Surviving the Mob - Dennis Griffin [37]
“When Dina’s father found out the cops were looking for me, he didn’t want me in his house. Dina and I headed back to New York. I couldn’t take her right to her mother’s, because the cops would probably be watching the place. I gave her some money, told her I’d be in touch, and dropped her off a few blocks away. I didn’t tell her anything about where I might go or what I might do.
“From there I drove to the home of a childhood friend. He wasn’t in the life and the law would never connect me with him. I let my mother know I was okay and where I was. I spent the night there and the next morning my mother called me from a pay phone. She said she’d reached out to my father and he was coming to get me and help me get away.
“I hadn’t seen my father since I don’t know when. He did come and get me, though, and we went to his father and mother’s old house in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. They had both passed away, but the family still owned the place. We stayed in the basement apartment overnight, making plans and setting up the escape. The next morning we were gone.”
STAYING FREE
Andrew and his father caught a plane from New York to Los Angeles. They immediately took another flight to Las Vegas, then a bus to Laughlin, Nevada. Laughlin is located on the Colorado River about 90 miles south of Las Vegas. Directly across the river from Laughlin is Bullhead City, Arizona. So three days after the Burzo shooting, the DiDonatos were in the growing tourist destination on the Colorado. But they weren’t lazing around gambling or taking in the sights like tourists. They were keeping busy trying to figure a way out of his predicament.
They checked in with Andrew’s mother and she said the cops had been by again looking for him. They told her if he didn’t turn himself in, they’d put him on “America’s Most Wanted.” Andrew contacted a lawyer in New York named Ed Rappaport. This guy represented a lot of cops who had been charged with corruption or some other misconduct. He had a reputation for being able to get people off. Through him, Andrew and the cops reached an agreement that he’d surrender at the 69th Precinct on May 3. Part of the deal was that Andrew could put up bail after he was arraigned. He’d be able to stay free.
They went back to New York a few days ahead of time on April 28. Andrew went to his sister’s house and arranged to have Dina come over. The excitement must have been too much for her, because within an hour of her getting there, her water broke and she was rushed to the hospital. He couldn’t go with her; he was still a wanted man and the cops would have arrested him, on sight. Andrew’s son was born that day. Even amidst the uproar, it was an emotional time for Andrew. He and Dina named the boy Andrew Dominick.
Andrew surrendered as promised and got out on bail the next day. His maternal grandfather put his house up as collateral for the bond. He volunteered to do it, which shocked Andrew’s mother. He’d always liked his grandson, who used to take him fishing and to his doctor appointments. He knew Andrew was a gangster. He just said not to bring any trouble around to his house.
“So now I was back on the street,” Andrew explains. “But I had to lie low and even give up my horse room. If I got pinched again for anything, they’d revoke my bond on the attempted-murder charge. My income dropped to almost nothing and I knew I had