Sareth "Tony" Kim, a founding member of Providence Street Boys gang, now works for the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence.

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The Providence Journal / Kris Craig

PROVIDENCE — Three Massachusetts men with ties to the Original Bloods street gang were charged with felony assault yesterday in the vicious weekend attack on a street worker for the Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence.

The street worker, Sareth “Tony” Kim, 32, was struck in the head with a baseball bat and suffered multiple stab wounds, including a severe slash to his back, the police said. He was treated at Rhode Island Hospital and he was released on Sunday night.

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The suspects, Nicholas M. Nalle, 26, Michael Leng, 22, and Sophea Chao, 21, were arraigned on the assault charges yesterday in District Court. Each of them lives in Fall River and the police say that Leng and Chao are members of the Original Bloods gang. They described Nalle as an associate of the two gang members.

Nalle is accused of inflicting the most severe injury. Investigators allege that he struck Kim with the baseball bat. He also was charged with an additional felony count of possessing a dangerous weapon — the baseball bat.

Nalle, Leng and Chao also were charged with disorderly conduct. Nalle was ordered held at the Adult Correctional Institutions as a potential probation violator, while surety bail was set for Leng at $10,000, and Chao at $20,000. That means they must post 10 percent of that sum to gain release from custody.

Nalle’s lawyer, Scott Lutes, unsuccessfully argued that Nalle should be released on $10,000 personal recognizance pending a probation violation hearing for a drug arrest last year in Middletown. He argued that there was no evidence that Nalle struck anyone with the bat. He said that his client was caught carrying a bat.

“He never swung the bat,” Lutes said.

Superior Court Magistrate William J. McAtee ordered Nalle held without bail pending a hearing May 19.

Court records show that Nalle is a familiar face in Rhode Island courtrooms.

In March 2007, the Middletown police charged him with possessing narcotics, possession of marijuana and a driving offense. He is still awaiting trial on those charges in Superior Court, Newport. In March 2004, Nalle was sentenced to a suspended sentence of 18 months in prison and 18 months probation for possession of marijuana.

Early Sunday morning, the Providence police received a report of a disturbance at Level 2, a nightclub on Richmond Street. They arrived about 10 minutes later and found Kim and several other men suffering from stab wounds and other injuries near the intersection of Clifford and Dorrance streets.

The police saw four men run from the disturbance and jump into a Nissan Maxima with Massachusetts plates. Nalle, the police allege, was carrying an aluminum baseball bat that was used to strike Kim.

Police Maj. Stephen Campbell said that there could be additional charges filed against the three suspects. Kim’s nephew, Ray Min, 16, suffered stab wounds, along with two other men who were with the three alleged attackers.

The police say that the origin of the attack is an ongoing dispute between the Original Bloods and the Providence Street Boys. Kim is a founding member of the Providence Street Boys who renounced his allegiance to the gang while he was serving time in prison for killing a man.

“We’re acting on what we have been able to learn,” Campbell said. “The door is always open and we are looking forward to more information.”

Teny Gross, executive director of the nonviolence institute, said that Kim can take as much time as necessary to recover from the attack. He described him as “one of the best street workers that I’ve ever worked with. I love the guy.”

He also said that his agency’s stable of street workers, most of whom are ex-gang members and former convicts, will undergo counseling sessions this week. He wants to make sure that no one that works for him or is part of the Providence Street Boys gang is seeking revenge against the Original Bloods.

“I know that Tony is absolutely not interested in retaliation,” Gross said.

bmalinow@projo.com