Pagan Club Neighbor Dispute Led Freehold Twp. Man To Run For Committee

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP, NJ — A Freehold Township man who’s running for Township Committee says he's running because he’s dissatisfied with the Township’s response to neighborhood issues with the Pagans Motorcycle Club.

Michael Murphy, 45, said conflicts with the Pagans began last winter. According to Murphy, his neighbor began causing neighborhood disturbances shortly after joining the Pagans Motorcycle Club.

“This guy [Murphy’s neighbor] had been here, like, eight or nine years,” Murphy said. “There had been no issues … but he had joined the Pagans, and slowly but surely, he basically went from the annoying nuisance neighbor to a menace.”

Over the past several months, Murphy said, his neighbor has brought up to 30 members of the Pagans Motorcycle Club to the neighborhood, and he says club members have engaged in public urination, speeding, tailgating and more throughout the neighborhood.

The Pagans Motorcycle Club is identified by the US Department of Justice as one of the most prominent Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Administrators of the Pagans Motorcycle Club Facebook page did not respond to requests for comment.

Freehold Township Police Response
Murphy said he and other neighbors made Freehold Township Police aware of their issue with the Pagans “a couple of times” in March and April 2023, as well as asked for a meeting with then-Mayor Alan Walker and Freehold Township Police Chief George Baumann.

At the meeting, Murphy said Baumann tried to write the issue off as a neighborhood dispute. When he and other neighbors continued to bring the problem up with police, Murphy said Baumann advised them to “not engage” with the group.

“We followed that to the best of our ability. I can name you 50 instances where we did not engage,” Murphy said. “ We finally did engage on this one day because he [the neighbor] started yelling at us in front of our children at the bus stop. So as a dad, as somebody who had enough, we absolutely yelled back. One time.”

Following this altercation, Murphy said Baumann told him and other neighbors to “stop acting like eighth graders” and “not engage in tit-for-tat.”

In a written statement to Patch, Baumann said that Murphy is “clearly not satisfied” with the outcomes of “several calls for service” in the neighborhood.

“Each call for service was investigated professionally and thoroughly by responding Freehold Township police officers and/or detectives,” Baumann said. “The Freehold Township Police Department has spent a tremendous amount of time and resources investigating Mr. Murphy’s unfounded criminal allegations. We have worked with our law enforcement partners at the County, State and Federal level, and at no time has any criminal activity been witnessed or uncovered during calls for service or targeted operations in the neighborhood.”

“Any incidents relating to non-criminal offenses such as disorderly conduct or harassment were documented by responding officers at the time of the call,” Baumann continued. “With these types of incidents, specifically not witnessed by responding officers, it is the responsibility of the offended party to sign complaints.”

Freehold Township police records obtained by Patch through an Open Public Records Act request show one response to Murphy’s home from January 2023 through July 2024.

On April 9, 2023, Murphy called police reporting an ongoing dispute, where his neighbor’s car was repeatedly parked at the end of Murphy’s driveway. On call, Murphy stated that the neighbor is part of the Pagans, and Officers Toscani and Mezzacappa responded to the scene.

“Mr. Murphy had a right to do and say as he pleases in terms of how he believes issues should be addressed,” Baumann said. “However, my officers and detectives serve and protect all citizens by following narrowly defined principles of law established by the State of New Jersey, and carry out their duties by understanding Federal protections afforded to all, and clearly defined by the United States Constitution.”

Freehold Township Committee Response
When Murphy wasn’t satisfied with police response, he brought the issue to the Freehold Township Committee.

At the May 23, 2023, Freehold Township Committee meeting, Murphy raised his concerns about the Pagans with the Committee and requested increased police presence in the neighborhood to deal with the issue, according to the meeting minutes.

The minutes show the committee thanked Murphy for sharing his concerns, and Committeeman Lester Preston said the Township Committee was “aware of things” going on within Freehold Township. He said that “all concerns are heard and addressed appropriately” and that no one should live in fear in Freehold Township.

Murphy raised his concerns with the Pagans again at the June 27, 2023, Freehold Township Committee meeting, according to the meeting minutes.

He read prepared remarks regarding the issues with his neighbor; describing examples of what residents see as “disruptive, harassing and intimidating” behavior, and outlining dates he had gone to or called the police station to report incidents.

Murphy relayed conversations he had with Freehold Township Police and described their response as “underwhelming.” He also made suggestions of what he would like to see from police in support of the area’s residents.

Murphy’s concerns were echoed by Keith Liuzzo and Terry Blesch, two other residents who attended the meeting.

Liuzzo said the neighbor had assured him that his affiliation with the Pagans would not be an issue to the neighborhood, and then showed pictures of groups of individuals congregating at his neighbor’s house to the Committee.

Liuzzo told the Committee that he “only wants peace in the neighborhood” and for his children to feel safe.

The minutes do not describe in detail what the photos showed.

Blesch told the Committee she feels the actions of the Pagans are “almost enabled” by the Township Police Department and called for increased police patrols. She suggested the Committee speak with local establishments and encourage them to post signage prohibiting patrons from wearing colors there.

Blesch described the situation as “a stain on a wonderful community.”

In response to these concerns, Baumann told the Committee that he’d given Murphy and other residents de-escalation techniques to find a peaceful solution to the problem, and that the police department had been in contact with the New Jersey State Police Gang Unit, Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Authority on Gangs, federal authorities and outside jurisdictions related to these issues.

He told the Committee that while there was no evidence a crime had been committed, police would continue monitoring the situation and enforce any minor violations that occurred in their presence.

Freehold Township Administrator Peter Valesi said that there is an “obvious issue” that needs to be resolved at the meeting, and said he believed that the situation would not get better on its own.

Valesi told residents the governing body, administration and police department would come up with a plan to resolve the issue.

Deciding To Run For Township Committee
Murphy, in an interview with Patch, said police presence in the neighborhood picked up after a physical altercation occurred between a Pagan and another resident across the street from Murphy’s home following the June committee meeting.

Following that incident, Murphy said Baumann came to the neighborhood to speak with those involved, and that the neighbor’s large gatherings mostly stopped after that. Despite the large gatherings having stopped, Murphy said there were still other incidents that continued to occur.

“In the fall, they [Freehold Township and Freehold Township Police] forgot us,” Murphy said. “And that’s where, you know, you lead into incidents where six of them were speeding past the police radar. We had a guy urinating in our street. I had a car swerve at me.”

“We wanted to work with the Committee and with Chief Baumann,” Murphy said. “It’s just been an uphill battle every step of the way.”

Murphy said that the current Township Committee “hide behind their administrator,” and that no member of the Township Committee has responded to him via email.

It’s because of this experience with the Freehold Township Police and Freehold Township Committee that Murphy said he’s running for his own seat this fall.

“I’m never going to let this happen again,” Murphy said. “I’m never going to let a resident go home at night after a meeting and feel unheard. … I’ve lived here since I was a kid…I’ve been here 36 years. I’m not somebody that goes to the police. I’m not an activist, I’m nothing — I’m just a dad that was scared as hell for my son.”