By Eric Klein and Kevin Deutsch
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The leader of the Bronx chapter of the Pagans Motorcycle Club was fatally shot Saturday in what appeared to be a targeted hit, officials told Bronx Justice News.
Francisco Rosado, 51, was gunned down during an ambush by two men wearing masks in Allerton shortly before 3:30 p.m., officials said, the killers jumping out of a Jeep before firing shots into his head and chest. The gunmen got away in the same vehicle. No arrests had been announced as of Monday afternoon.
Authorities probing the apparent gangland assassination – part of which was captured on security camera footage obtained by the Daily News – believe it could be linked to the Pagans’ recent expansion efforts in New Jersey and other targeted swaths of the Northeast. The notorious national club is also engaged in a long and bloody war with the Hell’s Angels Motorycle Club, which, like the Pagans, double as violent street gang.
The Angels recently relocated their New York City headquarters from Manhattan to Throggs Neck, a move that drew the ire of the local Pagans chapter, as well as other motorcycle gangs.
On Jan. 2, the Angels’ Bronx clubhouse was fired upon by multiple shooters on motorcycles, who rode away and have not been caught, authorities said.
More than a dozen bullet casings were found outside the property, a former American Legion post, following the attack, according to police.
The clubhouse sustained damage but no injuries were reported, authorities said.
Investigators at the time said they were concerned the Angels would strike back before the culprits responsible for the clubhouse shooting were arrested.
Pagans members in the tri-state area are known to traffic drugs and run extortion rackets; illicit businesses that place them in direct competition with the Angels.
In October, New Jersey’s State Commission on Investigation held a hearing on the Pagans’ local expansion efforts, alleging the club had grown from 10 to at least 17 chapters since 2016, and aimed to become the most dominant biker gang on the East Coast.
Officials at the hearing said Pagan chapters are exclusively male and exclude black people from membership, while allowing certain Latino members.
The national club, boasting nearly 1,000 members, has also forged a loose alliance with the white-supremacist group the Aryan Brotherhood, officials said.
“Women are treated like they’re property,” commission investigator Nicole McCann said at the hearing. “’Pets’ are women who are shared sexually among the group. They’re typically given as many drugs or drinks as they want. It’s the lowest class of Pagan women.”
Investigators testified the Pagans were increasingly claiming territory once controlled by the Angels.
Anyone with information about the Bronx shootings is asked to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS.
Sasha Gonzales contributed reporting.