BY ALEX MITCHELL
A shocking twist was revealed
in the murder case
of beloved, neighborhood
fi gure, 71-year-old Sylvester
‘Sally Daz’ Zottola and
the attempted murder of his
son, Salvatore, who was 41 at
the time.
Police arrested Sally
Daz’s 41-year-old son, Anthony
Zottola, Sr. and four
others on murder-for-hire
conspiracy and related
charges in Larchmont, NY
on Tuesday, June 18.
Police believe that Anthony
was trying to take
over his father’s video game
business, DAZ Amusements,
which included the
lucrative Joker Poker machines.
Salvatore worked
with his dad installing and
repairing juke boxes and
other electronic and digital
machines that were located
in bars, restaurants and private
clubs.
“As alleged, Zottola Sr.
set in motion a deadly plot to
kill his father and brother,
with Bloods gang members
carrying out extreme acts
of violence to collect a payoff
for the hits,” stated United
States Attorney Richard P.
Donoghue, who’s prosecuting
the case.
The accused Bloods
member in charge of the hit
was Brooklyn ex-con Bushawn
‘Shelz’ Shelton, according
to police. He was picked
up just a month after the fatal
shooting at a Webster Avenue
McDonald’s restaurant
drive thru line on Thursday,
October 4.
During the planning
of the murder, Zotolla, Sr.,
Shelton and others referred
to the premeditated hit as
a movie they were producing.
He used code language
such as “the fi lming” and
the “fi nal scene,” with his
father as “the actor” and the
hit man as “the director” in
text message conversations
with Shelton during previous
botched hits on the father
and son, according to
the Eastern District Court.
“The star doesn’t come
back… I need this bad that is
why I am asking to because
I can see the fi lm taking a
twist,” Zottola wrote in an
email to Shelton on Sunday,
November 26, 2017.
“Today was set to be the
end fi nally until the actor
wanted to do his own stunts
and throw it in reverse in
the middle of shooting a
scene and drive in the opposite
direction,” Shelton
replied.
Months later, Zottola allegedly
orchestrated a driveby
shooting that targeted
his brother Salvatore at his
Locust Point mega-home
complex that the accused referred
to as the ‘boathouse’
at dawn on Wednesday, July
11, 2018.
Salvatore was shot multiple
times but survived
by taking shelter behind a
Chrysler mini van as the
gunman ran to a getaway
car.Z
ottola and Shelton corresponded
after the shooting,
writing that they both had
migraines and headaches,
implying that the hit wasn’t
successful.
The crew had placed “sophisticated
tracking devices”
on Sally Daz and Salvatore’s
vehicles prior to the July
shooting, the court said.
Months later, those devices
helped pinpoint Sally
Daz as he waited for his coffee
on the ill-fated drive thru
line where he was gunned
down while sitting behind
the wheel of his car.
Shortly after, a co-conspirator
texted Shelton,
“Done.” Minutes later,
Shelton texted Zottola, Sr.,
“Can we party today or tomorrow?”
In which Zottola
responded with coded messages
using ‘cases of water’
as reference to the $200,000
payout for the hit, the Eastern
District Court confi
rmed.
“All good. Did you drink
the water. Was it the right
one,” Zottola wrote to Shelton.
He responded, “Defi -
nitely was the right one
thanks I was able to water
the plants and get some of
them squared away,” according
to the court.
When Zottola was arrested,
police said they recovered
approximately $100,000
from his Westchester home.
Other conspirators arrested
with Zottola were:
31-year-old Jason Cummings
(also known as ‘The Hat and
‘Stacks’) from Brooklyn,
36-year-old Alfredo Lopez
(‘Aloe’) of Manhattan, and
32-year-old Julian Snipe
(‘Biz and Bizzzy’) from the
Bronx.
The fatal shooting occurred
after Sally Daz, a
Pelham Bay resident, was
returning from a scheduled
court appearance that involved
his illegal discharging
of a weapon during one
of the prior alleged failed
hits.
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Prospect Avenue
co-named in honor
of Emmanuel Mensah
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MEMBER:
Son Anthony Zottola put the hit
On Sally Daz, brother: feds
CSI enters the Zottola compound on Wednesday, June 11, 2018 after Salvatore Zottola was ambushed.
File Photo
The councilman said
that Mensah’s life is a testament
to the virtue of immigration.
Mensah saved the lives
of four people before the
fi re claimed his own.
Mensah’s uncle Trum
Breda said that the family
is greatly honored by the
street naming.
“What the city has
done for our son is incredible,”
said Breda, adding
“Though we feel the loss
this alone has assured us
that if you lay down your
life for a good cause, you
will be rewarded.”
The fi re was the city’s
deadliest in the city in a
quarter century.
The December 28, 2017
blaze at 2363 Prospect Avenue
claimed 13 lives.
The fi re is believed
to have stemmed from a
young child turning on a
stove.
This led to legislation
that mandated distribution
of safety knobs that are
more diffi cult for youngsters
to activate, said the
councilman.
Present at the event
were some survivors of
the fi re, including survivor
Christine Batiz, who
lost both her mother, Maria
Batiz and her daughter
Amora Vidal in the blaze.
Batiz said that the scene
overwhelmed her, recalling
a fi nal phone conversation
she had with her mom
before fi re engulfed the
building.
She said that Mensah
had a chance at life and
used it to save others.
Cynthia Bryant was
more fortunate, losing her
beloved pet turtle in the
fi re, but nevertheless making
it out alive.
She recalls running
downstairs in fl ip-fl ops on
one of the coldest days of
the year and being assisted
by a fi refi ghter.
She lived in the building
for 33 years and many
of the people who were her
neighbors were like family,
said Bryant.
Private Mensah’s father, Kwabena, and Councilman Ritchie Torres.
Photo by Silvio Pacifi co
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