A post-Christmas beat down last year will cost two members of The Outlaws motorcycle club in Michigan a year-and-a-half behind bars in state prison. Just days before they were scheduled to stand trial, Eric (Whiplash) Kerkau and Arthur (A-Bomb) Miller pled guilty to assault charges this week in Bay County Circuit Court in connection with the December 27, 2017 attack on local resident Scott Peterson inside the Whyte Goose Inn tavern just after midnight. Kerkau, 47, and Miller, 33, were upset with Peterson for reportedly snapping photos of them on his cell phone. Although facing a ten-year sentence, the pair of bikers copped a plea deal that guarantees them less than two years behind bars apiece. Kerkau (seen above) and Miller had been loudly carousing around town the night of December 26, making enough noise that Bay City Police received a call from the manager at Stables Martini & Cigar Bar reporting two men matching Kerkau and Miller’s description “causing a ruckus.” According to the official police report, Kerkau and Miller arrived at the Whyte Goose Inn at approximately 1:00 a.m. on December 27 and soon got into their dust up with Peterson. The incident began when Miller approached Peterson, 49, and requested he delete images he had taken with his IPhone. Peterson refused and a screaming match ensued. Kerkau threw the first punch, flooring Peterson near the bar after Miller attempted to draw him outside to the parking lot. They proceeded to throttle, knee and stomp Peterson for a solid 20 seconds. Peterson was left with broken ribs, head and face lacerations and a detached retina. Kerkau was taken into custody following his guilty plea due to a bond-restriction violation. Miller will be free until at least the sentencing hearing next month. Bay City is 100 miles north of Detroit. Outside of Motown, Bay City has the largest population of Outlaws in the state. The Outlaws MC is the most prominent biker gang in the Midwest, maintaining strongholds in Florida and many other southeast locales, too. The club’s international headquarters resided in Detroit throughout the 1980s and 1990s until moving back to its original home of Chicago upon the incarceration of distinguished Detroit biker boss Harry (Taco) Bowman in 1999. In 2007, Bay City Outlaws boss Leroy (Black Region Roy) Fraser was indicted along with 15 other club members and charged with a wide range of drug, weapons and racketeering offenses. The 60-year old Fraser heads the club’s “Black Region,” covering Outlaws’ territory in Michigan and Indiana and did four years of prison time in the case. He was sprung in 2011.
