Posted By: Toodoped
Chicago's Chop Shop Crew 1970's - 08/16/13 04:49 PM
The term “chop shop” is used for various independent car thieves that cut up stolen cars and than sell the parts or sell the cars that are built with the stolen parts.Some gangsters even came up with the idea on putting pressure on independent operators to pay street tax.In other cases some of the opeartors made deals with mobsters and in the end got squeezed out and the mob puts one of their guys as a frontman .For example,the Chicago Crime Commission in 1978 reported over 40.000 car thefts.This means that many of this cars went to the chop shops and the operators generated millions of dollars through the years.In the late 60’s and through out the 70’s,there were many chop shop crews operating in almost every city in the U.S.
One of the most famous crews was Chicago’s chop shop crew led by vicious mobster and mafia old timer,named James Catuara.Catuara’s nickname was “The Bomber” for his reputation of blowing taxi cabs in the infamous Chicago taxi wars of the late 20’s and early 30’s.He became a member of the Chicago Heights,based in the south suburbs of Chicago.His teacher was James Belcastro also known as “King of Bombers” who headed his own bomb squad.So as a result of that relationship,Catuara in 1933,at the age of 27,was arrested for carrying a dynamite bomb.He was convicted and did 8 years in Joliet State Prison and was paroled in 1942.He also had close relationship with Outfit bosses Tony Accardo ,Frank LaPorte and later Al Pittolo.,regulary handing them down envelops filled with cash.In other words Jimmy had the backing and his biggest responsibility was the Outfits chop shop interests.
Catuara started with the chop shop business some where around 1969.Rumours are that the chop shop business was originaly started by Albert Tocco. But in 1963 he was convicted and sent to a 3 year jail time.Cautara and Tocco knew each other but there was a rivalry between them in the chop shop busniess.But when Tocco was sent to jail,Cautara took over.At the time,Jimmy was also running loan shark and many gambling operations.With the chop shop operation,Jimmy and his crew became one of the Outfit’s top earning machines.Jimmy ’s crew was formed from the partnership of italian and non italian members and was a very tuff crew with feared reputation.Jimmy kept ruthless bunch of enforcers around him.Not only did his crew operated with the chop shops,they also did murder contracts and demanded street tax from various independent choppers.
Catuara’s reign as boss of the chop shop biz lasted for 3 or 4 years untill Tocco’s release in 1973.Thats when the infamous Chicago cho shop wars started.The wars lasted untill 1980’s.During the chaos,there were about 20 murders connected to the chop shop wars.During the wars,many of Catuara’s crew members switched sides or got whacked.Many people that refused to pay street taxes were also killed.Rumours are that it was Catuara’s fault for the mayhem by taking over other mobsters territories and a lot of people were mad and disapointed.Catuara’s biggest mistake was the planting of a bomb under a car wich belonged to the Secretary of State’s Northern Illionis Vladimir Ivkovich.The bomb didn’t go off but a lot of Outfit bosses got mad at Catuara.So the bosses replaced Catuara with Angelo “The Hook” LaPietra,a very powerfull Chicago mobster.So on July 28 1978,Jimmy Catuara was sitting in his red cadillac when two men approached Catuara’s car and riddled the old timer with bullets.Catuara’s muder preceded with the murders of many of his crew members.Between 1975 and 1980 nearly all of the members of Catuara’s crew were eliminated.
Among the italians in Catuara’s crew were….
Sam Annerino was an ex boxer who started to work for mob guys as ruthless enforcer.He was one of Catuara’s favorite underling and worked directly under him.Annerino had a very bad temper and he was a very good in collecting street taxes from independent chop shops.If some people didn’t pay up,they usually would ended up with a bullet in their heads.He was also known as big time hitman among Outfit bosses.He was known for caryying a hitman ‘s emergency kit in his car trunk.Things like surgical gloves,gun with a fingerprint resistant tape,knife etc.Later he switched sides and became an ally with Chicago mafia old timer Albert Tocco.There were rumours that Annerino was holding cash from Tocco and later Joey “The Clown”Lombardo saw Annerino as a potential rival.So in July 1977,Sam Annerino was taken out by 2 or 3 masked gunmen in the middle of an Oak Lawn street.
Guido Fidanzi was a long time partner of Billy Dauber,a fearless Chicago hitman and enforcer,in a fraudulent mortgage and also a long time Catuara underling. Fidanzi was a soldier/associate and also a hitman for the Chicago Outfit.Fidanzi was paroled in 1971 after being convicted for tax fraud wich he served 3 years in jail. Later rumours came up as usually that Fidanzi was an informer for the FBI and that he tipped the agents about a mail fraud wich many gangsters got charged.Before the trials began on August 8 1972 Fidanzi was shot seven times and the head and body in his brother in law’s office. Rumours are that Fidanzi never was an informant for the FBI,but that’s the way things go in the Outfit.
Richie Ferraro was Catuara’s biggest earner.Ferraro was one if not the biggest major chopper in Chicago. During the chop shop wars in 1977 Ferraro disappeared.Rumours were that Albert Tocco’s crew whacked Ferraro and dismembered his body.
Other members were James Palaggi and Joe Theo.Both were killed during the chop shop wars.Theo was killed at the age of 33 on June 15 1977.He was found in his car shot in the head by a shot gun.Pallagi was found on August 25 1977 in his van shot and wrapped in plastic.He was missing for a week. James Palaggi turned Stool Pigeon for a lesser sentence and ratted on Bruno Mancuri.Palaggi’s father in law was Willie Potatoes Daddano.
Catuara’s most famous non-italian crew members were Billy Dauber and Steve Ostrowsky.
Billy Dauber was one of the most ruthless guys in the crew.Among gangsters he was considered the craziest of them all.As a youngster he started as a enforcer for juice collectors before he’s involvment in the chop shop business. He was a big earner and had his own chop shops .During the chop shop wars he was right hand man for Jimmy Catuara.In 1973 Dauber was convicted for mail fraud and sent to jail.He got out in 1976 but switched sides and turned his back at Cautara.He became a partner with another Chicago mobster,Albert Tocco wich was once Catuara’s ally but later he became his enemy in the chop shop business.Dauber did a lot of success with Tocco but later,drunked with power,Dauber worked his own business and didn’t bother paying street tax.Rumours among mobsters were that he was an informer wich later came out to be true.On July 2,1980 Dauber and his wife were riddled with bullets in their car.
Steve Ostrowsky at age of 28 owned a salvage yard on Chicago’s south side.His yard was in the epicenter of at least 6 chop shops.His yard mostly sold parts from stolen cars.Steve was a major player in the chop shop biz and he was recognized by many top guys in the Chicago Outfit. For Steve Ostrowsky.choppin a car was like a walk in the park. Steve had only one problem in his life and that was he had a big mouth.Steve first connection with Jimmy Catuara was through Billy Dauber.With Dauber, Ostrowsky also worked as a hitman for the Chicago mob.The first time Ostrowsky was linked to a murder was in 1969 when a chopper named Harry Carlson was killed in a car bombing. Ostrowsky was only questioned by the police.There were rumours that Dauber and Ostrowsky had a small army of hitmen under their rule. Ostrowsky was known for taking care of Catuara’s cadillac .Steve ended up as a victim of the chop shop wars.On October 5,1976 at the age of 34,Ostrowsky was shot by a rifle of bullets from a running van.
Timmy O’Brien was a chop shop owner and Catuara’s underling. O`Brien ran one of the biggest stolen-car rings in the south suburbs. O`Brien started out on his own, but in the late 1970s he took on several partners, including a syndicate hit man named Billy Dauber. During the chop shop wars he was found dead in the trunk of his Buick, parked in Blue Island, on May 24, 1979. He had been shot twice in the head..He was murdered by Outfit hitman Gerald Hector Scarpelli.
Other non-italian members were Joe Marek,Jack Schnadenberg and Harold Bean a death row recipient.
If any1 has some additional info or found some errors in this story please contribute.This article is completed from various sources and infos that can be found on the internet.Cheers
One of the most famous crews was Chicago’s chop shop crew led by vicious mobster and mafia old timer,named James Catuara.Catuara’s nickname was “The Bomber” for his reputation of blowing taxi cabs in the infamous Chicago taxi wars of the late 20’s and early 30’s.He became a member of the Chicago Heights,based in the south suburbs of Chicago.His teacher was James Belcastro also known as “King of Bombers” who headed his own bomb squad.So as a result of that relationship,Catuara in 1933,at the age of 27,was arrested for carrying a dynamite bomb.He was convicted and did 8 years in Joliet State Prison and was paroled in 1942.He also had close relationship with Outfit bosses Tony Accardo ,Frank LaPorte and later Al Pittolo.,regulary handing them down envelops filled with cash.In other words Jimmy had the backing and his biggest responsibility was the Outfits chop shop interests.
Catuara started with the chop shop business some where around 1969.Rumours are that the chop shop business was originaly started by Albert Tocco. But in 1963 he was convicted and sent to a 3 year jail time.Cautara and Tocco knew each other but there was a rivalry between them in the chop shop busniess.But when Tocco was sent to jail,Cautara took over.At the time,Jimmy was also running loan shark and many gambling operations.With the chop shop operation,Jimmy and his crew became one of the Outfit’s top earning machines.Jimmy ’s crew was formed from the partnership of italian and non italian members and was a very tuff crew with feared reputation.Jimmy kept ruthless bunch of enforcers around him.Not only did his crew operated with the chop shops,they also did murder contracts and demanded street tax from various independent choppers.
Catuara’s reign as boss of the chop shop biz lasted for 3 or 4 years untill Tocco’s release in 1973.Thats when the infamous Chicago cho shop wars started.The wars lasted untill 1980’s.During the chaos,there were about 20 murders connected to the chop shop wars.During the wars,many of Catuara’s crew members switched sides or got whacked.Many people that refused to pay street taxes were also killed.Rumours are that it was Catuara’s fault for the mayhem by taking over other mobsters territories and a lot of people were mad and disapointed.Catuara’s biggest mistake was the planting of a bomb under a car wich belonged to the Secretary of State’s Northern Illionis Vladimir Ivkovich.The bomb didn’t go off but a lot of Outfit bosses got mad at Catuara.So the bosses replaced Catuara with Angelo “The Hook” LaPietra,a very powerfull Chicago mobster.So on July 28 1978,Jimmy Catuara was sitting in his red cadillac when two men approached Catuara’s car and riddled the old timer with bullets.Catuara’s muder preceded with the murders of many of his crew members.Between 1975 and 1980 nearly all of the members of Catuara’s crew were eliminated.
Among the italians in Catuara’s crew were….
Sam Annerino was an ex boxer who started to work for mob guys as ruthless enforcer.He was one of Catuara’s favorite underling and worked directly under him.Annerino had a very bad temper and he was a very good in collecting street taxes from independent chop shops.If some people didn’t pay up,they usually would ended up with a bullet in their heads.He was also known as big time hitman among Outfit bosses.He was known for caryying a hitman ‘s emergency kit in his car trunk.Things like surgical gloves,gun with a fingerprint resistant tape,knife etc.Later he switched sides and became an ally with Chicago mafia old timer Albert Tocco.There were rumours that Annerino was holding cash from Tocco and later Joey “The Clown”Lombardo saw Annerino as a potential rival.So in July 1977,Sam Annerino was taken out by 2 or 3 masked gunmen in the middle of an Oak Lawn street.
Guido Fidanzi was a long time partner of Billy Dauber,a fearless Chicago hitman and enforcer,in a fraudulent mortgage and also a long time Catuara underling. Fidanzi was a soldier/associate and also a hitman for the Chicago Outfit.Fidanzi was paroled in 1971 after being convicted for tax fraud wich he served 3 years in jail. Later rumours came up as usually that Fidanzi was an informer for the FBI and that he tipped the agents about a mail fraud wich many gangsters got charged.Before the trials began on August 8 1972 Fidanzi was shot seven times and the head and body in his brother in law’s office. Rumours are that Fidanzi never was an informant for the FBI,but that’s the way things go in the Outfit.
Richie Ferraro was Catuara’s biggest earner.Ferraro was one if not the biggest major chopper in Chicago. During the chop shop wars in 1977 Ferraro disappeared.Rumours were that Albert Tocco’s crew whacked Ferraro and dismembered his body.
Other members were James Palaggi and Joe Theo.Both were killed during the chop shop wars.Theo was killed at the age of 33 on June 15 1977.He was found in his car shot in the head by a shot gun.Pallagi was found on August 25 1977 in his van shot and wrapped in plastic.He was missing for a week. James Palaggi turned Stool Pigeon for a lesser sentence and ratted on Bruno Mancuri.Palaggi’s father in law was Willie Potatoes Daddano.
Catuara’s most famous non-italian crew members were Billy Dauber and Steve Ostrowsky.
Billy Dauber was one of the most ruthless guys in the crew.Among gangsters he was considered the craziest of them all.As a youngster he started as a enforcer for juice collectors before he’s involvment in the chop shop business. He was a big earner and had his own chop shops .During the chop shop wars he was right hand man for Jimmy Catuara.In 1973 Dauber was convicted for mail fraud and sent to jail.He got out in 1976 but switched sides and turned his back at Cautara.He became a partner with another Chicago mobster,Albert Tocco wich was once Catuara’s ally but later he became his enemy in the chop shop business.Dauber did a lot of success with Tocco but later,drunked with power,Dauber worked his own business and didn’t bother paying street tax.Rumours among mobsters were that he was an informer wich later came out to be true.On July 2,1980 Dauber and his wife were riddled with bullets in their car.
Steve Ostrowsky at age of 28 owned a salvage yard on Chicago’s south side.His yard was in the epicenter of at least 6 chop shops.His yard mostly sold parts from stolen cars.Steve was a major player in the chop shop biz and he was recognized by many top guys in the Chicago Outfit. For Steve Ostrowsky.choppin a car was like a walk in the park. Steve had only one problem in his life and that was he had a big mouth.Steve first connection with Jimmy Catuara was through Billy Dauber.With Dauber, Ostrowsky also worked as a hitman for the Chicago mob.The first time Ostrowsky was linked to a murder was in 1969 when a chopper named Harry Carlson was killed in a car bombing. Ostrowsky was only questioned by the police.There were rumours that Dauber and Ostrowsky had a small army of hitmen under their rule. Ostrowsky was known for taking care of Catuara’s cadillac .Steve ended up as a victim of the chop shop wars.On October 5,1976 at the age of 34,Ostrowsky was shot by a rifle of bullets from a running van.
Timmy O’Brien was a chop shop owner and Catuara’s underling. O`Brien ran one of the biggest stolen-car rings in the south suburbs. O`Brien started out on his own, but in the late 1970s he took on several partners, including a syndicate hit man named Billy Dauber. During the chop shop wars he was found dead in the trunk of his Buick, parked in Blue Island, on May 24, 1979. He had been shot twice in the head..He was murdered by Outfit hitman Gerald Hector Scarpelli.
Other non-italian members were Joe Marek,Jack Schnadenberg and Harold Bean a death row recipient.
If any1 has some additional info or found some errors in this story please contribute.This article is completed from various sources and infos that can be found on the internet.Cheers
