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No Fear In Cape Fear: Bikers Help Catch Robbers

Posted on Sep 01, 2009

Posted 4/23/2008

Cape Fear, North Carolina: March 16, 2008:
You may already be aware of the heroics of several members of the Cape Fear HOG Chapter during a robbery at a BP gas station in North Carolina, on March 16th. What you might not know is that some of the bikers were Accident Scene Management instructors.

Accident Scene Management, Inc, (ASMI) is supported by Hupy and Abraham, S.C. Our law firm has donated thousands of dollars to ASMI to help start the program and to offset some of the registration fees for students. To learn more about ASMI, visit www.accidentscene.org.

ASMI instructors are community servants. They not only are dedicated to reducing injuries and fatalities to motorcyclists but are being recognized for their recent actions when a gas station was being robbed. The robbers, Alphonso Stevenson, aka Mannie, and his 15 year old accomplice, with the street name Block, are among a group of men responsible for 16 robberies of convenience stores, restaurants and gas stations in the Cape Fear area. Stevenson was charged with 5 counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, 5 counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon and 5 counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Block was charged with 5 counts of conspiracy. They are being held in the Cumberland County Detention Center.

The following is the story told by Steve Adams, one of the ASMI instructors who responded.

Steve Adam: ASMI Assistant Instructor, U.S. Army Special Forces, Cape Fear HOG, CBA/ABATE

Members of our local HOG Chapter were meeting at our typical link up point at the BP Station on Bragg Boulevard, prior to going on a Progressive Breakfast Ride. Around 20 of us were milling around outside the station waiting on everyone to show up when the woman working inside hit the window and yelled, "they are robbing me"! Just then we heard a gun shot and a scream. Immediately, two members ran around the front of the store as I ran around the back side.

Two young men exited the store at a dead run. We yelled for them to stop and took up chase. Keep in mind we are old and slow but their baggy pants were falling down and they struggled with the fact that they did not have their shoes tied! Several of us were armed, drew our pistols for defense and took aim twice (North Carolina allows persons to carry concealed weapons). We chased them for about a 1/4 mile when they turned the corner by the strip mall. Several of our members were in pursuit on their bikes. As one member, Jerry, came around the corner they shot at him twice, but fortunately missed. We chased them into a wooded area just as the Police arrived.

A couple members rode their bikes down the road and blocked the robbers from crossing over into a thicker wooded area. When they saw the road was blocked they ran back up a hill and climbed over a chain link fence where they hid under a parked car. They were arrested when they were spotted and the K-9 Unit arrived. The first words out of their mouths when arrested were, "Them bikers are crazy"!

Luckily they shot at and missed the store clerk; however a fragment did hit her leg. Peggy Quatrone, an ASMI Lead Instructor, pulled up to the station while we were in pursuit. She attended to the store clerk.

Margaret “Peggy” Foster Quatrone, LPN, ASMI Lead Instructor, Cape Fear HOG

I guess the bottom line was that we got pretty pissed at the arrogance of those little buzzards who thought they could rob our gas station with us outside. I guess after so many robberies they were expecting us to just stand by and watch and didn’t expect a bunch of guys with guns chasing them! The Fayetteville PD has recommended us for a Civilian award and letters of appreciation. They are going to host a dinner and ceremony sometime in May.