Episode 114 · The GaS Digital / Ray Kump Era
Least Likely Cop
Sep 20, 2018 · 50:46 · 14 segments, 103 moments indexed
- 1 min
Brief musical intro announcing the show with Tim Dillon and Ray Kump before the interview begins.
1moment
- 0:00Tim Dillon Is Going To Hell intro with Tim Dillon and Ray Kump
- 3 min
Bo Dietl describes a lavish four-day destination wedding in Capri on a friend's 220-foot yacht, then launches into his life story: growing up in Ozone Park with a strict German father and Sicilian mother, working as an ironworker on the original World Trade Center, and randomly taking the police test on a whim.
9moments
- 0:53Bo describes his 220-foot yacht and a four-day destination wedding on Capri with a chapel, town band, and daily activities.
- 1:28Tim compares Bo's destination wedding experience to his cousin's upstate wedding.
- 1:39Tim notes Bo looks like a New York institution who knows everybody and everything.
- 1:58Bo claims he is New York and that a puddle of New York drainage runs out of him.
- 2:21Tim asks why Bo doesn't stop working—because when it's over, it's over.
- 2:32Other guys tell Bo he was a better detective and should have written a book instead of just being jealous.
- 2:52Bo joined the police force in 1970 and retired in 1985 after breaking his leg and ankle jumping out of a plane with Saudi Arabian princes.
- 3:08Bo ran a bodyguard company while a New York City detective, protecting Saudi Arabian princes who traveled the world.
- 3:44A Saudi Arabian princess invited Bo to La Jolla on a private jet, so he skipped his promotion ceremony at City Hall.
Christopher ThomasCapriSaudi Arabian princesLa JollaMargotCity Hall
- 3 min
Bo tells the story of bodyguarding Saudi Arabian princes while moonlighting as an NYPD detective, flying to La Jolla for a party with escorts arranged by a Beverly Hills madam, and being goaded into a skydive that ended with a botched landing, a broken leg, and the end of his police career.
8moments
- 3:58Tim takes a couple days off for vacation in La Jolla after being told he's getting promoted.
- 4:18Arab prince decides to throw a big party that night to celebrate.
- 4:57Tim warns the girls they'll get paid the next day but will be locked up if they steal anything.
- 5:15Two princes, Abdul Aziz and Fahad bin Turkey, challenge Tim about whether he's ever jumped out of a plane.
- 5:34Tim claims he has a hundred jumps each; princes call his bluff and next day he's in a DC-3 with the door off.
- 5:52Muhammad goes out first; Tim studies the instructions but decides to go head first instead and starts tumbling.
- 6:05Tim pulls his parachute but realizes no one taught him how to land, hits the ground at 30 miles an hour and breaks his leg and ankle in a compound fracture.
- 6:16Nick Pileggi puts Tim on the cover of New York Magazine, which becomes the beginning of his new life and best break he ever had.
Nick PileggiNew York MagazineLa JollaFahad bin TurkeyAbdul AzizBeverly Hills
- 4 min
Bo details his path from beat cop to decoy cop (getting mugged and stabbed hundreds of times as bait) to homicide detective, describing the violent, drug-ridden New York of the 1970s and his growing reputation and respect among criminals.
8moments
- 6:55Tim made several hundred thousand a year doing private security details, stuffing unreported cash in his socks and spending it on vacations to Marbella and Paris.
- 7:25People assumed he was on the take, but he was actually just working side gigs while underpaid as a cop.
- 7:43Growing up in Ozone Park surrounded by mobsters like John Gotti and Ralphie Scopo, Bo Diddle never intended to become a cop.
- 8:12His strict German-Italian father beat him with a belt when he missed curfew, which kept him from ending up with airport hijackers.
- 8:57One Saturday hanging on the corner, friends mentioned they were taking a cop test at John Adams High School, so he went and scored a 99 despite thinking it was a moron test.
- 9:22After working brutal construction jobs—including as a connector on the original World Trade Center towers—he watched four people die falling through elevator shafts.
- 9:47At 19, seeing weathered 30-year-old construction workers who looked 50, he decided to try the police force instead of continuing ironwork.
- 10:20Tim had always hated bullies despite being a short guy who had to sleep on the floor to reach five foot eight.
John GottiWorld Trade CenterCatania, SicilyJohn Adams High SchoolOzone ParkKennedy airport
- 6 min
Bo argues locking up gang members via RICO, not any one mayor, drove down crime, contrasts NYPD clearance rates with Chicago's, and rails against Black Lives Matter for ignoring Chicago shootings of Black children while focusing on police shootings.
10moments
- 10:26New York Police Academy had a height requirement for officers.
- 10:40Tim spotted a burglar on a fire escape while looking off the Academy roof and chased him down.
- 11:11Tim volunteered as a decoy cop in the early 1970s and was mugged, stabbed, and shot at around 500 times.
- 11:34A leg and ankle injury in Perris, California forced Tim to retire from the NYPD before he could get locked up himself.
- 12:30Homicide clearance rates in New York used to be around 85%, compared to Chicago's current 10% rate where 90% of murders go unsolved.
- 12:54In the 1970s, New York had 2,000 to 2,200 murders a year and hundreds of thousands of robberies, with entire blocks burning and drug dealing rampant.
- 13:52Tim credits the crime reduction in New York to locking up large numbers of people and getting them off the streets.
- 15:01Chicago has had 5,500 murders in the last 10 years, more than Kabul, Afghanistan, and could use federal RICO charges against gang members.
- 15:26Obama, from Chicago, never addressed the city's gang violence but politicians react immediately to any questionable cop shooting.
- 15:41Seven-year-old girls sitting on porches in Chicago are being shot in the head, yet activists don't demonstrate against the African Americans committing these murders.
Al SharptonBarack ObamaTom CollerinNikki BarnesChicagoRudolph GiulianiAfghanistanHarlem
- 6 min
Tim pushes back on patterns of police violence against Black people, and Bo walks through the Eric Garner case in detail, arguing about asthma and cardiac arrest, before pivoting to a broader argument that police and citizens need mutual respect, recounting being beaten by his own father after a run-in with a cop as a kid.
9moments
- 15:55Pattern of police treating Black people as second-class citizens in shooting videos
- 17:02Millions of cop-citizen interactions happen daily, most end okay; majority of cops aren't out to kill
- 17:38Eric Garner case: Tim's argument that the headlock move itself didn't kill him, his health conditions did
- 18:54Selling loose cigarettes seems minor compared to the death that resulted from the arrest
- 19:17When a cop is in uniform, people need to show respect and use proper channels like civilian complaints
- 20:18Tim shares story of being beaten by an Irish cop as a 12-year-old, then beaten again at home for reporting it
- 20:53Police and people must respect each other; it's a hard line to understand unless you're out there doing the job
- 21:09Tim criticizes modern cops for not being in physical shape, unlike when he was a cop and could fight any man
- 21:47No height requirement for police today; small officers resort to guns instead of physical control
Luis GomezEric Garner
- 3 min
Bo excitedly demonstrates and hypes the BolaWrap, a Batman-style Kevlar restraint device he believes will revolutionize policing and reduce fatal police shootings, comparing it favorably to tasers and guns.
7moments
- 22:22Tim introduces the BolaWrap, a non-lethal weapon that shoots out kevlar straps to immobilize a person in one second.
- 22:49He describes the weapon's speed and effectiveness, claiming he's never seen anything like it and comparing it to Batman restraining someone.
- 23:34Tim argues the BolaWrap will minimize bad shootings by providing an alternative use of force.
- 24:10After watching video footage, he calls it the most phenomenal thing he's ever seen and believes it will revolutionize policing.
- 24:28Discussion of how tasers are used more liberally by cops because they're non-lethal, raising concern about overuse of the BolaWrap on city streets.
- 24:45Tim argues wrapping someone is preferable to shooting them, pointing out the difference between going home at night and not going home.
- 25:01He celebrates the BolaWrap as a new dimension of using force without lethal consequences.
Bola Wrap60 Minutes
- 6 min
Bo recounts growing up around organized crime figures like John Gotti and Joey Scopo, including a wild story about getting sucker-punched at a burger joint, being driven around by Gotti and Scopo while they hunted down his attacker with guns, and years later arresting the same man for murder as a detective.
12moments
- 25:15Tim grew up in Ozone Park near the Gotti crew and frequented New Park Pizza.
- 25:42Tim describes his Italian town as safe and welcoming, where nobody broke into houses and locals looked out for each other.
- 26:07A story about someone hitting on a mobster's wife by mistake, allegedly resulting in the attacker being paralyzed.
- 26:48Tim was 12 years old when he first saw John Gotti walking through an Italian feast with Joey Scopo, who was about six foot three and noticeably tough.
- 27:23A drunk guy sucker-punched Tim with brass knuckles at Jet Burger in Howard Beach over a borrowed MG, cracking his tooth and opening his eye.
- 28:11Tim and Joey Scopo went looking for the guy who punched him; Ronnie spotted him three in the morning walking with a girl, and Tim's crew attacked him with a tire iron.
- 28:55Joey Scopo picked Tim up at noon for a fight under an old wooden bridge, but revealed the guy had Pagan motorcycle gang backup who planned to kill him.
- 29:37Joey Scopo loaded two .38 revolvers in a car driven by Scopo with John Gotti and Dennis Green as passengers, while Tim stayed put during the bridge confrontation.
- 30:08Joey Scopo and another guy knocked out 10 to 15 men, with Scopo punching them one by one and sending them off the 14-foot bridge.
- 30:26Tim later met the same sucker-puncher in the Golden Gloves; years later, as a cop, he locked the man up on a murder charge.
- 30:45Ralph Scopo, Joey's father, ran all the construction unions and acted as bagman distributing cash to all five crime families.
- 31:17When the Commission case busted the crime families in 1985, Ralph told Tim he couldn't hang around the club anymore because he didn't understand what they did.
John GottiRalph ScopoJoey ScopoThe SopranosThe PagansVinnie PalermoRalphie ScopleHoward Beach+5 more
- 3 min
Bo explains his relationship with mob figure Ralph Scopo (bagman for the Five Families), the 1985 Commission Case that took down mob bosses, his theories on why organized crime and racial demographics shifted in the NYPD, and reflects on the level of violence he witnessed, including the Palm Sunday Massacre killer's recent release from prison.
8moments
- 31:35Tim's guest explains earning respect from mobsters by never working in organized crime for them, maintaining integrity as a cop.
- 32:04Tim asks whether the decline of the mafia after the Commission case and subsequent corruption prosecutions contributed to the drop in New York City crime.
- 32:27Good policing and community involvement, plus diversification of the police department from 98% white to about 65% other ethnicities, may have helped reduce crime.
- 33:12Tim and his guest debate the terminology for Asian nationalities, with Tim arguing you can call them Chinese at a Chinese restaurant.
- 33:45Tim asks whether John Gotti seemed like he'd become the kingpin when the guest knew him as a kid.
- 33:57Joey Scopo—who the guest thought would be the big guy—got machine-gunned down in his driveway during a Colombo war in his late forties.
- 34:11The guest describes the level of violence in old New York, explaining that modern residents have no concept of the brutality that defined that era.
- 34:28Tim's guest's last case involved walking into a scene with ten dead people shot in the head, including eight children.
New York Citythe mafiaTom CarlJoey GalloLong Island
- 6 min
Bo gives a detailed history of Rao's in East Harlem from its 1896 origins as an Italian immigrant melting pot through its mob-era heyday, his own table since 1977, and the exclusivity of its nine tables, name-dropping Warren Buffett, Denzel Washington, and other regulars.
10moments
- 35:41Rao's restaurant in East Harlem opened in 1896 as a gathering spot for Italian immigrants.
- 36:21By the 1920s and 30s, mob figures like Lucky Luciano and Flying Dutchman were regular patrons.
- 37:04As a teenager, he drove Ralph Scopo to meet Fat Tony Salerno before becoming a cop himself.
- 37:21He started going to Rao's around 1973 and met Frankie, who stayed for two weeks and became the owner.
- 38:13In 1977, Frankie gave him a permanent Thursday night table—the most coveted reservation in New York.
- 38:31That table has hosted Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and celebrities including Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie.
- 38:50Rao's has only nine tables, each owned like a condominium with assigned nights for regular patrons.
- 39:19He donates his table to charities for $25,000 bids, never keeping the money himself.
- 39:51Tim calls Rao's the coolest restaurant he's ever experienced, superior to all five-star establishments in New York.
- 40:37Frankie Pellegrino transformed Rao's from obscurity by being a Renaissance man—actor, singer, and master entertainer who made guests feel genuinely special.
Rao'sFrankie PellegrinoFat Tony SalernoLucky LucianoWarren BuffettBill GatesBruce WillisDenzel Washington+6 more
- 4 min
Bo runs through his usual order at Rao's dish by dish, then tells a story about refusing to give up his table to Warren Buffett, and discusses other classic NY steakhouses like Sparks, Smith & Wollensky, and Peter Luger.
8moments
- 41:30Tim's standard order at Rao's: fish salad, tomatoes with mozzarella, baked clams, roasted peppers, and macaroni with cabbage and sausage.
- 42:08The full meal continues with lemon chicken, steak pizza, shrimp albanese, and homemade ice cream—followed by gaining fifty pounds.
- 42:44Leonardo DiCaprio calls Tim wanting to go to Rao's instead of being at his own restaurant.
- 43:25Tim refused to budge for Buffett and never heard from him again—"Fuck him."
- 43:47Tim used to go to L'Avvenaria as a cop; the place is completely unchanged.
- 43:59His uncle is director of operations for Smith and Wollenski's and those big steakhouses.
- 44:13Tim now owns a piece of Wollenski and used to love the rib eye occasion style at Smith's early on.
- 44:35Paul Castellano got shot before he could finish dinner at Sparks; should have at least let him eat first.
Warren BuffettHarvey KeitelPaul CastellanoCharlie Mungerorganized crimeMS-13
- 2 min
Bo compares the more chaotic, ruleless violence of modern gangs like MS-13 to the old mafia's internal codes, clarifies he wasn't the basis for Bad Lieutenant despite playing a small role in it, and plugs his podcast One Tough Podcast before Tim thanks him and closes the interview.
6moments
- 46:05Manhattan's becoming a series of identical chain stores and restaurants, all serving the same ten things.
- 46:23Tim's guest runs a show on Gas Digital covering everything from nightclub kids turned producers to old mob stories.
- 46:49Running for mayor required constant self-censorship; one comment comparing a judge's appearance led to accusations of racism.
- 47:06On his podcast, he can finally be honest without the political constraints of a campaign.
- 47:37Tim tells college guys to masturbate instead of pursuing women online.
- 47:50Masturbation will make a cultural comeback, and it's safer than the alternative.
Bo DeedleGaS DigitalOne Tough PodcastRao'sBill de BlasioDanny AzeezAppalachiaChase Bank+1 more
- 1 min
Post-Interview Reaction to Bo Dietl
#Tim and Ray reflect on the interview, noting how big a deal it was to meet Bo and recalling being introduced to him by a mutual friend at Rao's.
3moments
- 48:10Tim recalls growing up watching Bo Dietl on TV and in movies, and appreciates getting to talk with him on the show.
- 48:24Bo took Tim to Ray's Pizza, which was apparently a significant experience from their mutual friend's social circle.
- 48:42Bo cares deeply about people and comes from a different era, which made for a good episode overall.
- 2 min
Tim runs down his upcoming tour dates in Toronto, Long Island, Worcester, and Philadelphia, plugs his and Ray's social media, mentions Ray's upcoming solo podcast, and closes out the iTunes review contest before signing off.
4moments
- 49:02Tim announces tour dates: Just for Laughs in Toronto, the Brokerage in Long Island, Laugh It Up in October, and Helium Comedy Club in Philadelphia.
- 49:26Additional dates: two shows at the Brokerage on October 27th, Woo Ha Ha Comedy Club in Worcester, Massachusetts November 1st through 3rd.
- 49:50Ray Kump is launching a solo podcast with details coming in a week or two.
- 50:09iTunes contest deadline is one week from Sunday for listeners on the platform; live listeners have a couple more days.
Helium Comedy ClubJust for LaughsWoo Ha Hathe brokerageRay KumpLaugh It Up