hanging out for a little bit and going on about your life or your day and everything exploded from there," Clendennen said.

He said the incident was not only hard for his family but forced him to sell his landscaping business.

"I tried to put it behind me. I wanted to basically live everyday like it never happened. Just trying to move forward, not letting it drag me down," Clendennen said.

Sandra Lynch from Los Pirados Motorcycle Club also said the last three years have been hard for her and her husband.

"We should've been interrogated, interviewed and went home. Instead we were all jailed under a $1 million bond and my husband and I were kept there for 17 days," Lynch said.

Both of them were arrested but never indicted.

However, it wasn't until recently they found out their cases would not be presented to a grand jury.

"For the past three years we've lived in fear," Lynch said.

The criminal case is over for Lynch and Clendennen but both of them are still awaiting the outcome of the civil rights lawsuits they filed against the City of Waco, McLennan County, Waco Police and the McLennan County District Attorney.

Their lawsuits are two out of 33 bikers filed against those entities after the mass arrests.

"I believe ultimately, there needs to be some accountability. My hope is that through the lawsuit is that we will be able to get justice in our own way," Clendennen said.

Clendennen plans to continue working at his new business and going back to school to earn a master's degree while the lawsuit he filed works its way through the legal system.

According to County Administrator Dustin Chapman, 32 cases are being stayed while criminal prosecution issues are worked through. In addition, he said the county is insured through the Texas Association of Counties Risk Management Pool, which covers it for $2 million per claim. 

McLennan County has spent $1.2 million in the aftermath of the Twin Peaks shootout. The state of Texas granted the county $914,058 in grants to pay for the costs associated with the cases.

Last week, a McLennan County grand jury indicted 25 bikers for several charges, including tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, rioting, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. Three of the bikers indicted were charged with murder. 

Central Texas News Now reached out to McLennan County, the City of Waco and the McLennan County District Attorney's Office but they were unavailable or declined to comment. 

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