Some friends wore biker vests as a joke. Then a Pagan gang member showed up, police say
A Key West man who belongs to the Pagans motorcycle outlaw gang was arrested after police said he pulled a knife on a visitor for wearing a biker vest he bought on Amazon.
Michael Robbins, 52, was jailed on charges of aggravated assault, aggravated battery, robbery, misdemeanor battery, criminal mischief and a felony charge of gang-related activity. Robbins is at the Stock Island Detention Center on $100,000 bond.
Robbins, who wore a shirt that read, “Pagans Key West,” said he was a Pagan club member while being booked into jail, but didn’t make a statement, police said.
Robbins was arrested early Sunday morning at his home on White Street.
The alleged victim, 36, of Virginia Beach, said he and some friends decided to wear “fake motorcycle cuts,” or vests, for fun while riding their bicycles to a Key West bar on Saturday night, according to a police report.
The friends bought the vests, sometimes called “cut offs,” on Amazon for $15 each.
Each of the cuts sported patches on the front and back that read, “Roman Empires Oceana.”
The night out drinking, though, ended badly for one of the men.
Patrons at Sloppy Joe’s Bar on Duval Street were giving the group a hard time for wearing the vests, police said, and the Virginia man decided to leave the bar for his hotel room.
He walked out on Duval and headed toward his bicycle, which he had locked up nearby.
At the corner of Duval and Caroline streets, he was approached by Robbins, who made reference to the vest.
Before the man could answer, Robbins punched him in the face and then ordered him to hand over the vest, police said.
Robbins told the man he was in “Pagan territory,” and that if he saw him in Key West again, he and his Pagan friends would beat him up, police reported.
The visitor told Robbins his cut was part of a military group.
Robbins told the man to follow him around the corner and the two were standing outside the General Horseplay bar on Caroline Street.
“If you ever come back to Key West, I will kill you,” police said Robbins told the man as he used his knife to cut patches off the vest.
The incident was captured by a bar’s security camera and the footage shows Robbins putting the patches into his back pocket, police said.
The Virginia man “felt he was in great danger and was in fear for his life during this incident,” police reported.
This story was originally published February 4, 2020 at 7:15 AM.
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