A strange story:

Ex-cop in gun rage
Friday, December 9th, 2005

A reputed Gambino capo was shot by a retired NYPD cop whose 18-year-old daughter was allegedly groped and then fired from the mobster's Staten Island produce store, authorities said last night.
Patrick Balsamo stormed the Top Tomato on Victory Blvd. in Travis with a bat and a .25-caliber gun bent on revenge Wednesday night, sources said.

Accompanied by his son, Anthony, 27, and two reputed members of the Bonanno crime family, the retired Brooklyn cop started smashing store windows and bashing cars parked in the lot, sources said.

His daughter, Maria, was onhand to watch the mayhem, a source said.

Store co-owner Carmine Sciandra, 52, heard the ruckus and charged into the parking lot with a baseball bat of his own, sources said.

Balsamo, 49, then shot Sciandra once in the stomach, sources said.

Cops matched shell casings at the scene to Balsamo's gun, a police source said.

Balsamo believes Sciandra's younger brother, Salvatore, molested his daughter and then fired her from her cashier's job Tuesday, sources said.

"This is a bizarre and uncalled-for crime - especially since it's a retired police officer," said Carmine Sciandra's lawyer, Joseph Benfante. "He came loaded for bear with a bunch of guys."

Sciandra survived the attack, but has a bullet lodged in his gut and a temporary colostomy bag, his lawyer said.

Sciandra was in the intensive care unit of Staten Island University North hospital last night, under police guard.

Two female relatives spoke with him as eight more loved ones waited outside his room. The visitors declined to comment.

Balsamo's alleged accomplices - reputed Bonanno associates Michael Viga, 52, and Ronald Carlucci, 62 - were caught in their getaway Lexus near Viga's home, cops said. They face assault charges.

Balsamo of Hillman Ave. turned himself in at the 122nd Precinct stationhouse. He was charged with criminal mischief and more serious counts were pending.

Cops were reviewing surveillance tapes taken from the store. "He's bought a world of trouble," a police source said. "Carmine Sciandra is a made guy, one of the top guys." Benfante denied that his client was a mobster.

Balsamo, who worked in Brooklyn's 61st Precinct and in the NYPD court division, retired from the job in the early 1990s, sources said.


I wonder what will happen next!?!

What is your source for this story? Can't find this on-line anywhere...

tony b.

Found it...there's a story in The Post...the bastion of journalistic integrity.

tony b.

This is from another article on this topic:

-The Gambinos are "screaming for blood" over the attack on powerful capo Carmine Sciandra at about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday outside the Top Tomato produce market, which he owns with his brothers.

Authorities fear a mob war could erupt because the brazen attack was not approved by other bosses.

"This was a renegade act," a police source said. "The Gambinos are going to want some retribution." - NyPost

Let "The Tomato Wars" begin!

tony b.

Me and some work associates are going to Sparks Steakhouse in Manhattan this week, maybe we should stay away!

Don't worry DS. I had somebody reliable plant that gun. I didn't want you coming out of the bathroom with just your dick in your hands.


Don Cardi

Well, Tony, we already had the Banana Wars. And this is about a produce store, after all...
Maybe we can resurrect Ciro Terranova, the "Artichoke King," to mediate?

Just when I think I was out, They pull me back in! This is going to get ugly, unless they have a sit-down.

An update on this story, from today's NY Post:

Gambinos Demand War Council
December 15, 2005 --

The Gambino organized-crime family, furious at the shooting of one of its bosses, is calling for a sit-down with the rival Bonannos to decide the fate of the ex-cop who allegedly pulled the trigger, law-enforcement sources said yesterday.

The Gambinos are absolutely livid because the victim, Carmine Sciandra, who runs the Top Tomato produce market, is a top captain in the Mafia family and was once considered a successor to "Teflon Don" John Gotti, the sources said.

Both residents and law-enforcement officials fear that unless the dispute is resolved, it could lead to war between the two families.

Sciandra was shot in the belly outside the market on Dec. 7 by former cop Patrick Balsamo, who brought along two Bonanno thugs to use as muscle, police said.

Balsamo was angry because he believed Carmine's brother, Salvatore, groped the cop's 18-year-old daughter, Maria, a College of Staten Island student. The teen had worked as a cashier at the market before being fired.

Swinging a baseball bat, Balsamo smashed several windows before a melee erupted. During the fracas, the ex-cop drew a gun and blasted Sciandra, police said.

Balsamo, now a security guard at a Brighton Beach nightclub, hasn't been seen since he was released on $25,000 bail last Friday. Law-enforcement officials believe he has gone into hiding.

"I imagine Balsamo is terrified. We're all concerned," said a woman who has lived in the neighborhood for years.

Sciandra is recovering from his wound at Staten Island University Hospital.

His wife hung up on a reporter who called his room yesterday.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn and the FBI's organized crime task force are watching to see if any mobsters retaliate.

The feds fear a mob war could erupt because the brazen attack on Sciandra was not approved by other bosses.

"This was a renegade act," a police source said.

At the time of the shooting, witnesses said that they heard a shot and saw Sciandra go down.

Then they saw several men with baseball bats chase a sedan out of the parking lot.

Top Tomato employees would say only, "I don't know nothin'."

patrick.gallahue@nypost.com

If these Bonnano-associates (I don't know if they are made guys, according to one article they are, in another they are just associates) knew that the guy they were going to beat up or even shoot was the brother of a Gambino-captain;
And if they knew the place where everything happened was owned by that captain,... it wasn't really smart to go along with Balsamo (the father of the girl and ex-cop). Not smart at all!?

I just read in Capeci's column that the Bonnano's who participated, Carluci (soldier) and Virga (associate)had no fault in the shooting according to the Gambino-leaders. They were there to 'stop Balsamo', they claimed.

Looks like Balsamo is going to be the only one who has to pay a price (he is in hiding already). Well it was Balsamo's daughter that got groped by some 40 or 50 year old guy so it is his fault?!

I never questioned who started the "Tomato Wars. I never asked who gave the order! Instead, I said to myself, this is the business they have chosen.


That shopping area where this shooting took place is a very busy shopping area with a dance school for kids, a gymnastics center for kids, and an indoor amusement park for kids. I hope that this thing doesn't escalate any further because if it does, I asuure you that some innocent person or kid is going to get hurt over there. Here's a perfect example of how the mob really does not give a damn about civilians. That's all a bunch of bullshit.


Don Cardi