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Al Capone

Alphonsus Capone, also known as "Scarface", is regarded as being one of the most infamous gangsters in the 1920's. Capone was born on January 17, 1899, in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Gabriel Capone, and mother, Theresa Capone had moved the family to New York from Italy(Bergreen, 1996, pg 5). The neighborhood Al grew up in was filled with gangs and was extremely violent. Capone was a member of a couple of junior gangs at the young age of 11, where he learned skills with knives and guns. Most of the gang's activities included gambling, pilfering, vandalism, sneaking a smoke or alcohol, secret ritual, smut sessions, fighting rival gangs. He soon became leader of the Forty Thieves Juniors, which is the younger version of the notorious adult Five Points gang("Made in America", Ch. 4). School had not been a big problem for Capone, in which he maintained a B average up to the 6th grade. It was then, around the age of 14, where he lost his temper with a teacher and hit her causing him to be kicked out of school. Between Capone's gang activities, he was a clerk in a candy store, a pinboy in a bowling alley, and a cutter in a book bindery("Al Capone).
Around the age of 16, Capone was introduced to the senior Five Points gang by his first mentor, Frankie Yale, a friend of Johnny Torrio, who would soon become Al's biggest role model. Frankie gave Capone a job at the Harvard Inn, in which he owned as a bouncer and bartender. The inn consisted of prostitution, gambling, extortion, and protection rackets(Stockdale, 1998, pg. 9). Capone's first arrest was on a disorderly conduct charge while he was working for Yale. He also murdered two men during this time in Manhattan, which foreshadowed his willingness to kill. Gang members were not aloud to admit to hearing or seeing a thing, so Capone was never tried for the murders. It was also there at the Harvard Inn, where a good looking lady entered with another man. Capone made a remark about the lady's nice body...