Brick Arrest In Killing Of Reputed Gambino Mob Boss: Cops

NEW JERSEY — A person is in custody in New Jersey in connection with the shooting death of the reputed boss of the Gambino crime family Francesco Cali, the NYPD confirmed on Saturday.

The NYPD said 24-year-old Anthony Comello has been taken into custody. Comello, who was apprehended in New Jersey, is expected to be charged with the murder of Cali, officials said at a press conference.

Comello was being held in the Ocean County jail on no bail this weekend.

The accused killer was snatched up by the New York/New Jersey Regional Task Force three days after the mobster known as “Franky Boy” was murdered outside his Staten Island home, according to The New York Daily News.

The suspect’s fingerprint was lifted from Cali’s car — possibly off the license plate of the mob boss’s Cadillac Escalade SUV, according to The Daily News.

Comello was taken into custody in Brick, about 50 miles from where he allegedly lured Cali to his death by staging a car crash, plowing a pickup truck into the mob boss’s parked SUV outside his house on Wednesday night, according to NBC4 and The Daily News.

Cali, 53, was then shot dead in front of his home on Wednesday night, according to police and reports. He suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the torso and was rushed to Staten Island University North where he was pronounced dead, police said.

A blue pickup truck was seen fleeing from the scene. NYPD Chief of Detective Dermot Shea said at a press conference that the truck was recovered when authorities apprehended Comello in New Jersey.

Shea said the investigation was far from over.

The New Tork Post described Comello as a “Staten Island hothead” who killed the Gambino boss because he had a personal beef, police and sources said. Comello, 24,works odd construction jobs, the report said.

This report will be updated.

Feroze Dhanoa and Colin Miner contributed reporting. Brendan Krisel contributed to this report.