{"id":3855,"date":"2023-03-02T19:59:51","date_gmt":"2023-03-03T00:59:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newyorkcitygangs.com\/?page_id=3855"},"modified":"2023-03-02T19:59:51","modified_gmt":"2023-03-03T00:59:51","slug":"a-harlem-party-a-knock-at-the-door-and-a-smith-wesson","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/newyorkcitygangs.com\/?page_id=3855","title":{"rendered":"A Harlem Party, a Knock at the Door and a Smith & Wesson"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m not sure how they did this, but on May 19, 1944, two Patrolmen from the 32nd<\/sup> Precinct in Harlem got their hands on a ticket for an evening party hosted by a teenage gang called the Sabers.\u00a0 The ticket read:<\/p>\n

\u201cCome one, come all.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The party was hosted at 206 West 146th<\/sup> Street, a 6-floor apartment with wrought iron fire escapes, the classic New York style that looks like it\u2019s glued to the front of the building.\u00a0 Following the spirit of the \u201cCome one, come all,\u201d invitation, the two Patrolmen arrived at 9 p.m., entering apartment 12 where the party was in progress.\u00a0 After they searched all the male party-goers, they hung around the apartment waiting for something.\u00a0 I can\u2019t think of a better way to slaughter the mood at a party than having two policemen hanging around.\u00a0 Their presence had to be a killjoy, and some guests who hadn\u2019t arrived yet had no idea how much of a killjoy they would be.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

The party was hosted at 206 West 146th<\/sup> Street, a 6-floor apartment with wrought iron fire escapes, the classic New York style that looks like it\u2019s glued to the front of the building.\u00a0 Following the spirit of the \u201cCome one, come all,\u201d invitation, the two Patrolmen arrived at 9 p.m., entering apartment 12 where the party was in progress.\u00a0 After they searched all the male party-goers, they hung around the apartment waiting for something.\u00a0 I can\u2019t think of a better way to slaughter the mood at a party than having two policemen hanging around.\u00a0 Their presence had to be a killjoy, and some guests who hadn\u2019t arrived yet had no idea how much of a killjoy they would be.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

He frisked the three boys and found one had a knife and another a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson pistol with two cartridges.\u00a0 The trap was neatly sprung, all from a general-invite ticket for a party.<\/p>\n

Daniel, the boy with the Smith and Wesson, was only 5\u20195\u201d tall and had a little man complex.\u00a0 He stuttered and stammered, supposedly revealing \u201cneurotic traits.\u201d\u00a0 He offered an unlikely, eyebrows-raised-to-the-ceiling story about how he got the gun.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 He denied he was a member but they pointed a Smith & Wesson pistol at him just the same and squeezed the trigger twice.\u00a0 The gun didn\u2019t fire \u2013 despite it later found to be in good working order \u2013 and Daniel knocked the pistol out of his hand and scooped it up.<\/p>\n

The Patrolman said Daniel was \u201can aggressive individual\u201d who had the gun for rumbles between the Sabers and their enemies, a gang called the Chancellors.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The house party where Daniel was caught by the police, May 19, 1944.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

The official record agreed that Daniel was aggressive.\u00a0 Before May 19, 1944, he had some brushes with the law.\u00a0 The first one, which was minor, happened in 1940, when he stole a pair of gloves from Macy\u2019s Department store.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t arrested and it didn\u2019t show up on his record, which was clean at the time.\u00a0 Two other far more serious crimes, however, did stain his record.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 They punched him and stole his hat.\u00a0 The arresting officer thought the fight was gang-related and said Daniel was \u201coff-base and looking for trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

The detective\u2019s assessment of Daniel being \u201coff base\u201d and \u201clooking for trouble\u201d was an accurate diagnosis. The next month Daniel sexually assaulted a girl with a friend of his.\u00a0 This despite the fact he was a father and had a newborn son at home with his girlfriend.\u00a0 Daniel was actually on parole for the sexual assault when he was arrested for possession of the gun.\u00a0 Stealing a pair of gloves from a department store is one thing.\u00a0 Assault, rape and carrying a Smith & Wesson are another.<\/p>\n

Daniel got a severe sentence of 7 years to a correctional facility.\u00a0 This really surprised me because in crimes of this type that I\u2019ve researched, the sentencing is almost always 3 years.\u00a0 In fact, in my research of NYC youth gangs from the 1940s to the early 1960s, I\u2019ve never seen anyone get 7 years for possession of a weapon.\u00a0\u00a0 Daniel\u2019s violent record certainly played a role in this.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 At this point I hope that Daniel had serious doubts about where he was going and how he ended up in this spot.\u00a0 It was his decision to commit serious crimes, and he had nobody to blame but himself.\u00a0 So how did he get there?<\/p>\n

When examining a crime, rewind the cassette tape and investigate backwards to see where it all went wrong.\u00a0 Obviously Daniel wasn\u2019t always a gangster. \u00a0At 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.\u00a0 The bad reputation he acquired didn\u2019t begin until he turned 16 which is when he quit school.\u00a0 From that point forward his behavior did a sharp nose-dive directly into the sewer.\u00a0 He joined the notorious Sabers gang who \u201cfrequently engaged in gun and knife battles.\u201d\u00a0 But the weird thing is, despite being a Saber, Daniel had occasional flashes of good behavior.\u00a0 It was like he had an internal struggle between the gang life and being a well-behaved boy.\u00a0 Sometimes he was fine, and didn\u2019t cause problems.\u00a0 Other times he was a gangster straight off a Hollywood silver screen.\u00a0 That\u2019s when he was defiant and despised authority.<\/p>\n

Six weeks into his incarceration, Daniel, punched a fellow inmate in the jaw, breaking it in two places.\u00a0 He got three more discipline actions over the next few years but they weren\u2019t as serious as the assault (wasting food, yelling across the gallery and talking in line).\u00a0 Although his sentence was 7 years, Daniel was paroled on March 18, 1948, having served 3 years, 4 months and 3 weeks.<\/p>\n

Any inmate allowed out on parole had to have a place to live and a job waiting for him.\u00a0 At the age of 22, and hopefully a wiser person, Daniel moved in with his mother.\u00a0 His job was at a business called the Senate Embroidery Works in Manhattan.\u00a0 Daniel didn\u2019t violate parole, so he doesn\u2019t hit the official record again and it\u2019s here that his trail went cold.\u00a0 As for the Sabers gang, they were still around 4-5 years later.\u00a0 Check out these three Facebook posts I did for more information on this gang:<\/p>\n

Post on Saber Caught With Contraband<\/strong><\/p>\n