Louis 'Blackie' Bottino

Introduction

Louis A. Bottino — Louis A. “Blackie” Bottino

Louis A. “Blackie” Bottino was born August 11, 1911 in Italy. He came to America with his sister and older brother Joseph in 1913. By 1930 the Bottino family, which included Joseph’s wife Rose, their three daughters, and Rose Bottino’s mother at 232 Pine Street in South Camden. In December of 1930 he gave 1440 South 4th Street as his address when he was questioned about a robbery in Landisville, New Jersey.

Louis Bottino had several scrapes with the law in the early 1930s. By the 1940s he had settled down and was working as a plumber, and living with wife Betty at 820 South 5th Street. By the mid-1950s he moved to 3087 Highland Avenue in East Camden. A master plumber, contractor, and member of the American Society of Stationary Engineers, he was elected president of the Camden County Master Plumbers Association in 1955 and in 1972 was elected president of the New Jersey State League of Master Plumbers.

Louis Bottino and his wife Betty maintained homes in Camden and Atlantic City, New Jersey. He passed away in November of 1977. Betty Bottino joined her husband on February 11, 1999.

Roxie Allen Held As One of Gang in Dice Game Holdup

Camden Morning Post — December 8, 1930

Article opening: Players lined up, relieved of $200 — photo of suspect — Players Lined Up, Relieved of $200

Robbers Flee in Stolen Car With Crippled Man at Wheel

Roxie Allen, Camden’s famed welterweight boxer, and one of his pals were arrested last night and identified, according to police, as two of four men who held up a craps game early yesterday at Landisville. Loot is said to have totaled between $150 and $200.

Allen, whose real name is Auletto, and Carmen Passarella, 26, of 1227 Broadway, were arrested by City Detective Theodore Guthrie and Wilfred Dube and George Probert, state police investigators.

Nicholas Dandrea and Nicholas Yennitti, both of Landisville, identified Allen and Passarella at police headquarters. Police said Yennitti is the proprietor of the pool room in which the holdup was staged. It is known as “Poppy’s Place.”

A dozen men were backed to the wall when the four bandits entered. One carried a sawed-off shotgun while the other three brandished revolvers.

One of the bandits was crippled in both legs, according to the victims. They picked up the money laying on the table and then rifled the pockets of the players.

As they fled the license number of their automobile was taken and turned over to Malaga state police. A check-up revealed the car had been stolen from the garage of Harry Whaland, real estate dealer, 1424 Mt. Ephraim avenue. The license tags had been stolen from a disabled automobile of A. Baer, 611 Kaighn avenue. The state police declare the crippled man was driving the car.

Allen was recognized in the poolroom as the Camden boxer by the sportsmen gathered for the game, according to state police. Allen walks with a limp as a result of being shot August 2 at Third and Pine streets by Charles Areni, 699 Central avenue. Areni was found guilty in Criminal Court October 15.

Allen and Passarella were taken to state police headquarters at Hammonton for further questioning. They will be turned over eventually to Cumberland county authorities.

Dube said charges of robbery and carrying deadly weapons will be lodged against the accused.

Allen gave his age as 21 and his address as 318 Spruce street. At one time he was rated as one of the best welterweights in the country. He and Passarella have been close friends for years.

Two additional suspects were arrested by Camden police on information received from Hammonton state police. Louis Bottina, 20, of 1440 South Fourth street, was arrested by Patrolman Joseph Lack at Broadway and Kaighn avenue.

Salvatore Passalacqua, 20, of 339 Clinton street, was arrested at his home by Detective Sergeant Rox Saponare.

Both men were arrested on suspicion and are being detained until today when an attempt will be made to identify them as the second pair of the four bandits.

When Newspapermen asked Guthrie what Allen said when he was arrested, Guthrie declared Allen had made no statement. A similar question at Hammonton state police headquarters brought forth a reply from Trooper Dube that “I am not making any statements right now, I am still working on the investigation. Don’t bother me for a couple of hours.”

Roxie Allen

Camden welterweight contender who is accused of being one of four “hoodlums” who staged a holdup early yesterday on a craps game in a Landisville pool room. Allen, according to police, was identified last night by the proprietor of the place and one of the players as the “cripple” who drove the bandit car.

Bail Is Denied Roxie Allen in Robbery of 15 in Craps Game

Camden Evening Courier — December 8, 1930

Photo of Roxie Allen — Three Pals of Camden Boxer Also Jailed at Shore for Grand Jury

Quartet Identified by Poolroom Owner

Limp Betrays Fighter at Landisville—Says He Did Not Aid Holdup

Identified as four of the five bandits who held up and robbed 15 men at a craps game in a Landisville poolroom yesterday, Roxie Allen, well-known South Jersey boxer, and three other South Camden youths are under arrest today.

The suspects, charged with obtaining money and watches worth $175, are Rocco Auletto, Allen’s real name, 21, of 318 Spruce street; Carmen Passarella, 26, of 1227 Broadway; Salvatore Passalacqua, 20, of 339 Clinton street, and Rocco De Corda, 23, of 221 Spruce street.

Two of the suspects, Passarella and Passalacqua, have made a full confession, according to Captain William J. Carter, Troop “A” commander, of the Hammonton State Police barracks.

Allen and De Corda have denied implication in the holdup. The welterweight pugilist admitted that he drove the holdup car but remained behind the wheel during the robbing, unaware of the intentions of his companions.

A fifth man, said to be colored, is being sought in Camden by the State Police and Camden detectives.

All four captives, arrested in this city and positively identified by the proprietor of the robbed place as well as by some of the victims, were held without bail pending action by the Atlantic county grand jury on charges of weapons. They were arraigned before Justice of the Peace Peter Capizola, of Luena. Prior to that, they were “booked” at the Atlantic county jail in Mays Landing, and then photographed and fingerprinted at the Malaga state police barracks. They are now in the jail at Mays Landing.

Allen’s Limp Seen, Claim

All four were recognized by the proprietor, Nicholas Yennitti, owner of “Poppy’s Place,” it is alleged. Yennitti said he knew the three white men who entered unmasked, and recognized Allen in the automobile after seeing him limp when he got out. Allen did not enter the place, nor could Yennitti see whether Allen had a gun.

It was at 2:10 p. m. yesterday that four men, three carrying revolvers and the other a sawed-off shotgun, ran into the poolroom and commanded the patrons to put up their hands. The 15 men inside were lined against a wall and their pockets were looted. The money on the table was picked up by one of the bandits. The total cash stolen amounted to only $75, while the watches and rings taken from the victims were worth about $100.

Captain Carter and other investigators heard reports that if the holdup had been staged 10 minutes later, a richer reward would have fallen into the hands of the bandits. The rumors were to the effect that the “banker” for the place arrived there from Atlantic City 10 minutes after the holdup, with two or three thousand dollars.

Nicholas Dandrea and Yennitti recognized the three white men, and then saw Allen, they said, in the car outside. Allen and Passarella had been in the place Saturday afternoon, the former losing about $15 at pool, according to Yennitti.

The license numbers of the car were observed by several of the victims, and the affair was reported to the state police. Troopers George Probert and Howard Maliff of the Malaga barracks, and Wilfred Dube, state police plainclothesman, were assigned to the investigation. They immediately sped to Camden, where they obtained the aid of Detective Theodore Guthrie.

Allen and Passarella were arrested last evening by the troopers and Guthrie. Passalacqua was arrested at his home last night by Sergeant Rox Saponare, of the Camden detective bureau. De Corda was arrested 4 a. m. today on suspicion and was later identified.

Holdup Car Found

The holdup car was found at Third and Pine streets today and was impounded by the Camden police for Atlantic county authorities. It bore the license plates C25899, but this license was issued, according to the state motor vehicle bureau at Trenton, to Harry Whaland, 1424 Mt. Ephraim avenue, Camden. An investigation proved that the tags had been stolen from Whaland’s car yesterday. Moreover, Whaland had a car different in make than the one impounded.

In his confession, Passarella declared that the seized car was his and that it was used in the holdup. The plates, he is said to have confessed, were stolen from Whaland.

However, a checkup at the Trenton bureau revealed that the license number C22859, issued for the car claimed by Passarella, had been issued to a Frank Passarella, of 327 Washington street, Camden.

Passarella, the man under arrest, is a nephew of Frank Passarella, also known as Passeralli, 31, of 212 Catherine street, Philadelphia, one of the two Atco National Bank bandits who were convicted here last month and received heavy jail sentences.

Louis Bottina, 20, of 1440 South Fourth street, was also arrested last night on suspicion, but was released when he proved an alibi and when the victims could not identify him.

The limp which betrayed Allen was the result of a bullet wound inflicted on him August 2 by Charles Areni, 699 Central avenue, who later was convicted and sent to state’s prison.

‘Blackie’ Battino Gets 3 to 5 Years

Camden Courier-Post — February 2, 1933

Sentenced by Judge Shay After Pleading Guilty to Holdup Charge

Pleading guilty in criminal court to holding up two South Camden men last February, and to a gun toting charge Louis “Blackie” Battino, 23, of 805 South Fifth street, was sentenced to three to five years in state prison by Judge Samuel M. Shay yesterday.

Bottino, who was captured in a New York “love nest” on a fugitive warrant after he jumped a $5000 bail bond here, was first arrested by Detective Thomas Cheeseman on the night of the holdup. He was identified by Marvin Johnson, of 926 South Ninth Street, and Louis Puggsley, of 312 Benson Street, who said the man stuck a revolver in a car in which they were seated and robbed them of $28.

County Detective Fiore Troncone and New York detectives surprised Bottino in an apartment at Ninth Avenue and Fifty-fourth Street, New York, with a woman. Patsy Costagno, 23, of 2412 South Watts Street, Philadelphia, an alleged accomplice of Bottino, was sentenced April 19, 1932, to serve 13 years in jail on three indictments for participation in the crime and carrying concealed deadly weapons.

C. Lawrence Gregorio, counsel for Battino, pleaded for another chance for his client, pointing out the youth of the prisoner. Judge Shay, however, remained unmoved and imposed sentence.

Camden Ex-Convict Held in Dope Raid

Camden Courier-Post — February 20, 1936

Four Women Also Seized in Phila. Arrests Due to Break Up Ring

Arrest of an ex-convict from Camden and four women in a Philadelphia dope den yesterday was expected to lead to the smashing of a New York narcotic ring.

One of the women, Anna Morris, 25, at whose apartment at Seventh Street and Girard avenue the raid was staged, confessed, according to police, that she has been disposing of opium in Philadelphia for a year.

Detectives said that in her statement the Morris woman gave names of persons in New York from whom she purchased the stuff and that federal agents and New York police are expected to arrest them. The Morris woman is the sweetheart of Louis “Blackie” Bottino, 25, of South Fifth Street, Camden, who was nabbed in the raid along with Anna Brown, 45, of Franklin Street near Vine, Florence Flagg, 37, of Osage avenue near Fifty-ninth, and Jean Cooper, 36, of Girard avenue near Eleventh, all Philadelphia.

Bottino at first was held with the Morris woman as proprietor of the den, but police said her confession cleared him and he will be held only as a material witness. The other three women are being held on suspicion of being addicts.

Three “toys,” or about four and a half ounces of opium, and a quantity of yenshee, opium ashes, were found in the raided apartment.

Detective William Leinhauser, head of the Philadelphia narcotic squad, said he knew the place was a Philadelphia outlet for a New York distribution ring for some time but had been unable to make a raid until today.

Bottino was paroled from Rahway Reformatory last March after serving two years of a three-year term for holding up two alleged numbers racket “runners” on February 13, 1932. His accomplice in the crime, Patsy Constano, of Philadelphia, was sentenced to 13 years.

At his trial, Bottino told Judge Samuel M. Shay, then in Common Pleas Court, that he staged the hold-up in revenge after he had hit the numbers but failed to collect. He and Constano were sentenced February 3, 1933.

At the present time, Bottino is waiting trial in Camden on an indictment charging him with holding up a restaurant at Second and Benson Streets two months ago. He pleaded not guilty to this charge a week ago.

The Cooper woman got out of jail in Philadelphia recently after serving a sentence as a narcotic peddler.

Phila. Woman Free After Dope Den Raid

Camden Courier-Post — February 21, 1936

Arrested Wednesday in a raid on an alleged Philadelphia dope den a woman who gave her name as Florence Flagg was released yesterday by Magistrate Nathan Beltel, a short time after he had held her husband in $1500 bail on another charge.

The woman was arrested as she walked into a house at Seventh Street and Girard avenue, Philadelphia, while police were in the place.

Three other women and a man were nabbed. The man is Louis “Blackie” Bottino, 25, of 518 South Fifth Street, Camden, who was paroled from Rahway Reformatory last March after serving two years of a three-year term for holding up two alleged numbers racket men here in 1932. At the present time, he is awaiting trial here on an indictment charging him with holding up a restaurant at Second and Benson Streets two months ago. He is being held as a material witness as a result of yesterday’s raid.

The other two women are Anna Morris, 25, whose apartment was raided, and who is charged with disposing of opium in Philadelphia for a year, and Jean Cooper, 36, Girard Avenue near Eleventh. As the hearing for the Flagg woman was in progress, a man who identified himself as Charles McDonough, 1908 Wallace street, Philadelphia, identified her as his wife. Magistrate Beltel held him in $1500 bail on a charge of drunken driving and discharged.

Important Note!