Officials say Pagans throttling up in New Jersey over rivalry with Hells Angels | Philadelphia Daily News | 09/11/2010: "Bikers who choose to patch-in with clubs the FBI considers outlaw motorcycle gangs inherit the baggage that makes them notorious: drug and weapons trafficking, extortion and explosive, deadly violence. They call themselves Hells Angels, Outlaws and Warlocks, and in South Jersey, law-enforcement officials say, more and more bikers are calling themselves Pagans.
'We have seen what we would say is an effort to fill some ranks amongst the Pagans and recruit some new people,' said Thomas Garrity, chief of investigators for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office. 'We have to pay attention to that.'
New Jersey State Police investigators believe the Pagans' recruiting effort is a direct result of a small but significant Hells Angels chapter that opened in North Jersey in recent years. The Angels and Pagans have been rivals for decades.
'The N.J. chapter of Hells Angels is small, but backed by New York City, one of the largest chapters in the world,' said Detective Ty Coronato, of the New Jersey State Police Street Gang Unit. 'Most of South Jersey is completely under Pagan control, and they don't get along with Hells Angels. There's been a lot of tension.'
Authorities in Pennsylvania are still investigating the 2005 shooting death of Thomas 'Thinker' Wood, who was president of Philadelphia's Hells Angels chapter when it was actively involved in a turf war with the Pagans. According to reports in the Daily News, Wood's family and law enforcement suspected the Pagans.
Despite the perceived 'tension' between Pagans and Hells Angels in New Jersey, there hasn't been any similar bloodshed in the Garden State in recent years."