When it comes to weapons, first in the Chicago Outfit's arsenal are handguns, then rifles and automatic weapons. Bombs have been used sparingly by mobsters over the years, and usually only in cars.
But Thursday in federal court prosecutors showed 19 photos of what happened when a bomb was detonated in front of a Berwyn video poker machine company that Outfit bosses want out of business.
Photos show the result of the blast at C and S Coin Operated Amusements. The storefront was a mess of splintered wood and shattered glass. A small crater marked the spot where the bomb had been placed. Shrapnel from the front door shot through two interior doors and stuck into a back wall.
Store owner Vincent Dublino, who didn't want to speak with the ABC7 I-Team, was on the witness stand Thursday. He testified that he had been threatened to stop what he was doing or they would put him in a box -- meaning a coffin.
Prosecutors intended Dublino's testimony to implicate defendant Mike "the Large Guy" Sarno in the threats and the bombing. Sarno operated a competing business.
Dublino did colorfully describe heated verbal exchanges with Mr. Sarno but never connected Sarno by name to the bombing of his business.
Sarno, a convicted mob boss from suburban Westchester, left court without comment, and so did his attorney Terry Gillespie.
Nobody was too talkative outside court late Thursday. But what played out inside on the witness stand offered a picture of how the mob allegedly tries to intimidate those who don't play along with obscenity-laced threats, said to come from Mike Sarno, leading up to the Berwyn bombing.
