Federal prosecutors in New Jersey arrested high-ranking members of the Pagan’s Motorcycle Club

Three high-ranking members of the Pagan’s Motorcycle Club were charged Monday with aggravated assault in aid of racketeering, gun violations, and related offenses, according to federal prosecutors.

Luis “LuRoc” Arocho, 43, of Keansburg, and Maurice “Dawg” Guzman, 51, of Newark, face charges for their alleged roles in a brazen 2018 daylight assault of a member of the rival Hell’s Angels motorcycle club at a Newark gas station. Another member, Nicholas “Booch” Bucciarelli, 56, faces similar charges for another incident that took pace last August at the group’s Gloucester County clubhouse, during which he allegedly assaulted and threatened to kill a man during a dispute over illegal guns.

An attorney for Bucciarelli declined to comment. Attorneys for Arocho and Guzman could not be reached Monday.

Their arrests are the latest attempt by prosecutors to dismantle the club and disrupt its alleged drug-distribution and gun-trafficking operations. In February, the Pagans’ national president, Keith “Conan” Richter, was arrested and charged with possessing an illegal firearm.

A local member, Glen “Glenny” Turner, 73, was arrested in December after federal agents found almost nearly a pound of methamphetamine in his Marcus Hook home, according to court documents.

“We have now charged 11 members of this outlaw gang with various weapons, drug-trafficking and violent crimes,” acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said in a statement. “Together with our federal, state, and local partners, we remain fully committed to combating violent crime in New Jersey and prosecuting the members of the criminal organizations who are responsible for it.”

The attack in Newark, during which prosecutors say Arocho, Guzman, and other Pagans attacked their rival with axe handles and other objects, was recorded by surveillance cameras, and prosecutors pointed to it as an example of the Pagans’ growing violence in New Jersey as the group attempted to spread its influence to the northern part of the state.

Appearing before a State Commission of Investigation panel in 2019, during which surveillance footage from the attack was played, Arrocho denied any role in the assault.

In a grand jury indictment unsealed Monday, Bucciarelli, the alleged sergeant-at-arms of the Pagans’ Camden County chapter, was accused of conspiring with three other local members — Nicholas “Lefty” Marino, 75, and Anthony “Fugit” D’Alessandro, 55, both of Williamstown, N.J., and Michael “Cage” Dorazo,42, of Gloucester City — to attack and intimidate an associate of theirs.

» READ MORE: Pagans biker club’s growing presence in New Jersey brings drugs, guns, violence, officials say

Investigators were led to the men through an associate who told federal agents last July that Dorazo had asked him to store six illegal guns and ammunition for him.

Agents seized the guns and told the associate to tell the Pagans they had been sold. The associate was eventually lured to a meeting at the Pagan’s clubhouse on D’Alessandro’s property in Gloucester County, where he was interrogated by Bucciarelli, according to the indictment.

Bucciarelli attacked the associate with an ax-handle, threatened to kill him, and pointed a handgun at him, the indictment said. An undercover federal agent spoke with Bucciarelli over the phone during the assault, posing as the buyer of the guns, and corroborated the associate’s story.