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3 months ago
12
A man who was accidentally decapitated by a city truck while at a Brooklyn crosswalk was a former acting captain for the Genovese crime family.
Anthony Conigliaro, 86, was known by a number of dessert-themed nicknames including 'Tony Cakes' and 'Tony the Dessert Man'.
He was killed earlier this month, on June 12 when a city Department of Transportation truck accidentally struck him and he was making a right turn.
Horrific footage captured the aftermath and saw Conigliaro's head lying several yards away from his body on the New York City street.
Anthony Conigliaro, 86, a former acting captain for the Genovese crime family was accidentally decapitated by a city truck
Conigliaro had been crossing Dahlgren Place against a 'don't walk' sign in a marked crosswalk
The 31-year-old truck driver is seen being consoled by a member of the public as he is seen down on his knees in the middle of the road
The driver of the truck could be seen explaining to officials what had happened
Conigliaro had been crossing Dahlgren Place against a 'don't walk' sign in a marked crosswalk when the 31-year-old driver of a Ford F550 truck was turning on a green light and hit him. The octogenarian was pronounced dead at the scene.
The DOT driver remained at the scene and appeared devastated following the accident.
Footage shot by a member of the public sees the driver getting down on his knees, possibly praying, whilst being consoled by another passerby.
No arrests have been made, police said.
'He spent his life looking over his shoulder but forgot to look both ways before crossing the street,' a police source quipped to the New York Post.
Prior to his untimely death, Conigliaro had long left his life of crime behind and was living a quiet life in a small apartment building in the Bay Ridge area.
One neighbor, completely unaware of his crime riddled past and mafia connections, told The Post that he was always looking out for others.
Police are seen on the scene following the decapitation of the 86-year-old man
Surveillance footage sees the truck driver immediately pulling over to the side of the road following the crash
The accident happed at this intersection in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn as Conigliaro was crossing the road
The driver of the truck which hit Conigliaro was see being consoled in an FDNY ambulance
'We miss him. Everybody misses him,' they said.
But almost 20 years ago, things were very different with Conigliaro linked to a huge racketeering case involving the mafia.
At the time, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn accused Conigliaro of being a soldier in the Genovese crime family.
He eventually pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy charge and served a 13-month sentence.
Conigliaro also served as a loan shark for the Genovese family and in 1999 he was also arrested for criminal usury - a crime that saw him charging an excessive rate of interest on a loan. He was also arrested in 2006 - this time in a grand larceny case.
Following his release from prison he began to work in the wholesale cake business.
Conigliaro sold sweets throughout New York City and ran an Italian ice and gelato stand in Little Italy.
Aside from a sweet tooth, it earned him the colorful nickname 'Tony Cheesecake'.
A memorial has been set up at the roadside where the accident took place.
The Genovese family is known as one of the Five Families that are part of an Italian American syndicate that have long dominated organized crime in New York City, with the Gambino, Lucchese, Bonanno and Colombo families being the other four.
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