Vincent Drucci
| Vincent Drucci | |
|---|---|
Mugshot
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| Born |
Vincenzo D'Ambrosio 1898 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | April 4, 1927 (aged 29) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Nationality | American-Sicilian |
| Other names | The Schemer |
| Occupation | mobster / gang boss |
| Employer | Dean O'Banion |
| Organization | North Side Gang |
| Term | 1926-1927 |
Vincent Drucci, also known as "The Schemer" (born Vincenzo D'Ambrosio; 1898 – April 4, 1927), was an Sicilian-American mobster during Chicago's Prohibition era who was a member of the North Side Gang, Al Capone's best known rivals. A friend of Dean O'Banion, Drucci succeeded him by becoming co-leader. He is one of the only US organized crime boss to have been killed by a policeman.
Born in Chicago, Illinois to Sicilian parents,after serving in the U.S Navy he returned to Chicago and started committing small-time crimes such as breaking open pay telephone coin boxes, he joined Dean O'Banion's North Side Gang, which had taken over the formerly legal breweries and distilleries in that part of the city giving them massive profits from illicit production of alcohol, in addition to shakedowns and other rackets. Often described as mainly Irish-American, after O'Banion's death the North Side Gang was successively headed by Hymie Weiss, Drucci and Bugs Moran who were respectively of Polish, Italian and French descent, while the most influential members who never became leader were Louis Alterie, of Spanish parentage, Samuel Morton who was from a Jewish background, and the German Albert Kachellek.
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. Drucci, whose practical jokes included making salacious comments to couples on the street while dressed as a priest, performed in a 1923 pornographic film called Bob's Hot Story.
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."
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Wikipedia