The Tanglewood Boys
| Founding location | Yonkers, New York |
|---|---|
| Territory | Westchester, The Bronx, Upper West Side |
| Ethnicity | Italian-American |
| Membership (est.) | Unknown |
| Criminal activities | murder, assault, armed robbery, arson, bookmaking, racketeering and drug trafficking |
| Allies | Lucchese crime family |
The Tanglewood Boys was an Italian-American recruitment gang or "farm team" for the American Mafia, specifically the Lucchese crime family. The gang frequently operated from the Tanglewood Shopping Center in Yonkers, New York.
In the 1990s, the gang began to rise in the public eye as a "farm team" led by Anthony Santorelli for the Lucchese crime family. Many members of the gang were sons of made men, who grew up north of New York City. The gang was involved in murders, assaults, armed robbery, arsons, and bookmaking operations in Westchester, the Bronx and the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
On March 6, 1992, two members, Darin Mazzarella and Joseph Petrucelli got into a racial argument and shot Kasiem Merchant, a 16-year-old to death in New Rochelle. Joseph Petrucelli received a life sentence for the murder.
On February 4, 1994, the Tanglewood Boys murdered Louis Balancio, a 21-year-old Mercy College student outside the Strike Zone Bar. The same day, an FBI agent observed Anthony Santorelli dumping something into a garbage can, which turned out to be clothes covered in blood. A DNA check was conducted on the clothes and the blood belonged to Louis Balancio. Anthony DiSimone, the son of Lucchese family capo Salvatore DiSimone went into hiding after the murder of Balancio.
In 1994, Joseph Lubrano was wrongfully sent to prison for beating a black police officer and was released four years later. During the trial, it was alleged that Lubrano was a member of the Tanglewood Boys.
In May 1995, Alfred Santorelli and Darin Mazzarelli had a sit-down with brothers Joseph and Adam Consentino over bookmaking operations in the Bronx. The sit-down took place in a Pelham Parkway bar that was owned by Bonanno crime family soldier Vincent Basciano. After drinking, Santorelli and Mazzarelli began hitting the brothers with bottles and shot at them as they escaped.
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