Thomas “Tommy” Dono, a relatively obscure one-armed Gambino crime family soldier who first made his name as a bank burglar and was tied to hundreds of thousands of dollars in thefts during the 1990s, appears to have retained his knack for high-value scores, prosecutors say.
According to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, Dono has been linked to an audacious $1.7 million burglary at Chanel’s Manhattan boutique, described as the luxury brand’s largest and most important location in the United States.
The major heist unfolded nearly two years ago at Chanel’s flagship store at 15 East 57th Street. Court records say Dono and a 10-person crew carried out a carefully coordinated, three-hour operation that began at 10:14 p.m. on Saturday, July 13, 2024, and resulted in the theft of hundreds of items valued at $1,776,700.
Dono, 52, allegedly oversaw the burglary from a white minivan parked outside the store until 1:25 a.m. on Sunday, July 14. Prosecutors say he then drove away from the scene, followed by a white Sprinter van loaded with 10 large laundry and trash bags containing 300 Chanel items taken through a stockroom ceiling hatch.
Surveillance footage obtained by the NYPD allegedly shows five members of the crew carrying the bags down a rear fire escape and into an alley behind the boutique.
From there, prosecutors say, the group moved the stolen goods into a nearby East 58th Street building that was under construction at the time, hauled them back out to the street and loaded them into the van.
Court records state that several of the burglars were dressed “as construction workers,” a disguise that allegedly helped them blend in as they gained entry to the Chanel store by breaking through the ceiling hatch in the stockroom.
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None of the stolen merchandise has been recovered, according to the records.
Only Dono, who pleaded not guilty to grand larceny on May 19, has been arrested in the case. He was released on $300,000 bond by Judge Felicia Mennin, half of what the DA’s office sought. The investigation is still continuing, and more arrests are expected.
Based on information in the court records and sources in the NYPD and DA’s offices, Dono was quickly tabbed as a key player in the caper — because his left arm was amputated at the shoulder several years ago. Sources say the arm was injured in a car accident.
“Given his unique physical characteristics,” the records state, he was “identified relatively early.”
Investigators also found surveillance videos of Dono and the two white vehicles involved in the burglary parked outside a three-family home on Bay 10th Street in the Bath Beach section of Brooklyn on the same days they were allegedly used in the Chanel heist.
Sources say Dono, a nephew of Thomas “Huck” Carbonaro, the late Gambino soldier who was convicted of racketeering and the attempted murder of a turncoat underboss, Salvatore “Sammy Bull” Gravano, was inducted into the crime family five years ago following his release from prison for taking part in the 1998 murder of FBI informer Frank Hydell. Hydell was shot and killed outside a Staten Island strip club.
In 2008, Dono’s racketeering indictment alleged that in 2001 he was proposed for membership in the crime family, “as a reward for crimes [he] committed on behalf of the family, including the murder of Hydell.”
Sources say Dono, who resolved his Hydell case by taking a plea deal calling for a 15-year prison term, was released in 2021, and until last month had avoided any entanglements with the law. The wiseguy, the sources say, is currently a mobster in good standing under the octogenarian capo who took over Gravano’s Brooklyn crew when he flipped, Louis “Big Lou” Vallario.
From Jerry Capeci’s online column, ganglandnews.com.
