Ben Matcek with his son on a happier day than May 17, 2015
Bryan – Ben Matcek is the only biker arrested far from Twin Peaks, a little more than two miles, while wearing no colors, but because he had a Harley bar and shield decal in the back window of his pickup, officers noted their suspicion.
That was after Waco cops made a brother Line Rider, a mom and pop club with a small membership in Burleson and Brazos Counties, walk into the emergency room at Hillcrest Baptist Memorial Hospital with his finger stuck in hole in his gut, a bleeding gunshot wound, because he could obtain no medical assistance at the crime scene.
The cops stuck pistols in their faces and made them wait in the truck while the man struggled in shock to walk into the emergency room, denied a wheelchair or a gurney.
But he was actually arrested twice for going to his brother’s rescue. First they set his bond at something like $80,000 for misdemeanor crimes. When days later he turned himself in at the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office headquarters in downtown Waco for the offense of engaging in organized criminal activity, US Marshal’s Service SWAT teams raided his house in Bryan and his father’s father-in-law’s houses in the crosstimbers near North Zulch.
He has not been indicted. His story is grim to behold.
Maybe the worst part of it is the part where he and two other members of the mom-and-pop club were housed in a tank situated between entire wings occupied by red and gold and black and gold members kept separate for safety’s sake.
Gang experts had determined they were not part of the conflict between the two clubs. In fact, a nameless gang task force unit member who never introduced himself said he knew they were not really members of an outlaw motorcycle gang as designated by the Justice Department and the Department of Public Safety.
No, they wouldn’t give him his medication. Jailers at the Jack Harwell Detention Center never got around to obtaining it.
A federal civil rights is pending in U.S. District Court at Austin alleging that he and his companions were deprived of their civil rights.
“It’s become very difficult to find a job,” he said. “Everyone wants to do a background check, and when you’re charged with a felony crime…”
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