Latest news with #Zummo
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Springfield announces new fire, police chiefs
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — The search has ended for two top leaders of first responders in Springfield. Springfield Mayor Misty Buscher is nominating Assistant Fire Chief Nicholas Zummo to become the next Fire Chief and Assistant Police Chief Joseph Behl to Police Chief. They replace retiring Fire Chief Ed Canny and Police Chief Ken Scarlette. In addition, Fire Captain Julie Plunk will be promoted to Assistant Fire Chief and Police Commander Ryan Leach will become Assistant Police Chief. Central Illinois hospitals graded on safety 'These appointments symbolize a bold step in our mission to enhance public safety in Springfield,' said Mayor Misty Buscher. 'I firmly believe that Chief Scarlette and Chief Canny's leadership will persist in the new leadership team.' Zummo has worked at the Springfield Fire Department for 24 years. He's also served for 20 years in the Illinois National Guard before retiring as a Master Sergeant. He was named Springfield Firefighter of the Year in 2008 and received the Distinguished Service Award in 2017 as well. 'I'm honored and humbled by this opportunity to lead the Springfield Fire Department,' Zummo said. 'This is a department built on courage, sacrifice, and service. I look forward to working alongside Captain Plunk and the entire SFD team as we continue to adapt, grow, and deliver exceptional service to the community.' Chatham community, first responders welcome home girl hurt in after-school tragedy Behl has worked with the Police Department for 18 years and graduated from the FBI National Academy. 'I'm incredibly grateful for the trust that's been placed in me,' he said. 'It's been an honor to serve alongside the dedicated men and women of this department for the past 18 years, and I carry that experience — and the lessons I've learned from this community — into this new role. I'm committed to listening, leading compassionately, and ensuring every resident feels safe, supported, and respected.' Springfield City Council will need to approve the promotions before they're official. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Yahoo
Trial starts for Nassau cop who ‘sold himself' to the Bonanno crime family: prosecutors
When the Bonanno crime family wanted to send a message to a rival mafia family encroaching on their gambling turf, they knew who to call: Hector Rosario, 'a police officer they knew was for sale,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Anna Karamigios told jurors at the start of the now-fired Nassau County detective's trial in Brooklyn Federal Court Tuesday. Rosario, 51, who's charged with obstructing governmental proceedings and lying to the FBI, conducted a fake raid of a Genovese gambling den run out of a Long Island shoe repair shop by Salvatore 'Sal the Shoemaker' Rubino a decade ago, according to prosecutors. 'The defendant, Hector Rosario, was a police officer who sold himself to the Bonanno Crime Family,' Karamigios said. 'He chose the crime family over the public he swore to protect, and when federal agents asked him about the crime family, he lied to cover it all up.' The idea for the fake raid came from Bonanno associate Salvatore Russo, who was a close friend of Rosario, and got the green light from made Bonanno member Damiano Zummo, prosecutors said. '[Rosario] and other men barged in acting like actual police officers, broke a gambling machine and sent a message,' Karamigios said. The charges stem from Rosario's alleged attempts to derail a grand jury investigation by giving Zummo a heads-up that his photo was in a police precinct and telling him to stay off his phones, and by using a police database to give Russo the home address of a possible cooperator, prosecutors allege. When the FBI showed up at his door in January 2020, Rosario lied to them about the case, the feds allege. Zummo — who turned government snitch after he and Russo got busted in 2017 for selling a kilo of cocaine to an undercover agent — took the stand Tuesday. Russo and Rubino are also expected to testify. Zummo described how the mob's gambling operation worked, and how competing families typically aren't allowed to operate gambling dens within a five-mile radius of each other. Rosario got paid $1,500 a month out of the proceeds from one Bonanno gambling spot, the Gran Caffe in Lynbrook, L.I. That cafe was a contentious spot between the Bonanno and the Genovese families, especially after a Genovese member registered a beef with the mob family because he felt he had a claim to the place. After a meeting, the two families worked out a 50-50 split over the cafe. But when one of the Gran Caffe's gambling regulars started betting at Sal's Shoe Repair instead, Russo hatched a plan: 'For Hector to go in there, to Sal's Shoe Repair, just to intimidate them in the hopes that it would close down,' Zummo testified. That raid happened either in 2013 or 2014, according to court documents. Rosario was also tasked to lead a fake raid of a second gambling den opened by the Gambino crime family in Valley Stream. But the detective couldn't get past the door buzzer, and the raid never happened, Zummo said. Prosecutors are basing their case against Rosario on testimony by Russo, Zummo and Rubino — all mobsters looking to avoid lengthy prison sentences, Rosario's defense attorney Louis Freeman told the jury. 'They have great incentives to lie,' he said. Russo and Rosario were so close that Rosario rushed to the mobster's hospital bedside and stayed overnight after a serious car crash. But when it came time to finger an accomplice, Russo chose betrayal and lies, Freeman said. 'Sal Russo made up information about Hector Rosario to get one more notch on his belt,' the lawyer said. 'They will say and do anything to get lower sentences.' Zummo started recording conversations, but was ultimately unmasked as a snitch when another mobster got a hold of one of his phone bills and tracked numbers on it to FBI agents, Zummo said. 'He pretty much made it all public,' Zummo said. When he spotted the mobster who revealed him later on, 'He started me down, I stared him down, and that was it.' Rosario faces 20 years on the obstruction charge and five years for lying to the FBI.
