12 local Pagans indicted in melee
Twelve members of the Pagans motorcycle club who live in western Pennsylvania were among 73 indicted Tuesday for their roles in an attack on the Hells Angels last month at a Long Island social club that left one dead and a dozen injured.
The four-count federal indictment, handed down in the Eastern District of New York, charges 73 Pagan members with conspiracy to commit assault, assault, using and carrying firearms and carrying explosives. All of the suspects also face charges by the Nassau County district attorney, including attempted gang assault, riot and weapons charges. A Philadelphia man has been released on bond for health reasons and the rest still are being held, officials said.
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The indictment follows warnings by law enforcement that the long-running feud between the two rival motorcycle gangs is heating up again, after increased efforts by both groups to expand their turf.
Lt. Terry Katz, Criminal Intelligence Division of the Maryland State Police, has spent 20 years monitoring motorcycle gang activity and spent almost three years undercover with the Pagans. He said all the major motorcycle gangs have expanded in the last decade and that the melee in New York and a bombing in Philadelphia last week could be preludes to an all-out war between the Pagans and Hells Angels.
"Each gang is a target-rich environment for the other. If the past is any indicator, you're likely to see bombings and shootings in an attempt to avenge perceived wrongs," Katz said.
Katz said the Pagans have been very active in southwestern Pennsylvania and have chapters in Fayette City, Pittsburgh and Greensburg. In all, there are about 30 members in southwestern Pennsylvania with each member having 10 criminal associates who are not members of the club, Katz said. Associates fall into many categories, from business owners to members of street gangs and even La Cosa Nostra, Katz said.
Katz said some Pagans are legitimate businessmen, but many operate illegal prostitution, drug and extortion rackets.
Pittsburgh attorney Mark Lancaster, who has represented the Pagans for the past decade, says the group consists of family-oriented men who "believe in freedom and motorcycles."
"They're like any other group of people. They're good guys, no different from members of the FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) or the Elks Club," Lancaster said.
Many in law enforcement disagree.
"It's about keeping their turf," said Detective Sgt. Greg Quinn, special investigations squad of the Nassau County police, where the brawl occurred. "They thrive on illegal activity — whether its guns, drugs or prostitution — wherever they can make money."
Police in Philadelphia suspect the firebombing of a tattoo parlor owned by Pagans member Joseph "Coney Island Joe" DeMatteo, could be in retaliation for the Hellraiser Ball attack last month. Warnings to watch for retaliation have gone out to law enforcement along the East Coast, officials said.
DeMatteo was one of the 73 Pagans arrested Feb. 23 after the gang crashed the Hells Angels' event. About a dozen van loads of Pagans stormed the Vanderbilt social club and banquet hall on Long Island during a Hells Angels rally.
Pagan member Robert Rutherford, 51, a U.S. Postal Service employee from Lancaster County, was killed in the melee that erupted in the community of Plainview, about 25 miles east of New York City.
Hells Angels member Ray Dwyer of the Long Island chapter, allegedly shot and killed Rutherford, authorities said. Dwyer has not been charged.
Hellraiser Ball 2002 was an indoor motorcycle and tattoo expo and swap meet that drew Hells Angels and their friends from across the United States and Canada.
Pagans armed with clubs, guns and knives launched an unprovoked attack, according to the federal indictment. There were about 1,000 people inside, including bikers, women and children. Members of the Hells Angels fought back and one of their members shot and killed the Pagan, according to the indictment.
All but two victims were Pagans; none belonged to the Hells Angels, court papers say. The injured are expected to recover from gunshot wounds, stab wounds and heart attacks.
Larry Likar, a former FBI special agent in Pittsburgh, said federal prosecutors decimated the Pagans' ranks in the 1980s. He played down the notion of reprisals in southwestern Pennsylvania, saying the Hells Angels gang has almost no presence here.
Likar described the Pagans as the weakest of the big four motorcycle gangs.
The other large gangs are the Bandidos and the Outlaws, which, like the Hells Angels, have international membership.
"The Hells Angels are definitely trying to expand but they haven't made any incursions in this area. It'd be a huge mistake for the Pagans to go into any kind of prolonged turf war with Hells Angels. But you're not talking about the brightest bulbs. You noticed who got hurt out of that melee. It wasn't the Hells Angels."