"He must have done something. They don't kill you for nothing." - Chicago Gangster Ted Newberry. Rubbed out January 7, 1933

Saturday, February 8, 2014

If they had cell phones back then he may have lived another week

It was 82-years ago today, a mere week after the bloodbath in the Bronx where some of his gang was decimated [see Feb. 1], that New York City rid itself of Vince "the Mick" Coll, or "Irish" as his contemporaries also called him (It was the press that dubbed him Mad Dog.) after he and an associate entered a drug store on Manhattan's W. 23rd Street.

     The victim of a double cross, Irish entered a phone booth to make a prearranged call to underworld powerhouse Owney Madden while his pal took a seat at the counter. While the Mad Dog and Owney were conversing, a car containing a hit squad pulled up front. Gunmen hopped out and covered the store's front door. Coll's pal was allowed to leave as a machine-gun toting hoodlum made his way back to the phone booths. Finding the booth containing Coll the gunman lined himself up and blasted the Mick into gangster history.



For more info on Vince Coll, Owney Madden and other gangsters of New York check out:


2 comments:

John DuMond said...

"If they had cell phones back then he may have lived another week."

Maybe. But on the other hand, he might of one of those annoying jerks who yaks on the thing incessantly, and gotten himself shot by an angry patron in a movie theater.

Patrick Downey said...

Wouldn't that be justifiable homicide?