All week long the authorities of this town of 7,000 have struggled to contain an ocean of roaring motorcycles and tattooed bikers wrapped in enough leather to outfit the women of Chicago with purses. On Friday, when the crowd had swelled to around 300,000, Police Chief Jim Bush faced one of his most serious challenges _ a showdown on Main Street between two motorcycle gangs. Luckily, the conflict broke off before knives were drawn. And Bush said the police involvement in cooling tempers was, shall we say, discreet. ``We didn't break anything up. We just kind of stood back,'' he said. The 50th Black Hills Motor Classic, with bikers from every state and dozens of countries, rattled toward its official close Sunday, and police in this Black Hills town near the Wyoming border were breathing many sighs of relief. Thursday night, a lead biker of the Outlaws motorcycle gang smiled at a police officer, cocked his finger like a pistol and gave him a little ``pow!'' It was a small gesture, more playful than menacing, but it signified some of the problems that Sturgis has had to cope with in putting on the world's largest motorcycle gathering. Sturgis, which normally has 10 officers, in 10 days has provided a year's worth of mayhem. Since Aug. 1, hundreds of law enforcement agents have issued 976 traffic tickets, given out 1,918 warnings, arrested 180 people for drunken driving and 61 others on drug charges. They also have handled 116 reported accidents, 65 involving injuries. The rally has been the scene of nine traffic-related deaths. Police shot to death an Australian man, and a North Dakota woman died of carbon monoxide poisoning. There have been a few non-fatal stabbings. Law officers interviewed members of the Outlaws and Hells' Angels Saturday night after one person was wounded in a shooting at a downtown bar and two people were stabbed after what witnesses described as a dispute between two motorcycle groups, Meade County State's Attorney Mike Jackley said.. The wounded were alive after the shooting at Gunner's Lounge and Casino and the stabbings near the Sooper Dooper grocery, but their conditions at a nearby hospital were not immediately available, he said. Bush said he was not surprised by the number of fatalities. ``I thought there would probably be more, I really did, with this many people,'' he said. The annual biker festival draws gangs such as the Hells' Angels, The Bandidos, and the Sons of Silence, as well as clubs sponsored by Christian groups and Alcoholics Anonymous. The late Malcolm Forbes was at last year's fest. A coroner's jury Friday ruled that three officers acted in the ``scope of their duty'' when they shot Trevor John Hansen, of Liverpool, Australia. Hansen allegedly lunged at them with a knife Tuesday. Police were responding to a report he had driven his 2-foot-long knife through the door of a house, broke in and held the knife under the nose of a resident. ``Aside from (the shooting), we have not seen anything really outside of what we ordinarily have seen,'' said state Attorney General Roger Tellinghuisen. ``Except it's on a larger scale. And that's to be expected. There are three times as many people here,'' Tellinghuisen said.
