A group claiming to represent Native Americans indigenous to the Pocono Mountains stormed a residential community clubhouse there Monday afternoon, in an effort to “take the land back,” according to a news release from Pennsylvania State Police.

The incident began about 12:45 p.m. when state police at Blooming Grove were alerted that five armed men were attempting to force their way into the community building at Pine Ridge in Lehman Township, Pike County.

The caller inside the clubhouse reportedly told police the men were smashing the windows, and three office workers were barricaded inside.

As troopers headed there, Pine Ridge’s chief of security said he was overrun by several male assailants who took one of his officers hostage, police said. Members of the group allegedly handcuffed the 66-year-old security guard and took his 9mm handgun, then stole his Dodge Ram after forcing him into the back seat.

The intruders “continued to cause extensive damage to the entire building by smashing windows and doors,” while two women “remained in getaway vehicles nearby,” police said.

Along with the hostage’s pickup, the group stole a Pine Ridge security vehicle, police said. Troopers met the group trying to flee in the vehicles, and quickly took six of the suspects into custody without further incident, according to the release.

"A short while later, the seventh actor was successfully located after he crashed the stolen Pine Ridge security vehicle a short distance away," state police spokesman Trooper First Class Robert Urban wrote in the release.

The guard taken hostage was found and reported minor injuries.

Charged are: Tonia Scott, 49, also of Bushkill, Pennsylvania; Keeba Harris, 43, also of Bushkill; Musa Abdur-Rahim, 27, of Binghamton, New York; Sekou Rashid-Abdullah, no age available, of Houston, Texas; Adam Abdur Rahim, 31, also of Houston; Troy Sutton, 50, of Brooklyn, New York; and Shushane Adams-Heylinger, 26, also of Binghamton, according to the police news release.

“It has been preliminarily determined that the actors committed this crime to ‘take the land back,’ claiming they were indigenous Native Americans to the area and that the land belonged to them,” Urban wrote in the release.

All were denied bail due to “flight risk, terrorism” at their preliminary arraignments and were sent to the Pike County Prison to await a preliminary hearing, according to court records.

The group’s plan after storming Pine Ridge was to do the same thing at another nearby Pocono Mountains residential community, known as Saw Ridge, according to court records. That is allegedly where they were headed when state police arrested them.

Court records say Scott told state police interviewers after her arrest “she is the rightful owner of the land where the Pine Ridge community and the Saw Ridge community is located” and “has been attempting to regain the land at Pine Ridge for more than two years."

When the assailants first arrived Monday at Pine Ridge, the property manager suspected Scott may be involved because she “has been causing them issues about the land ownership,” police wrote in court records. Scott and Harris on Sept. 6 “attempted to take control of the Pine Ridge community by showing up to the community office and presenting paperwork,” but “she was intimidated by a security guard” and forced to leave, court records say. State police cited Scott for criminal trespass in that earlier incident.

In her interview with police Monday evening, “Scott related that their intention, upon arrival, was to forcefully remove the occupants of the Pine Ridge community and claim the property for her own," state police wrote in court records. "She related that she was unaware that the men involved had firearms but related that two of them were BB guns.”

State police confirmed at least three of the assailants were armed with firearms, and two had BB guns, according to court records.

Scott had finalized the plan with the six co-defendants on Sunday at a McDonald’s in Brooklyn, promising them housing and a weekly salary of $500, court records say. Scott drove her Chrysler Pacifica to pick up some members of the group Monday morning in Harlem, with the rest following behind in a rental car, according to police.

Adam Abdur Rahim told police he is the owner of a security company called Elite Protection Agency and that “Scott explained to him that she needs help taking back her land that she owns which is an Indian Reservation” and that “the land was located in Bushkill, PA, Allentown, PA, and Albany, NY," according to police. His job was “to go to Pine Ridge Community and Saw Creek Community and evict people from the community,” he reportedly told police. He told police Scott promised him he would become “chief of the tribal police” and could choose any house in Pine Ridge to live in for free with his family, while earning $1,000 a week for security, according to court records.

Adam Abdur Rahim reportedly told police “Scott emailed him documents relating the property is owned by her and the state of PA refused to get involved with the eviction,” and that he reviewed the documents and researched the property “then decided to contact his family and friends to work for him.”

Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @KurtBresswein and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.