Two arrests in attempt on Rizzuto
Two men have been arrested in the attempt on Leonardo Rizzuto’s life in March. They’re accused of being the driver and the shooter when Rizzuto was shot at the wheel of his car.
Update: Radio-Canada now says that Francesco Del Balso rented the two cars that were used in the attack on Leonardo Rizzuto. Del Balso was killed on June 5, only leaving us wondering why he thought he could get away with turning against the Rizzutos, with whom he used to be associated.
I still wonder about the ethics here: “Averti par les policiers que sa vie était en danger, Del Balso cherchait à fuir hors du Canada. La SQ était alors intervenue en mars dernier pour lui confisquer son passeport.” It doesn’t say which police warned him, but when the SQ took his passport, effectively boxing him in with his enemies, surely they knew they were throwing him to the wolves?
Everyone’s entitled to justice and to reasonable protection from danger. Even mooks.
Blork 21:40 on 2023-06-19 Permalink
Yes, everyone’s entitled to justice and reasonable protection from danger. That’s what makes us civilized.
However, it could be argued that confiscating such a person’s passport doesn’t necessarily put them in danger. After all, they have this entire vast country in which to hide, and this guy in particular had money, so it’s not like he couldn’t leave Laval or whatever.
I suspect the intention of confiscating the passport was to ensure he didn’t leave the country because charges against him were imminent. Those charges would fly out the window if he left. In fact this inverts the justice argument, because if he had left the country he would have been escaping justice.
Kate 08:42 on 2023-06-20 Permalink
No, I agree the authorities had a valid reason to confiscate Del Balso’s passport, but they did so knowing that he was a target. I don’t know whether it makes sense, but they also knew he wasn’t the guy to go hide out in some rural spot indefinitely. This was a guy who broke his parole conditions to visit a Little Italy café because he wanted a good espresso. Did they have any obligation to take this into account?
I’d venture a guess that Del Balso also liked being a big shot in his world. But thinking he could get away with switching his allegiance openly from the Rizzutos to the Hells and take blatant pot shots at Leonardo Rizzuto, and trying to extort money from a church over a bogus claim about missing jewelry – these don’t speak of the smartest guy. And the cops must have had a profile that made that clear, but knowing this, they kept him here and allowed the mob to deal with him.
(I suppose it’s possible they also didn’t want the diplomatic hassle of allowing him to go to Italy and cause trouble there, to be fair.)
Do we have a duty to protect guys like this from their worst impulses? Probably not. Just thinking aloud here.