Vincent Drucci
Encyclopedia
Vincent Drucci, also known as "The Schemer" (1898 – April 4, 1927), was an American
mobster during Chicago
's Prohibition
era who served as a lieutenant under Dean O'Banion
's North Side Gang
and later as gang boss. Drucci was one of the few mobsters to ever be killed by a law enforcement officer.
, Illinois
, very little is known about Drucci's early life other than he grew up in Chicago. One of Drucci's childhood friends was Dean O'Banion. After serving in the U.S Navy, Drucci returned to Chicago and started robbing pay telephone coin boxes.
Drucci was soon invited to join the North Side Gang, a primarily Irish-American street gang that controlled the North Side of Chicago. He lived at 3817 Osgood Street in Joliet, Illinois
. Drucci gained the nickname "Schemer" for his inventive and detailed plans for committing bank robberies, kidnappings, and other crimes. With the advent of Prohibition
, the North Side Gang took over the formerly legal breweries and distilleries in that part of the city and start producing bootleg
alcohol. They quickly became one of the most powerful gangs in Chicago.
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."
Known for his sharp temper, Drucci frequently served as an enforcer for the North Side Gang.
gang under New York mobster Johnny Torrio
that controlled the South Side of Chicago. Torrio had attempted to peacefully divide bootlegging territories in Chicago among the different gangs, but O'Banion resisted Torrio's efforts and provoked him on several occasions. On November 10, 1924, South Side gunmen killed O'Banion in his Chicago floral shop. Gang leadership now fell to Hymie Weiss
, who initiated a string of retaliatory attacks on the South Side Gang.
On January 25, 1925, Drucci, Weiss, and George Moran ambushed Torrio lieutenant Al Capone
, shooting up Capone's car, but failing to kill him. On January 27, Drucci and the two other North Siders ambushed Torrio while he was shopping with his wife. Severely wounded, Torrio survived the attack. At one point, police brought Drucci and Weiss to Torrio's 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 New York.
On May 25, Drucci, Weiss, and Moran killed South Side ally Angelo Genna. On July 8, Drucci and a second gunman murdered Anthony Genna. On November 13, they murdered Genna gunman Samuzzo Amatuna
in a barber shop.
hotel that Capone owned and lived in. Although shaken up by the attack, Capone was unhurt. On October 11, South Side gunmen finally succeeded in killing Weiss outside of Holy Name Cathedral
in Chicago. Drucci and Moran now assumed leadership of the North Side Gang.
After Weiss' shooting, Drucci and Moran attended a peace conference with all the Chicago gangs, including the South Siders. Although Moran wanted to keep fighting, Drucci persuaded him to accept a ceasefire. However, on April 3, 1927, Drucci decided to take the offensive by ransacking the office of an alderman who was aligned with the South Side Gang. The Chicago Police Department
Chief then ordered his men to arrest all North Side gang members on sight.
to let go of his arm and cursed at him. Healy struck Drucci and brandished his weapon. The enraged Drucci continued to threaten and taunt Healy:
"Go on you kid copper, I’ll fix you for this. Take your gun off and I’ll kick hell out of you."
Finally, Drucci struck Healy and tried to get his gun. Healy then fired at Drucci, hitting him in the arm, leg, and abdomen. Drucci died on the way to the hospital.
, typical of gangland fashion at the time. Drucci's silver casket cost $10,000 and more than $30,000 in flowers adorned the funeral rooms.
The war between the North and South Side gangs continued until the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day massacre, which effectively destroyed the North Side Gang. Capone and the South Side Gang, to be known as the Chicago Outfit
, took over the North Side of Chicago and became the pre-eminent criminal organization in that city.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
mobster during Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
's Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
era who served as a lieutenant under Dean O'Banion
Dean O'Banion
Charles Dean O'Banion was an Irish-American mobster who was the main rival of Johnny Torrio and Al Capone during the brutal Chicago bootlegging wars of the 1920s...
's North Side Gang
North Side Gang
The North Side family Gang, also known as the North Side Mob, was the dominant Irish-American criminal organization within Chicago during the Prohibition era from the early to late 1920s and principal rival of the Johnny Torrio-Al Capone organization, later known as the Chicago Outfit.- Early...
and later as gang boss. Drucci was one of the few mobsters to ever be killed by a law enforcement officer.
Early years
Born Vincenzo D'Ambrosio in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, very little is known about Drucci's early life other than he grew up in Chicago. One of Drucci's childhood friends was Dean O'Banion. After serving in the U.S Navy, Drucci returned to Chicago and started robbing pay telephone coin boxes.
Drucci was soon invited to join the North Side Gang, a primarily Irish-American street gang that controlled the North Side of Chicago. He lived at 3817 Osgood Street in Joliet, Illinois
Joliet, Illinois
Joliet is a city in Will and Kendall Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. As of the 2010 census, the city was the fourth-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 147,433. It continues to be Illinois' fastest growing...
. Drucci gained the nickname "Schemer" for his inventive and detailed plans for committing bank robberies, kidnappings, and other crimes. With the advent of Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
, the North Side Gang took over the formerly legal breweries and distilleries in that part of the city and start producing bootleg
Rum-running
Rum-running, also known as bootlegging, is the illegal business of transporting alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law...
alcohol. They quickly became one of the most powerful gangs in Chicago.
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."
Known for his sharp temper, Drucci frequently served as an enforcer for the North Side Gang.
War with South Side Gang
The greatest rival to the North Side Gang was the South Side Gang, a Sicilian-AmericanSicilian-American
Sicilian Americans are American people from Sicily or of Sicilian heritage. They are considered Italian Americans but are sometimes treated as a separate group due to cultural and historical differences between Sicily and the mainland....
gang under New York mobster Johnny Torrio
Johnny Torrio
John "Papa Johnny" Torrio , also known as "The Fox", was an Italian-American mobster who helped build the criminal empire known as the Chicago Outfit in the 1920s that was later inherited by his protege, Al Capone...
that controlled the South Side of Chicago. Torrio had attempted to peacefully divide bootlegging territories in Chicago among the different gangs, but O'Banion resisted Torrio's efforts and provoked him on several occasions. On November 10, 1924, South Side gunmen killed O'Banion in his Chicago floral shop. Gang leadership now fell to Hymie Weiss
Hymie Weiss
Hymie Weiss was a Polish-American mob boss who became a leader of the Prohibition-era North Side Gang and a bitter rival of Al Capone.-Early years:...
, who initiated a string of retaliatory attacks on the South Side Gang.
On January 25, 1925, Drucci, Weiss, and George Moran ambushed Torrio lieutenant Al Capone
Al Capone
Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone was an American gangster who led a Prohibition-era crime syndicate. The Chicago Outfit, which subsequently became known as the "Capones", was dedicated to smuggling and bootlegging liquor, and other illegal activities such as prostitution, in Chicago from the early...
, shooting up Capone's car, but failing to kill him. On January 27, Drucci and the two other North Siders ambushed Torrio while he was shopping with his wife. Severely wounded, Torrio survived the attack. At one point, police brought Drucci and Weiss to Torrio's 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 New York.
On May 25, Drucci, Weiss, and Moran killed South Side ally Angelo Genna. On July 8, Drucci and a second gunman murdered Anthony Genna. On November 13, they murdered Genna gunman Samuzzo Amatuna
Samuzzo Amatuna
Samuel Sammuzzo "Samoots" Amatuna was a Chicago mobster and member of the Genna Brothers, who served as president of the Unione Siciliane.-Early life:...
in a barber shop.
Reprisals
On August 10, 1926, Drucci and Weiss were ambushed by South Side gunmen on a Chicago street; both men were uninjured. On August 15, Drucci and Weiss escaped another assassination attempt in Chicago. In retaliation, the North Side Gang conducted a massive raid on the Cicero, IllinoisCicero, Illinois
Cicero is an incorporated town in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 83,891 at the 2010 census. Cicero is named for the town of Cicero, New York, which in turn was named for Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Roman statesman and orator....
hotel that Capone owned and lived in. Although shaken up by the attack, Capone was unhurt. On October 11, South Side gunmen finally succeeded in killing Weiss outside of Holy Name Cathedral
Holy Name Cathedral, Chicago
Holy Name Cathedral, formally the Cathedral of the Holy Name, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, one of the largest Roman Catholic dioceses in the United States. It is also the parish church of the Archbishop of Chicago...
in Chicago. Drucci and Moran now assumed leadership of the North Side Gang.
After Weiss' shooting, Drucci and Moran attended a peace conference with all the Chicago gangs, including the South Siders. Although Moran wanted to keep fighting, Drucci persuaded him to accept a ceasefire. However, on April 3, 1927, Drucci decided to take the offensive by ransacking the office of an alderman who was aligned with the South Side Gang. The Chicago Police Department
Chicago Police Department
The Chicago Police Department, also known as the CPD, is the principal law enforcement agency of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States, under the jurisdiction of the Mayor of Chicago. It is the largest police department in the Midwest and the second largest local law enforcement agency in the...
Chief then ordered his men to arrest all North Side gang members on sight.
Police shooting
On April 4, 1927, Chicago police stopped Drucci and two other North Side gang members. When they discovered Drucci was carrying a firearm, they arrested him. Four policemen were assigned to transport Drucci to the courthouse, where Drucci's lawyer was waiting to post bail. As the men entered the police car, Drucci told Chicago detective Dan HealyDan Healy (detective)
Dan Healy was a Chicago detective who became famous when he killed the leader of the North Side Gang, Vincent Drucci, during an altercation on April 4, 1927.* Dean O'Banion* Hymie Weiss* George "Bugs" Moran...
to let go of his arm and cursed at him. Healy struck Drucci and brandished his weapon. The enraged Drucci continued to threaten and taunt Healy:
"Go on you kid copper, I’ll fix you for this. Take your gun off and I’ll kick hell out of you."
Finally, Drucci struck Healy and tried to get his gun. Healy then fired at Drucci, hitting him in the arm, leg, and abdomen. Drucci died on the way to the hospital.
Aftermath
Drucci received a lavish funeral at Mount Carmel CemeteryMount Carmel Cemetery (Hillside)
Mount Carmel Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery located in the Chicago suburb of Hillside, Illinois. Mount Carmel is an active cemetery, located within the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. The cemetery is located near the Eisenhower Expressway at Wolf and Roosevelt...
, typical of gangland fashion at the time. Drucci's silver casket cost $10,000 and more than $30,000 in flowers adorned the funeral rooms.
The war between the North and South Side gangs continued until the 1929 Saint Valentine's Day massacre, which effectively destroyed the North Side Gang. Capone and the South Side Gang, to be known as the Chicago Outfit
Chicago Outfit
The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Chicago Syndicate or Chicago Mob and sometimes shortened to simply the Outfit, is a crime syndicate based in Chicago, Illinois, USA...
, took over the North Side of Chicago and became the pre-eminent criminal organization in that city.
External links
- Vincent Drucci at Find-A-Grave
- Crime Magazine: Whacked by the good guys by Allan May
- Northsiders: Vincent Drucci