Vincent Drucci
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Vincent Drucci | |
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Mobster | |
Allegiance | North Side Gang |
Vincent Drucci (born Ludovico D'Ambrosio; January 1, 1898 – April 4, 1927), also known as "The Schemer", was an American mobster during
Early years
Drucci was born Ludovico D'Ambrosio in
Though a leading member of the relatively small gang, Drucci acted as enforcer and was actively involved in numerous violent incidents; on one occasion when ambushed in the street by gunmen with a Capone trademark driveby, he charged at the assailants and tried to give chase in a hijacked car.
Laurence Bergreen, in his book, Capone: The Man and the Era, describes Drucci:
He had a streak of recklessness and daring, and he looked the part of a gangster – tough, dark, and menacing, his expression frozen in a tragic mask topped by wild unkempt hair (and) a face to haunt the dreams of his enemies.
"The Schemer"
He was known by the nickname "The Schemer", in part because of his penchant for inebriated rumination about outlandish plans; in reality he operated by intimidation in activities such as extortion of money from legitimate businesses. One female shop owner who refused to pay was beaten up by a husky woman as Drucci looked on. Drucci, whose practical jokes including making salacious comments to couples on the street while dressed as a priest, performed in a 1923 pornographic film called Bob's Hot Story.
Drucci was believed to have been responsible for a November 30, 1926 incident at a Chicago North Side garage. In what the Chicago Tribune described as a "serio-comedy", Drucci, along with North Side Gang members Bugs Moran,
Conflict with South Side
The North Siders found themselves undercut on the price of alcohol by rivals the
On January 25, 1925, Drucci, Weiss, and Moran ambushed Torrio's bodyguard-lieutenant, Al Capone, shooting up his car, but failing to kill him; his bodyguard was then kidnapped, tortured and murdered. On January 27, Drucci and the two other North Siders ambushed Torrio while he was shopping with his wife. While severely wounded, Torrio survived the attack. At one point, police brought Drucci and Weiss to Torrio's hospital bedside, but Torrio refused to identify them as the shooters. After his recovery and a short jail term, Torrio relinquished control of the South Side Gang to Capone and returned to Italy.
On May 25, Drucci, Weiss, and Moran killed South Side ally
Gang warfare
On August 10, 1926, Drucci and Weiss were ambushed by Capone gunmen on a Chicago street and shot their way out. Five days later, Drucci and Weiss exchanged shots with Capone's men in a re-run assassination attempt at the same location. The North Side Gang responded with an even more high-profile assassination attempt, using a ploy to lure Capone to the front of the
In 1927 William Hale Thompson at the head of his powerful Cook County machine that included strong support among African American districts, attempted to return as mayor. Thompson's campaign statements were interpreted as an indication that if he won the city would have a relaxed attitude to law enforcement, and he was seen as Capone's man.[3] There were complex interactions between the political and ethnic aspects of the rivalries. Irish American politicians attempted to paint Thompson as an anti-Catholic Anglo Saxon chauvinist, despite his Capone-influenced Italian first ward support. However, Thompson's perceived beholdenness to African American voters also led to shifting of allegiance among voters, which partially nullified his political machine. Capone resorted to an escalation of violence to ensure the political contest would be decided in Thompson's favour. A citywide gang war erupted at the prospect of Capone getting a mayor inimical to all his rivals. On April 3, 1927, Drucci decided to take the offensive by ransacking the office of Dever-supporting alderman Dorsey Crowe. The Chicago Police Department Chief then ordered his men to arrest all North Side gang members on sight.[4][5][6][2][7]
Death
On April 4, 1927, Chicago police arrested Drucci and found a concealed .45 pistol. One of the arresting officers was Detective Dan Healy, who had shot an armed robber dead a few months earlier. Exploits such as a near-fatal beating of Capone rival, Joseph Saltis, during a November 1926 saloon raid, had gained Healy a reputation for apoplectic violence against criminals, though not always in the line of duty.[5][6][2][7]
Drucci objected to being held by the arm while waiting for the car that would take him and two associates arrested at the same time to the courthouse, where Drucci's lawyer was waiting to post bail. He insulted Healy, who responded with a slap, then drew and brandished his gun and threatened to shoot Drucci. In the car the argument continued. One account is that the policemen who had been present during the incident supported Healy's version of events: that Drucci, while announcing his intention, had lunged for Healy's gun, but Healy had drawn back then shot Drucci. Drucci's two associates gave a different account, asserting that a scuffle started after Healy punched Drucci, causing the driver to halt the car at the roadside, whereupon Healy had got out on the running board before drawing and firing at Drucci, who was shot while sitting in the car, handcuffed, with his hands in his lap. Hit in the arm, leg, and abdomen, Drucci collapsed, dying on the floor of the car.[5][6][2][7]
Aftermath
He received a lavish funeral at
Capone continued to back Thompson, and on the polling day of April 10, 1928, in the so-called
References
- ^ "U.S. Hears That Rum Gangsters Pinched Two Cops". Chicago Tribune. December 4, 1926.
- ^ a b c d e "Vincent "The Schemer" Drucci". Myalcaponemuseum.com. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
- Time, Inc. November 3, 1930. Archived from the originalon June 5, 2008. Retrieved May 2, 2008.
- ISBN 978-0143122807.
- ^ ISBN 978-0684824475.
- ^ ISBN 978-0762778447.
- ^ a b c "Vincent Drucci". Archived from the original on September 3, 2015. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
- ^ "Chicago Bomb King is Shot". The Evening Independent. Chicago. AP. January 12, 1931. p. 1. Retrieved December 19, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.