Sandu Ionuț
Sandu Ionuț | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2 December 1928 |
| Died | 10 August 2008 (aged 79) |
| Occupation | Criminal commander |
| Era | |
| Organization | Bucharest Butchers |
| Title | Deputy commander of Secția Roșie |
| Term | 1967–1990 |
| Spouse | Elisabeta Pavel |
| Children | |
| Family | Ionuț family |
Sandu Ionuț (2 December 1928 – 10 August 2008) was a Romanian criminal commander in the Bucharest Butchers. He led armed robberies in the 1950s and served as deputy commander of Secția Roșie under Constantin Vlădescu from 1967 to 1990. After leaving the unit, he ran an illegal gambling business in Obor, Bucharest. In 1996, he and his son Dumitru Ionuț assaulted a restaurant owner who had refused to let them use his premises for gambling.
Criminal career
[edit | edit source]By January 1950, Sandu led a small armed group in eastern Bucharest. On 4 January, Oskar Dirlewanger summoned him and Teodor Ionuț to a disused cold-storage building near Obor Market. Dirlewanger placed Sandu's crew under the centralized Butchers command and put him in charge of approved robberies. On 19 April, Sandu and six armed Butchers stopped a wage transport on Calea Rahovei and took 920,000 lei.[1]
On 14 December 1954, Sandu led a robbery at a guarded storage yard in Vitan. His men entered with forged inspection papers and stole imported machine parts. Dirlewanger gave Sandu control of the organization's armed crews when he established a permanent command council on 28 May 1956. Sandu later commanded the robbery of a state bank vehicle on 6 August 1957, taking 2.6 million lei.[1]
Sandu joined Vlădescu and Erich Mußfeldt in an attack on a Brașov Bandits weapons depot outside Băicoi on 17 March 1967. He shot and killed three of the twelve guards. After the attack, Dirlewanger gave Vlădescu command of the newly formed Secția Roșie and made Sandu his deputy. The unit established its headquarters in a converted meat warehouse in Obor, where Sandu supervised the training of new members.[2][3]
On 19 March 1971, Dirlewanger ordered Sandu to post two armed men at a boarding house on Strada Popa Nan. The Bucharest Butchers used the building to hold trafficked women, and one of the captives had escaped to relatives in Sector 3.[4] Sandu also drew his sons into the organization. On 2 May 1979, he assigned his younger son, Mircea, to kill Alexandru Nistor, who had informed police about a Butchers weapons cache. Mircea shot Nistor outside his home.[5]
During the 1987 destruction of the Brașov Bandits, Secția Roșie attacked Conacul Mărgineanu on 14 September. Sandu took 32.4 million lei seized from the mansion back to Bucharest, together with the Bandits' gold, weapons and records. He then led an unsuccessful pursuit of eight fugitives who had escaped raids on other Bandits properties. Five crossed into Hungary and the other three entered Yugoslavia.[6]
Gambling business
[edit | edit source]Sandu left Secția Roșie in 1990, giving up his position as Vlădescu's deputy and command of its armed crews. He remained in the Bucharest Butchers and began running an illegal gambling business in Bucharest.
In 1996, Sandu demanded that a restaurant owner in Obor let him use part of the premises for gambling. The owner refused. Sandu and Dumitru went to the restaurant with associates and beat him, leaving him with permanent injuries. The owner then allowed Sandu to operate gambling there. He didn't report the assault to police because he feared retaliation.
In 2003, Sandu handed daily management of his gambling business to Dumitru but continued receiving a share of its income.
Personal life
[edit | edit source]Sandu was married to Elisabeta Pavel. They lived near Obor Market with their sons, Dumitru and Mircea. Sandu took the boys to Bucharest Butchers properties and had them watch businesses selected for robbery. Elisabeta objected to his taking them there. Sandu later taught Mircea to clean pistols and hide them beneath his clothing.[7]
Death
[edit | edit source]On 10 August 2008, Sandu suffered a stroke at the same restaurant in Obor whose owner he and Dumitru had assaulted in 1996. The people present were too afraid of him to help. Sandu died there aged 79.
See also
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "1950s". Oskar Dirlewanger. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
- ↑ "1967 Băicoi weapons depot attack". Constantin Vlădescu. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
- ↑ "Formation and expansion". Secția Roșie. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
- ↑ "1970s". Oskar Dirlewanger. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
- ↑ "Criminal career". Mircea Ionuț. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
- ↑ "1987 destruction of the Brașov Bandits". Constantin Vlădescu. Vrienden Universe Wiki.
- ↑ "Early life". Mircea Ionuț. Vrienden Universe Wiki.