Surviving the Mob - Dennis Griffin [63]
“I called and he told me that their computer system had crashed and a lot of information was lost. He was updating his files and needed me to come in on Monday. I said sure. But I smelled a rat. I’d been on parole awhile and I’d hung around with parolees all my life. I’d never heard of this happening before. Alarm bells were going off in my head.
“After I hung up, I spent some time trying to figure out what this was all about. The Marriott seemed less likely the more I thought about it. Also, a couple of weeks earlier, I’d been part of a crew that tried to pull a bank burglary in the Bronx. Two of the guys had stolen a piece of heavy equipment to break through the bank’s wall. But after we got inside, we weren’t able to rip the night-deposit drop out. We had to abort the mission, so it ended up as just some serious vandalism. But I doubted that deal had anything to do with the parole officer wanting to see me. I couldn’t think of anything else that would have triggered that phone call. But something wasn’t right. I could feel it.
“Under the circumstances, I figured I’d better pass on the Sunday bank job. I got hold of Tommy and Benny. I told ’em I wanted to go on the score, but I didn’t want to ruin it if I was hot. The decision was for me to give them the rental car and they’d do the job without me. I’d report to my parole officer on Monday and find out what was up.
“On Monday I went to the parole office. My mother was now divorced and her boyfriend went with me. We were in the waiting area for about five minutes when my crewmate Mario came in. I told him about having just seen the parole officer the previous Wednesday, but on Friday, he told me I had to come back in.
“Mario said he’d seen some guys that looked like detectives downstairs when he entered the building. They were looking at a file and he thought he heard them mention my name. He said, ‘Listen, they can violate us on nothing and hold us on Riker’s Island for forty-five days just to bust our balls. If they [the detectives] come up, I think they’re gonna violate you. You might wanna get hold of Jo Jo. Have him call in and see what’s goin’ on.’
“When Mario got called into the office, I told my mother’s boyfriend to go out and start the car. He turned white as a sheet, but he went. The door worked by a buzzer, but because he wasn’t a parolee, he was able to get right out.
“A few minutes later the two suits came up. They flashed their badges and were buzzed in. As they headed for my parole officer’s office, they happened to look over at me. Then they turned and looked at each other like they knew who I was. As they went in the office, the lady at the desk opened the door for another person to come in. Before the door could close, I was gone. I went down the stairs five steps at a time and ran to the car. We drove to my mother’s boyfriend’s house and I called Jo Jo. I told him what happened and he said to sit tight, he’d get right back to me.
“Jo Jo called back a short time later. He said he’d spoken to the parole officer. He asked him what was going on and said that he wanted to resolve whatever problem there was. The parole officer said he didn’t know what Jo Jo was talking about. He’d only say that I was supposed to see him, that I’d been in the office and then ran out. I had until the end of the day to report or I’d be violated. Jo Jo told him that he’d called in good faith to discuss surrender. Since the parole officer was lying to him, there could be no deal. He said they’d have to find me on their own.
“I still