Friday, April 5, 2013

THE SCHEMER AIN'T SO SMART

4/4/1927 - Vincenzo D'Ambrosio, better known as Chicago mobster Vincent "The Schemer" Drucci because of the intelligence he brings to planning crimes, shows his dunderhead side when he allows his temper to get the best of him and gets into a fistfight with a police officer ... a police officer holding a gun.

                                
                                                      Drucci

In the middle of a war with Johnny Torrio's and Al Capone's South-Side Gang for control of Chicago's rackets, at the tender age of only twenty-nine, Ducci already has created a darkly impressive criminal resume which includes robbery, bootlegging, kidnapping, the attempted murder of Torrio in front of his home (Torrio is seriously wounded and decides to retire), two failed attempts of the life of Capone (in one, the gangster's car is shot to pieces, in the other, the hotel Scarface uses as his headquarters), two gun battles with Capone shooters, and the murders of rival mobsters Angelo Genna, Anthony Genna, and Samuzzo Amatuna.

               
                          Samuzzo                     Angelo                Antonio

Seeking to get a politician in office friendly to their pursuits, the North Side Gang throws it support in the 1927 mayor's race at former mayor, William "Big Bill" Thompson ... support in the form of a massive strong-arm campaign against the followers of incumbent mayor, Democrat William Dever, breaking skulls and destroying places of business.  One ransacking too many though, when a watchman is beaten up and the office of a Dever alderman is trashed just days before the election, fighting intimidation with intimidation, the mayor has had enough and orders the Chief of Police to arrest the leadership of the North Siders on sight ... and young hot shot Detective Dan Healy, already the victor of quick draw contest with an holdup man, is very happy to comply with the order!

                  
                                                   Dever & Thompson

Roaming the city looking for gangsters to bust, Healy and a group of detectives in a squad car swoop in on Drucci as he is leaving the Hotel Bellaire in the company of two associates.  Things immediately turn ugly when Healy grabs Drucci's arm as he escorts the mobster to the car for transportation to court for a habeas corpus hearing (where the gangster's lawyer is waiting to post bond for his client's release) and the two men begin snarling and cussing at each other.  Once inside the car, the animosity continues and escalates.

                                                   
                                                 Detective Healy

"I'll get you. I'll wait on your doorstep for you," Drucci screams at Healy as he lifts himself on one leg and strikes forward at the detective.  "Go on, you kid copper, I'll fix you for this.  You take your gun off and I'll kick hell out of you!"  Having enough, Healy orders the car stopped and gets out and points his pistol through the back window at the gangster, demanding for Drucci to shut up and behave himself.  Instead, Drucci yells, "I'll fix you," and grabs Healy's right hand, trying to take the pistol away.  It is a mortal mistake!  Rather than releasing his weapon, the detective pulls the trigger four times, sending bullets into Drucci's arm, leg, and stomach.  Squad car now quiet, the destination of the vehicle now becomes the nearest hospital, but by the time Healy and company pull into the emergency entrance, their cargo has become cold slab material.

                         
                                Dead Drucci

One of the kingpins of Chicago crime, the sendoff of the temper tantrum dead mobster includes huge crowds outside the funeral house, a silver casket worth $100,000, flower adornments costing over $300,000, and a lavish burial at the Mount Carmel Cemetery in Hillside, Illinois.  Drucci gone, leadership of the North Siders passes to George "Bugs" Moran, a pebble in the shoe of Capone that the mobster finally decides to have removed on St. Valentine's Day, 1929.

    
                                                   Goodbye Vincent
                              
                                                         Casket Blues
                 
                                                       Drucci Departs

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