Police Arrest 3 in Raid, Seize Weapons, Nazi Paraphernalia

Police have arrested three people and seized guns and step-by-step instructions on bomb construction from an apartment decorated with a Nazi swastika flag and photographs of Adolf Hitler.

Authorities said they believed the men, one of them wanted in Florida in a racial attack, are organizers seeking recruits for a neo-Nazi hate group.

“These people travel around the country looking for members for their causes,” said Detective James Holliday. “We have to think they’re very dangerous because of their philosophy and their weapons.”

Arrested Thursday were Francis Anthony Mercuri, 20, of Daytona Beach, Fla.; Steven Stanley, 21, of Pittsburgh, and a 17-year-old male from Columbia, Md.

The Greater Pittsburgh Fugitive Task Force raided Stanley’s apartment after Volusia County, Fla., sheriff’s deputies notified them that Mercuri might be staying there.

Mercuri, a Pittsburgh native, is wanted for an Oct. 7, 1990, attack on a Jewish teen-ager who was beaten by four people who also tried to drown him, police said.

Investigators confiscated weapons, including an assault rifle with bayonet, ammunition and a flyer promoting an “Aryan Renewal Rally.” Aug. 24 in Washington County, south of Pittsburgh.

The weapons included a .223-caliber assault rifle with a bayonet, two .22-caliber rifles, a 12-gauge shotgun and a .357-caliber handgun. All were loaded.

A hand-printed poster showed how to use a watch and black powder to build a time-delay bomb, police said.

Mercuri was detained for extradition to Florida and held on $1 million bail.

Stanley and the teen-ager were charged with conspiracy and hindering apprehension. The juvenile was being held at the Shuman Juvenile Detention Center. Stanley was held on $50,000 bail.