Man Dies After Being Brutally Beaten, Ran Over And Dragged Hundreds Of Feet

KEY POINTS

A New Jersey man, 38, was beaten by five men outside a popular nightclub and left on a highway Saturday
He was struck by a speeding vehicle and dragged nearly 600 feet
The attackers were arrested after police identified them through surveillance footage and interviews

A 38-year-old real estate agent in Bergen County, New Jersey, was killed after he was beaten outside a popular nightclub and dumped on a highway where he was struck by a passing vehicle, authorities said Monday.

Marko Guberovic was beaten by five men at around 3:30 a.m. Saturday outside the Satin Dolls nightclub in Lodi — made famous as the "Bada Bing" in the TV show "The Sopranos" — after they got into a dispute with him for an unknown reason, the Daily Voice reported, citing Bergen County prosecutor Mark Musella.

The group then left the Fair Lawn native in the fast lane of the southbound Route 17, where he was struck by a 2020 BMW M8 and dragged nearly 600 feet. Responders pronounced Guberovic dead at the scene.

Court documents said the unnamed driver of the vehicle had been drinking and was speeding at the time of the incident, New York Post reported.

Detectives from Musella's office and officers from the Bergen County Sheriff's Office reviewed surveillance footage and interviewed witnesses to identify the five, who were brothers Adrian and Fero Hoti, aged 23 and 24, respectively; Kevin Agudelo and Christian Reyes, both 22; and Julio Pena, 23.

All five were charged with aggravated manslaughter showing "extreme indifference to human life" and endangering an injured victim.

According to prosecutors, the Hoti brothers were captured in West Hempstead, Long Island. They were booked into the Nassau County Correctional Center in East Meadow, New York, where they were still held Monday pending extradition proceedings.

Agudelo, Reyes and Pena, meanwhile, were arrested in Ridgefield Park Sunday. They remained held Monday in the Bergen County Jail pending their first appearance in the Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.

Family and friends paid tribute to Guberovic on social media, where he was also known for posting about basketball shoes via his @iloveswoosh Instagram account that had close to 64,000 followers.

A GoFundMe page was created to cover his funeral costs and was only a small amount away from reaching its $15,000 goal as of writing.

According to the page, Guberovic was "was the most genuine soul and will be dearly missed by so many."

"He would light up any room he walked into with his infamous WOOOOOOOO™ and would put a smile on everyone’s faces," the page organizers said.

A private mass and burial for Guberovic have been scheduled for Thursday at St. Anne's R.C. Church in Fair Lawn, the Daily Voice reported in a separate story.