100-year-old Retiree, Gangster Squad Alumus, Honored by LAPD Officers

WHAT:
Media availability and photo opportunity for birthday cake
presentation to honor retired Sgt. Lindo “Jaco” Giacopuzzi.

WHEN:
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
10:15 AM

WHERE:
LAPD West Valley Community Police Station
19020 Vanowen Street, Reseda, CA 91335

WHO:
Sgt. Lindo “Jaco” Giacopuzzi
On-duty officers and detectives at the West Valley Station

WHY:
“I felt like Huell Howser finding the Lingbergh Light in a
basement,” said Capt. Paul Vernon about meeting retired Sgt. Lindo
Giacopuzzi for the first time last year. “He was 99 years old and
had given us a tip on a prolific car thief. I realized we had an
historic treasure living in our division. I wanted the officers to
meet this man, and I thought it would be nice for him to be
remembered by some 21st century officers.”

Sgt. Giacopuzzi was born April 6, 1916. After his father leased
their San Fernando Valley dairy farm to supermarket mogul Joe
Albertson, Giacopuzzi joined the LAPD. In the 1950s, he was
recruited for the Gangster Squad due to his the size and ability to
speak Italian. Jaco attributed his strength and size to all those
years of lifting milk cans on the family’s dairy farm.

LAPD’s Gangster Squad was re-constituted after World War II to stop
the incursion of “Eastern Gangsters.” They dealt with local
mobsters like Mickey Cohen (raised in Boyle Heights), Bugsy Siegel,
and Jack Dragna.

For more information, please contact Sgt. Frank Avila at
818-374-7690.