Gambino crime family associates charged in 2015 vehicle fire

NEW YORK >> Two reputed associates of one of the most notorious organized crime families in New York have been charged with extorting a businessman and torching his Mercedes Benz in New York City.

Gambino family associates Peter Tuccio, 25, and Jonathan Gurino, 25, were arrested Friday and face federal counts of extortion, arson and conspiracy in the 2015 fire, according to court filings. It was not immediately clear whether they had defense attorneys.

The FBI said a Gambino crime family captain extorted the businessman for annual payments, but the businessman began dodging them.

On Dec. 3, 2015, Tuccio, Gurino and a third man, Gino Gabrielli Jr., tailed the businessman “at a high rate of speed” and confronted him outside a pizzeria in Queens, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court.

The businessman, who was not identified in court papers, told authorities he heard a loud noise later that night and looked outside his Howard Beach home to see his Mercedes ablaze.

Surveillance video captured Gabrielli pouring a liquid on the vehicle about 4 a.m. and running away with his right pant leg on fire, according to the complaint.

Gabrielli arrived at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center about 20 minutes later with third-degree burns and “clothing that reeked of gasoline,” the complaint says. He initially told New York police his injuries stemmed from a kitchen fire that erupted while he was cooking chicken and rice at his home.

But fire marshals interviewed Gabrielli’s mother, the complaint says, who said “no one had cooked anything that evening, and that there were no dirty dishes in the sink.”