Add to favorites Examiner Bio

Surveillance

Another tactic was for the detectives actually to enter the restaurant or bar where their subjects were and get as close to them as possible. In general, the targets didn’t appreciate the unwanted company. Some of them ignored the cops, while others became confrontational. In cases where they were ignored, the cops sometimes initiated a dialogue with the gangsters. Their comments were usually derogatory or mocking, and often prompted a response. Many times these encounters ended in pushing and shoving matches, with one or more of the bad guys shedding their coats and preparing to duke it out. The officers would defend themselves if necessary, but usually they just laughed in the faces of their challengers and walked out. Encounters such as these kept the pressure on Tony and his boys.

 

There were also, of course, covert operations, some of which weren’t completely successful. A former detective related this incident involving placing a tracking device on a mobster’s car. “The guy we were tailing pulled into a restaurant and went inside, presumably to have dinner. We waited a few minutes and then my partner crawled under his car to attach the device. He no sooner got under there than the guy leaves the restaurant and gets back in his car. I figured he’d either run over my partner when he pulled out, or at least spot him if he checked his rearview mirror when he drove away. To this day I don’t know what he was doing, but he sat in the car for a few minutes, then got out and went back into the restaurant. My partner finished up and everything was okay.

 

“The next morning we’re following the guy and he pulls in a service station for an oil change. As soon as the mechanic got the car up on the hoist he spotted the damn thing and told the subject about it. The guy got his lawyer and they went downtown and complained about police harassment. Sometimes we got lucky, and other times they did.”

 

Two of Metro Commander Kent Clifford’s officers, Detective David Groover and Sgt. Gene Smith, decided to take advantage of Spilotro’s use of police scanners to have a little fun with him. Knowing the Spilotros were hosting Tony’s birthday party, they parked about a half-block from the Ant’s house. Using a frequency they knew Tony monitored, Smith made a radio transmission to Groover, making it seem as though they were in separate vehicles. Passing the microphone back and forth, the two cops carried on a conversation. Smith asked if Groover had the papers that were to be served on Spilotro. Groover said he did, and that he and some other officers were on their way to Spilotro’s home. Smith replied that he’d start heading that way and meet them there. Within minutes, Tony’s guests, including Joe Blasko, Herb Blitzstein, and Frank Cullotta, along with Tony and Nancy, vacated the residence. Tony had to do his celebrating elsewhere.

 

A few weeks later David Groover and Gene Smith had another encounter regarding the Spilotro investigation. This time it wasn’t a laughing matter. It was deadly.                         

   

Next: The Maitre d’