Deputies arrest motorcycle gang members after fight over T-shirt in Florida Keys

The Monroe County Sheriff's Office released this photo of the clothes that allegedly prompted a fight on Saturday at a restaurant. (MCSO)

KEY WEST, Fla. – Deputies arrested several motorcycle gang members on Saturday at a restaurant in the Florida Keys, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

Three of the four arrested were members of the Pagans, an outlaw motorcycle club with chapters all over the country, according to Rebecca Herrin, a spokeswoman for MCSO.

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Derek Queen, David Mirth, and Anthony Eliopulos walked into the Boardwalk Bar & Grill in Big Pine Key and saw Jeffrey Jones at the bar wearing a T-shirt with the sign of a rival gang, according to deputies.

“He told them he is not an Outlaw motorcycle gang member but was just wearing an Outlaw T-shirt,” Herrin wrote in a statement about Jones.

Surveillance video shows Queen, 41, Eliopulos, 55, and Mirth, 60, holding Jones, 49, outside of the restaurant against his will, taking off his T-shirt and pinning him between two cars, according to deputies.

Deputies arrested Queen, of Key West; Eliopulos, of Ramrod Key; and Mirth, of Big Pine Key. When he refused to cooperate with deputies, they detained Jones, of Key West, too.

At first, the restaurant’s management refused to release the surveillance video, but detectives returned with a federal subpoena that the Drug Enforcement Administration helped them get, according to Harris.

In a statement, released by Harris, Sheriff Rick Ramsay said deputies will not “tolerate” the gangs.

“We will continue to make the investigation of gang-related crimes a priority and will not allow the members of such groups to interfere with the day-to-day lives of the peaceful and law-abiding citizens whom we serve,” Ramsay said.

Queen, Eliopulos, and Mirth are facing charges of kidnapping or false imprisonment and battery.

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The Emmy Award-winning journalist joined the Local 10 News team in 2013. She wrote for the Miami Herald for more than 9 years and won a Green Eyeshade Award.

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