Daniel Rizzo
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Daniel Rizzo a.k.a. "Danny" (July 3, 1919 Brownsville, Brooklyn- October 11, 1987 New York, New York was an Italian-American Lucchese crime family gangster from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn and blood relative of Jilly Rizzo and related to Gambino crime family sidewalk soldier John Rizzo and his son John Rizzo Jr.
[edit] Family life
Daniel Rizzo is an Italian-American crime family. Daniel became an associate for the Lucchese crime family who worked under the powerful caporegime Paul Vario. Daniel was a close friend of Thomas DeSimone, Angelo Sepe, Anthony Stabile, Jimmy Burke and Henry Hill. Daniel was skilled in hijacking and fenced stolen jewelry through his relative, Gambino crime family mobster John Rizzo who operated a jewelry store and would fence the stolen jewelry with Sammy Gravano. Daniel was known to have a violent temper and spend hours bragging about his favorite mob executions to fellow members of the Vario Crew. Daniel was not convicted by the testimony of Henry Hill in 1985 and his whereabouts or happenings are unknown. In 1978 Jimmy Burke sent Daniel and Thomas DeSimone beat up Frank Menna in an attempt to extort Martin Krugman of his hair salon-bookmaking operation that was running out of the "Just For Men" hair salon in Ridgewood, Queens. He is a paternal relative of Alexander Santoro Rizzo who was a veteran Patriarca crime family organized crime family in Revere, Massachusetts. He attended the now notorious Guild Street La Cosa Nostra initiation ceremony in 1989. He was convicted of RICO in 1995 and spent three years in a federal prison before he was released in 1998. His whereabouts and happenings are unknown at this time.
[edit] Attack at Don Pepe's
One evening, Vario ordered Rizzo, Hill, Burke, DeSimone, and two carloads of Lucchese soldiers to beat up the waiters and kitchen staff at Don Pepe's Vesuvio Restaurant in South Ozone Park, Queens. Earlier in the evening, Vario and his wife Phyllis had been dining at the restaurant. A waiter spilled a drink on Phyllis and then made the mistake of trying to blot up the drink with a towel on the front of dress. Enraged at the waiter's actions, Vario sent his men to the restaurant as it was closing at 11:00 pm. Rizzo assisted in beating the employees with an inch of lead pipe as they left the restaurant Some employees fled in their cars, so Daniel and others chased them around the neighborhood late into the night.
[edit] References
- US Social Security Death Index
- Pileggi, Nicholas, Wiseguy: Life In A Mafia Family Corgi (1987) ISBN 055213094X
- Maas, Peter, Underboss: Sammy The Bull Gravano's Story of Life In The Mafia Amazon Remainders Account 1999 ISBN 0060930969
