New Details About Rise Of The Moors Arrests Amid Dangerousness Hearings

MEDFORD, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Four more suspects in the "Rise of the Moors" highway standoff case were held without bail at Malden District Court on Tuesday, as new details about how members of the group were arrested earlier this month during an armed standoff on I-95 North came to light.

11 suspects were arrested in total on several firearms charges in the July 3 standoff. 6 of the suspects were already held without bail following dangerousness hearings last week, and one is a teen being tried in juvenile court.

Three defendants — Quinn Cumberlander, Aaron Johnson (also known as Tarrif Sharrif Bey), and Alban El Curraugh — were held without bail after their dangerousness hearings, while a fourth, Omar Antonio (previously John Doe #2) was ordered held without bail until his own dangerousness hearing on Friday.

Wakefield Police Chief Steven Skory said during a Wakefield Town Council meeting on Monday that around 200 police officers were present at one point during the standoff in the early morning of July 3.

Skory said most of the group's members fled into the woods after State Troopers and Wakefield Police officers told them they would likely be arrested for driving and carrying guns without a license.

That prompted a call to the regional SWAT team, which set up a two-mile perimeter.

Police managed to arrest two of the men near the woods on North Avenue before the rest returned to their vans on I-95.

Police decided to try to box in the nine other suspects at around 10:30 AM, using dump trucks mounted with plows from the town's Department of Public Works to block the highway from all directions so they could not escape. Skory said police used an LRAD, a shrill audio alarm, that temporarily debilitated the suspects until officials could arrest them.

Dangerousness hearings in the case will continue on Friday.

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Written by Chaiel Schaffel