I’m not sure how they did this, but on May 19, 1944, two Patrolmen from the 32nd Precinct in Harlem got their hands on a ticket for an evening party hosted by a teenage gang called the Sabers. The ticket read:
“Come one, come all.”
The party was hosted at 206 West 146th Street, a 6-floor apartment with wrought iron fire escapes, the classic New York style that looks like it’s glued to the front of the building. Following the spirit of the “Come one, come all,” invitation, the two Patrolmen arrived at 9 p.m., entering apartment 12 where the party was in progress. After they searched all the male party-goers, they hung around the apartment waiting for something. I can’t think of a better way to slaughter the mood at a party than having two policemen hanging around. Their presence had to be a killjoy, and some guests who hadn’t arrived yet had no idea how much of a killjoy they would be. Twenty minutes later, three members of the Sabers knocked on the door and probably to their shock and dismay, one of the Patrolmen answered the knock.
The party was hosted at 206 West 146th Street, a 6-floor apartment with wrought iron fire escapes, the classic New York style that looks like it’s glued to the front of the building. Following the spirit of the “Come one, come all,” invitation, the two Patrolmen arrived at 9 p.m., entering apartment 12 where the party was in progress. After they searched all the male party-goers, they hung around the apartment waiting for something. I can’t think of a better way to slaughter the mood at a party than having two policemen hanging around. Their presence had to be a killjoy, and some guests who hadn’t arrived yet had no idea how much of a killjoy they would be. Twenty minutes later, three members of the Sabers knocked on the door and probably to their shock and dismay, one of the Patrolmen answered the knock.
He frisked the three boys and found one had a knife and another a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson pistol with two cartridges. The trap was neatly sprung, all from a general-invite ticket for a party.
Daniel, the boy with the Smith and Wesson, was only 5’5” tall and had a little man complex. He stuttered and stammered, supposedly revealing “neurotic traits.” He offered an unlikely, eyebrows-raised-to-the-ceiling story about how he got the gun. According to him, he and his friend (the one with the knife) were confronted by two other boys who asked if they were members of the Sabers. He denied he was a member but they pointed a Smith & Wesson pistol at him just the same and squeezed the trigger twice. The gun didn’t fire – despite it later found to be in good working order – and Daniel knocked the pistol out of his hand and scooped it up.
The Patrolman said Daniel was “an aggressive individual” who had the gun for rumbles between the Sabers and their enemies, a gang called the Chancellors.
The house party where Daniel was caught by the police, May 19, 1944.
The official record agreed that Daniel was aggressive. Before May 19, 1944, he had some brushes with the law. The first one, which was minor, happened in 1940, when he stole a pair of gloves from Macy’s Department store. He wasn’t arrested and it didn’t show up on his record, which was clean at the time. Two other far more serious crimes, however, did stain his record. The first happened on March 22, 1943 when Daniel, along with four others, assaulted a 17-year-old boy for the sin of bothering a friend of theirs. They punched him and stole his hat. The arresting officer thought the fight was gang-related and said Daniel was “off-base and looking for trouble.”
The detective’s assessment of Daniel being “off base” and “looking for trouble” was an accurate diagnosis. The next month Daniel sexually assaulted a girl with a friend of his. This despite the fact he was a father and had a newborn son at home with his girlfriend. Daniel was actually on parole for the sexual assault when he was arrested for possession of the gun. Stealing a pair of gloves from a department store is one thing. Assault, rape and carrying a Smith & Wesson are another.
Daniel got a severe sentence of 7 years to a correctional facility. This really surprised me because in crimes of this type that I’ve researched, the sentencing is almost always 3 years. In fact, in my research of NYC youth gangs from the 1940s to the early 1960s, I’ve never seen anyone get 7 years for possession of a weapon. Daniel’s violent record certainly played a role in this.
When Daniel began serving his time on Nov.1, 1944, he had already spent 165 days in jail waiting for court proceedings to wrap up. At this point I hope that Daniel had serious doubts about where he was going and how he ended up in this spot. It was his decision to commit serious crimes, and he had nobody to blame but himself. So how did he get there?
When examining a crime, rewind the cassette tape and investigate backwards to see where it all went wrong. Obviously Daniel wasn’t always a gangster. At one time he was a little boy, living life like a million other kids, doing kid-things like playing games or running around with siblings or school mates. And speaking of school, he was above average. The bad reputation he acquired didn’t begin until he turned 16 which is when he quit school. From that point forward his behavior did a sharp nose-dive directly into the sewer. He joined the notorious Sabers gang who “frequently engaged in gun and knife battles.” But the weird thing is, despite being a Saber, Daniel had occasional flashes of good behavior. It was like he had an internal struggle between the gang life and being a well-behaved boy. Sometimes he was fine, and didn’t cause problems. Other times he was a gangster straight off a Hollywood silver screen. That’s when he was defiant and despised authority.
Six weeks into his incarceration, Daniel, punched a fellow inmate in the jaw, breaking it in two places. He got three more discipline actions over the next few years but they weren’t as serious as the assault (wasting food, yelling across the gallery and talking in line). Although his sentence was 7 years, Daniel was paroled on March 18, 1948, having served 3 years, 4 months and 3 weeks.
Any inmate allowed out on parole had to have a place to live and a job waiting for him. At the age of 22, and hopefully a wiser person, Daniel moved in with his mother. His job was at a business called the Senate Embroidery Works in Manhattan. Daniel didn’t violate parole, so he doesn’t hit the official record again and it’s here that his trail went cold. As for the Sabers gang, they were still around 4-5 years later. Check out these three Facebook posts I did for more information on this gang:
Post on Saber Caught With Contraband
Post on “Little Pecan” of the Sabers
Post on Saber Arrested for Weapon Possession