Interview · moment 7 of 12
Growing Up Near the Gotti Crew in Ozone Park
from Least Likely Cop · #114
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
6 minGuest
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.
- 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 SopranosVinnie PalermoThe PagansIsland ParkOzone ParkHoward BeachRalphie ScopleGoodfellasJet BurgerNew Park Pizza