by cavita » Mon Oct 16, 2017 7:00 am
October 16, 2017 marks the ten year anniversary of the poker game robbery at 3307 Kishwaukee Street in Rockford, Illinois. On that evening many men gathered at a business after hours to participate in a floating high stakes gambling game that had been part of an ongoing gambling operation for the better part of 40 years. The original floating gambling games had been under the control of the Rockford LCN and the one in 2007 had hints of this as well.
On that particular evening 23 year-old Todd Evans went up to the door of the business, pressed the buzzer, and was let in by an older gentleman. Evans had arrived with $60 for gambling but was extended another $140 of credit and started the night with $200 in poker chips. In about two hours Evans had gone bust and was getting ready to leave when two other gamblers at the game also prepared to leave. The three men were then walked to the front door of the building by another older man. As one of them opened the front door all of the men were pushed back into the hallway by a gunman wearing black nylons over his head who burst through the door. This man was later identified as 19 year-old Dustin Frint and he ordered all the men to the floor. As Evans and the other men dropped to the floor they heard a gunshot and saw another masked man, later identified as 34 year-old Byron Starks, blocking the doorway.
After all the men inside were relieved of their cash, rumored to be more than $14,000, the masked men left out the door. The gambling game’s host, 80 year old Vaughn “Curly” Fitzgerald, grabbed a rifle and followed the robbers out the door. At the same time, two police officers had arrived at the business on a report of a 911 call from someone inside at the gambling party. As officers pulled up they witnessed Dustin Frint running from the business carrying a handgun and a duffel bag and he was apprehended. When Byron Starks had emerged from the southwest side of the parking lot the arriving officers ordered him to the ground at gunpoint, to which he complied. Just then Officer Cheryl Buntjer noticed the barrel of a rifle protruding from the corner of the building. This rifle was being held by Vaughn Fitzgerald and Officer Buntjer ordered him to drop his weapon. Officer Jeff Oberts then approached and ordered Fitzgerald to drop his weapon but Fitzgerald proceeded to fire several shots at Starks while he lay on the ground and one bullet struck him. Officers Oberts and Buntler then fired their weapons at Fitzgerald, striking him several times in the upper torso, killing him.
After interviewing everyone at the scene, it was soon apparent that this gambling game was something bigger. Authorities were tight-lipped about others involved in the gambling party and rumors were rampant on who was in attendance with some alleging that along with some prominent Rockford-area men, some not-so savory characters were present. According to court documents, the players, some of whom carried guns, would wager thousands of dollars at the business at least twice a week. Neighbors described the modest tan complex of buildings there as a night time gathering spot where expensive cards would fill the parking lot on an almost nightly basis from around 5 p.m. until 7 the next morning.
Immediately after the shooting, G.B. Jones, supervisory senior resident of the FBI’s regional office was called to the scene. When asked why the FBI had been called in on this investigation, Rockford Police Chief Chet Epperson responded, “…some of the names of the individuals who were there rose some attention. There has been some investigations in the past.” The newspaper soon reported that Fitzgerald had a long history of gambling charges going back to 1961. More recently in January 2002 Fitzgerald was the subject of an undercover investigation and subsequent raid of an outbuilding on his property at 5604 Linden Road in Rockford according to an affidavit filed by Detective Jeff Stovall. A search warrant stated that Fitzgerald was keeping a gambling place known to those who frequented it as “The Soccer Club.” According to the same affidavit, “The Soccer Club” had a security guard and surveillance cameras monitoring the property and grounds. This case was dismissed when Fitzgerald’s attorney successfully argued that the search warrant was invalid. After further investigation, the card game robbery at the Kishwaukee Street business was also determined to be part of “The Soccer Club.”
Todd Evans stated in his police interrogation that he had heard about “The Soccer Club” when he was 18 or 19 years old and heard they had card games every night of the week but he only knew for sure they were on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Evans said he had begun playing at “The Soccer Club” about three or four months prior to the shooting. Detective Jeff Stovall stated in his affidavit that “The Soccer Club” enterprise ringleaders were brothers Salvatore and Natale Galluzzo. The Galluzzo brothers were natives of Aragona, Sicily but had moved to Rockford in 1962 and 1973, respectively. Salvatore Galluzzo had been identified in a 1984 expose by the Rockford Register Star as a “soldier” in the Rockford LCN however, a Rockford Police Detective stated on December 16, 1980 that he witnessed Galluzzo driving an automobile in which Frank Buscemi, Sr. (Rockford underboss) was a passenger. At the time, “Galluzzo appeared to be “chewing out” Buscemi. [The detective] stated this would indicate to him that Galluzzo was a counsel member in the local LCN family as no other person would have the “stroke” to talk in this fashion to Buscemi.” Whatever his role, Galluzzo seemed to be someone of importance in Rockford organized crime circles.
“The Soccer Club” had been investigated by the FBI as far back as the early 1990s and businesses such as Sam’s Pizza, Gerry’s Pizza, the Cherry Lounge/De Ja Oo Club and the Soccer Club, which was a sports store on East State Street, were just a few of the places bureau agents doggedly tailed cars coming and going from these businesses with license plates as far away as Kansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Indiana. All of these businesses were owned by either Salvatore or Natale among many other pizzerias in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. The floating gambling game enterprise in Rockford had first come to the attention of the FBI around 1966 when gambling was under the direct supervision of Rockford LCN capo Charles Vince. Throughout the years the FBI had investigated and performed surveillance on individual card games and larger gambling parties that involved hotel rooms in Rockford and the Chicago suburbs as well as other businesses that hosted these games after hours. A 1979 raid at the Mark II Restaurant in Rockford saw 250-300 men detained when it was discovered a large-scale gambling operation was in progress. Eyebrows were raised when State Representative Edolo “Zeke” Giorgi admitted he was only there having dinner upstairs and had left about 20 minutes before the raid began. Interestingly, Giorgi’s son-in-law was Frank Vella whose father was Frank P. Vella, an often investigated Rockford bookie who the FBI called “a known Rockford LCN associate.” The 1990s FBI files on Rockford LCN capo Sebastian “Knobby” Gulotta stated that an unnamed individual and Gulotta were purportedly close to Giorgi prior to his death.
Some of these LCN connected floating gambling games at one time appeared to under the protection of local law enforcement and it was evident that any illegal gambling games were protected by the Rockford LCN as long as they were paying the street tax as a March 18, 1970 FBI file on Charles Vince showed- it stated, “Rockford PD source states subject (Charles Vince) would tip off PD to gambling activities when operator refused to pay protection. [REDACTED] embezzled some $5,000 in money order funds to make payments to VINCE. On March 5, 1970, Detective Sergeant [WILLIAM FRANCIS] Intelligence Unit, Rockford Police Department, furnished the following information: “It is [FRANCIS]’s observation that [WILLIAM E. COLLINS, Corporation Counsel] for City of Rockford, Illinois, makes frequent contacts with VINCE in various parts of the city. These contacts are made in an automobile rather than at a fixed location. For this reason [FRANCIS] believes that [COLLINS] is the go-between at the present time between VINCE and JOE ZAMMUTO, boss of the Rockford Family. [FRANCIS] states that [REDACTED] he observed Captain [PAUL J. BENGSTON] retired Rockford Police Department captain, and Rockford Corporation Counsel, [WILLIAM E. COLLINS] seated outside the location in a car. Sergeant [FRANCIS] believed that these raids were set up for VINCE by [BENGSTON] and/or [COLLINS].”
In the aftermath of the October 2007 shooting, Officers Buntjer and Oberts were found justified in their use of force relating to the killing of Fitzgerald because it appeared that Fitzgerald was hard of hearing and apparently didn’t hear the officers’ commands to drop his weapon.
Byron Starks was sentenced to 17 years in prison and was paroled in April 2016
Dustin Frint was sentenced to 10 years in prison and was released in October 2012
As for Todd Evans, authorities didn’t believe that he was forthcoming in all he knew during his statements after the shooting. It was only after learning a warrant had been issued for his arrest based on statements from Frint to police, that Evans turned himself in. Evans was alleged to be a conspirator and was then charged along with Frint and Starks and because the robbery led to Fitzgerald’s death, murder charges were included in the indictments. Evans was accused of hatching the plot, allegedly recruiting Frint, who then brought in Starks for “crowd control” during the robbery. Further, it was alleged that Evans was acting as an “inside man” feeding the other conspirators information about the game through phone text messages. Frint and Starks reached agreements to plead guilty to armed robbery charges in exchange for the murder charges being dropped. Frint got a better deal because he was the first to cooperate to testify against the other two, but no charges were ever brought against Evans. Starks had testified that the plan to rob the game had only been discussed that day.
Of the men that were inside the business at the time of the robbery, only a few names have come out as to who was in attendance- Tony Weber, Nick LaMarca, Anthony Butera, George Peacock and Brad Lewis. Interestingly, Butera’s uncle was Phil Priola, a deceased made member of the Rockford LCN.
As for Salvatore Galluzzo, he died on May 4, 2016 at the age of 82.His only brushes with the law were charges of aggravated assault and aggravated battery in the 1970s however, his recently released FBI file stated that in the mid 1980s he was named as an individual who was “involved in a large-scale heroin trafficking organization, one portion of which is based in Rockford, Illinois, United States of America.” He also was the subject of two separate arson investigations at his business, The Nite and Day Disco in February 1979.
Natale Galluzzo had been arrested for firing a gun during a disturbance at a tavern he owned in 1975 and he was the subject of an arson investigation in 1982 but no charges were brought against him. Additionally, Galluzzo was the driver of a car that veered off the Illinois Northwest Tollway near Belvidere on March 6, 1986 and his passenger was Rockford native Frank “Gumba” Saladino, a man who the FBI described as a member of the Chicago Outfit’s Southside/Chinatown crew. Today, in his eighties, Galluzzo continues to run his pizzeria in Rockford and is considered a respected member of the community.
October 16, 2017 marks the ten year anniversary of the poker game robbery at 3307 Kishwaukee Street in Rockford, Illinois. On that evening many men gathered at a business after hours to participate in a floating high stakes gambling game that had been part of an ongoing gambling operation for the better part of 40 years. The original floating gambling games had been under the control of the Rockford LCN and the one in 2007 had hints of this as well.
On that particular evening 23 year-old Todd Evans went up to the door of the business, pressed the buzzer, and was let in by an older gentleman. Evans had arrived with $60 for gambling but was extended another $140 of credit and started the night with $200 in poker chips. In about two hours Evans had gone bust and was getting ready to leave when two other gamblers at the game also prepared to leave. The three men were then walked to the front door of the building by another older man. As one of them opened the front door all of the men were pushed back into the hallway by a gunman wearing black nylons over his head who burst through the door. This man was later identified as 19 year-old Dustin Frint and he ordered all the men to the floor. As Evans and the other men dropped to the floor they heard a gunshot and saw another masked man, later identified as 34 year-old Byron Starks, blocking the doorway.
After all the men inside were relieved of their cash, rumored to be more than $14,000, the masked men left out the door. The gambling game’s host, 80 year old Vaughn “Curly” Fitzgerald, grabbed a rifle and followed the robbers out the door. At the same time, two police officers had arrived at the business on a report of a 911 call from someone inside at the gambling party. As officers pulled up they witnessed Dustin Frint running from the business carrying a handgun and a duffel bag and he was apprehended. When Byron Starks had emerged from the southwest side of the parking lot the arriving officers ordered him to the ground at gunpoint, to which he complied. Just then Officer Cheryl Buntjer noticed the barrel of a rifle protruding from the corner of the building. This rifle was being held by Vaughn Fitzgerald and Officer Buntjer ordered him to drop his weapon. Officer Jeff Oberts then approached and ordered Fitzgerald to drop his weapon but Fitzgerald proceeded to fire several shots at Starks while he lay on the ground and one bullet struck him. Officers Oberts and Buntler then fired their weapons at Fitzgerald, striking him several times in the upper torso, killing him.
After interviewing everyone at the scene, it was soon apparent that this gambling game was something bigger. Authorities were tight-lipped about others involved in the gambling party and rumors were rampant on who was in attendance with some alleging that along with some prominent Rockford-area men, some not-so savory characters were present. According to court documents, the players, some of whom carried guns, would wager thousands of dollars at the business at least twice a week. Neighbors described the modest tan complex of buildings there as a night time gathering spot where expensive cards would fill the parking lot on an almost nightly basis from around 5 p.m. until 7 the next morning.
Immediately after the shooting, G.B. Jones, supervisory senior resident of the FBI’s regional office was called to the scene. When asked why the FBI had been called in on this investigation, Rockford Police Chief Chet Epperson responded, “…some of the names of the individuals who were there rose some attention. There has been some investigations in the past.” The newspaper soon reported that Fitzgerald had a long history of gambling charges going back to 1961. More recently in January 2002 Fitzgerald was the subject of an undercover investigation and subsequent raid of an outbuilding on his property at 5604 Linden Road in Rockford according to an affidavit filed by Detective Jeff Stovall. A search warrant stated that Fitzgerald was keeping a gambling place known to those who frequented it as “The Soccer Club.” According to the same affidavit, “The Soccer Club” had a security guard and surveillance cameras monitoring the property and grounds. This case was dismissed when Fitzgerald’s attorney successfully argued that the search warrant was invalid. After further investigation, the card game robbery at the Kishwaukee Street business was also determined to be part of “The Soccer Club.”
Todd Evans stated in his police interrogation that he had heard about “The Soccer Club” when he was 18 or 19 years old and heard they had card games every night of the week but he only knew for sure they were on Sundays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Evans said he had begun playing at “The Soccer Club” about three or four months prior to the shooting. Detective Jeff Stovall stated in his affidavit that “The Soccer Club” enterprise ringleaders were brothers Salvatore and Natale Galluzzo. The Galluzzo brothers were natives of Aragona, Sicily but had moved to Rockford in 1962 and 1973, respectively. Salvatore Galluzzo had been identified in a 1984 expose by the Rockford Register Star as a “soldier” in the Rockford LCN however, a Rockford Police Detective stated on December 16, 1980 that he witnessed Galluzzo driving an automobile in which Frank Buscemi, Sr. (Rockford underboss) was a passenger. At the time, “Galluzzo appeared to be “chewing out” Buscemi. [The detective] stated this would indicate to him that Galluzzo was a counsel member in the local LCN family as no other person would have the “stroke” to talk in this fashion to Buscemi.” Whatever his role, Galluzzo seemed to be someone of importance in Rockford organized crime circles.
“The Soccer Club” had been investigated by the FBI as far back as the early 1990s and businesses such as Sam’s Pizza, Gerry’s Pizza, the Cherry Lounge/De Ja Oo Club and the Soccer Club, which was a sports store on East State Street, were just a few of the places bureau agents doggedly tailed cars coming and going from these businesses with license plates as far away as Kansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Indiana. All of these businesses were owned by either Salvatore or Natale among many other pizzerias in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. The floating gambling game enterprise in Rockford had first come to the attention of the FBI around 1966 when gambling was under the direct supervision of Rockford LCN capo Charles Vince. Throughout the years the FBI had investigated and performed surveillance on individual card games and larger gambling parties that involved hotel rooms in Rockford and the Chicago suburbs as well as other businesses that hosted these games after hours. A 1979 raid at the Mark II Restaurant in Rockford saw 250-300 men detained when it was discovered a large-scale gambling operation was in progress. Eyebrows were raised when State Representative Edolo “Zeke” Giorgi admitted he was only there having dinner upstairs and had left about 20 minutes before the raid began. Interestingly, Giorgi’s son-in-law was Frank Vella whose father was Frank P. Vella, an often investigated Rockford bookie who the FBI called “a known Rockford LCN associate.” The 1990s FBI files on Rockford LCN capo Sebastian “Knobby” Gulotta stated that an unnamed individual and Gulotta were purportedly close to Giorgi prior to his death.
Some of these LCN connected floating gambling games at one time appeared to under the protection of local law enforcement and it was evident that any illegal gambling games were protected by the Rockford LCN as long as they were paying the street tax as a March 18, 1970 FBI file on Charles Vince showed- it stated, “Rockford PD source states subject (Charles Vince) would tip off PD to gambling activities when operator refused to pay protection. [REDACTED] embezzled some $5,000 in money order funds to make payments to VINCE. On March 5, 1970, Detective Sergeant [WILLIAM FRANCIS] Intelligence Unit, Rockford Police Department, furnished the following information: “It is [FRANCIS]’s observation that [WILLIAM E. COLLINS, Corporation Counsel] for City of Rockford, Illinois, makes frequent contacts with VINCE in various parts of the city. These contacts are made in an automobile rather than at a fixed location. For this reason [FRANCIS] believes that [COLLINS] is the go-between at the present time between VINCE and JOE ZAMMUTO, boss of the Rockford Family. [FRANCIS] states that [REDACTED] he observed Captain [PAUL J. BENGSTON] retired Rockford Police Department captain, and Rockford Corporation Counsel, [WILLIAM E. COLLINS] seated outside the location in a car. Sergeant [FRANCIS] believed that these raids were set up for VINCE by [BENGSTON] and/or [COLLINS].”
In the aftermath of the October 2007 shooting, Officers Buntjer and Oberts were found justified in their use of force relating to the killing of Fitzgerald because it appeared that Fitzgerald was hard of hearing and apparently didn’t hear the officers’ commands to drop his weapon.
Byron Starks was sentenced to 17 years in prison and was paroled in April 2016
Dustin Frint was sentenced to 10 years in prison and was released in October 2012
As for Todd Evans, authorities didn’t believe that he was forthcoming in all he knew during his statements after the shooting. It was only after learning a warrant had been issued for his arrest based on statements from Frint to police, that Evans turned himself in. Evans was alleged to be a conspirator and was then charged along with Frint and Starks and because the robbery led to Fitzgerald’s death, murder charges were included in the indictments. Evans was accused of hatching the plot, allegedly recruiting Frint, who then brought in Starks for “crowd control” during the robbery. Further, it was alleged that Evans was acting as an “inside man” feeding the other conspirators information about the game through phone text messages. Frint and Starks reached agreements to plead guilty to armed robbery charges in exchange for the murder charges being dropped. Frint got a better deal because he was the first to cooperate to testify against the other two, but no charges were ever brought against Evans. Starks had testified that the plan to rob the game had only been discussed that day.
Of the men that were inside the business at the time of the robbery, only a few names have come out as to who was in attendance- Tony Weber, Nick LaMarca, Anthony Butera, George Peacock and Brad Lewis. Interestingly, Butera’s uncle was Phil Priola, a deceased made member of the Rockford LCN.
As for Salvatore Galluzzo, he died on May 4, 2016 at the age of 82.His only brushes with the law were charges of aggravated assault and aggravated battery in the 1970s however, his recently released FBI file stated that in the mid 1980s he was named as an individual who was “involved in a large-scale heroin trafficking organization, one portion of which is based in Rockford, Illinois, United States of America.” He also was the subject of two separate arson investigations at his business, The Nite and Day Disco in February 1979.
Natale Galluzzo had been arrested for firing a gun during a disturbance at a tavern he owned in 1975 and he was the subject of an arson investigation in 1982 but no charges were brought against him. Additionally, Galluzzo was the driver of a car that veered off the Illinois Northwest Tollway near Belvidere on March 6, 1986 and his passenger was Rockford native Frank “Gumba” Saladino, a man who the FBI described as a member of the Chicago Outfit’s Southside/Chinatown crew. Today, in his eighties, Galluzzo continues to run his pizzeria in Rockford and is considered a respected member of the community.