FBI files indicate that Bonanno crime family captain Dominic “Sonny Black” Napolitano allegedly ordered the murder of a Brooklyn bookmaker in 1980, a killing that left four innocent bystanders wounded in the chaos. Napolitano, who was immortalized in the mob film *Donnie Brasco* and portrayed by actor Michael Madsen, was born in June 1930. When the Mafia opened its books for new membership in January 1976, he was among the first wave of inductees into the Bonanno family, alongside James “Legs” Episcopia, Anthony “Bims” Bonacci, and Alfonso “Sonny Red” Indelicato. After the powerful and feared Bonanno mobster Carmine Galante was murdered in 1979, Napolitano was promoted to captain.
He took over the crew from longtime captain Mike Sabella, who was demoted. Serving under Napolitano was Bonanno soldier Benjamin “Lefty Guns” Ruggiero, another figure made famous by *Donnie Brasco*. Even as a captain, one FBI file suggests Napolitano still personally participated in armed robberies. In one documented case, Napolitano reportedly joined Ruggiero and crew associate John “Booby” Sarasani in the armed robbery of valuable metals in the New York–New Jersey area.
The FBI file stated that a source had heard three made men, one of whom was a captain, took part in the theft of an extremely valuable metal load. The source advised that the three men were reportedly present at the scene of the armed robbery and that the load was later recovered by the FBI. The file identified the three individuals as Napolitano, Ruggiero, and a man known only as John “Booby,” whom the source was almost certain was John Sarasani. Another FBI file noted that the same three men had worked together on robberies and hijackings in the past.
In late April 1980, Philip Aruri, a 51-year-old Brooklyn bookmaker with ties to organized crime, was shot to death. Aruri had been linked to wealthy Gambino family captain Carmine “The Doctor” Lombardozzi, an unusual figure in his own right. Lombardozzi had once been highly respected but reportedly had an affair with the daughter of another made man. According to some sources, he was forced to divorce his wife and marry the mobster’s daughter.
For a period in the 1960s, Lombardozzi also served as an active informant for the FBI. The murder of Aruri took place on April 29, 1980, when he was gunned down inside a fruit and vegetable store in Brooklyn. FBI files state the hit was ordered by Napolitano. One FBI file reads that on May 1, 1980, a source heard that the murder of Aruri was allegedly at the direction of Napolitano, a captain in the Bonanno family.
The source was unable to determine a motive for the killing. The shooting was a messy affair. According to a newspaper report at the time, Aruri was passing Santos’s Fruit and Vegetable Store at 429 Court Street around 6 p. m.
when three men pulled up in a car. Two men stepped out, and one yelled, “Hey, Philly. ”
Aruri ran toward the store as the gunmen opened fire. He fell in a hail of shotgun pellets and bullets inside the store.
To make sure he was dead, one of the gunmen stood over him and fired a single shot into his head. In the scramble, two men in the store, Alo Adam, 51, and his son Puricio, 22, were shot and wounded. Two other people, Linda Jabaldi, 17, and Nicholas Danetti, 51, were hit by shotgun pellets while standing at least a block away. All four were treated at Long Island College Hospital and released.
The FBI file noted that the motive for why Napolitano allegedly ordered the hit on Aruri could not be determined, and no further information on the case has surfaced publicly. FBI agent Joe Pistone, who infiltrated the Bonanno family as jewel thief Donnie Brasco, said he was close with Napolitano and, out of all the mobsters he dealt with, actually liked him. But Napolitano would not have risen as high as he did in the New York Mafia without a deadly and ruthless streak.