Accetturo moved to Newark and became the leader of a large street gang. He gained a reputation as a ferocious street fighter, which led several of his fellow gang members to call him "Tumac," after the caveman hero of the 1940 adventure film One Million B.C.Accetturo was recruited by Anthony "Ham" Delasco, the boss of the Jersey Crew. By the early 1960s, he had become Delasco's driver. Accetturo became Delasco's protégé learning trades in illegal gambling and loansharking controlling the Newark area. Delasco died in the late 1960s and Accetturo became a major earner under his successor, Joseph Abate, as well as a major player in his own right in the New Jersey underworld.
