Daniel Impriano

“Danny the Imp” was what he was called, according to a newspaper account. He may have been called that as a teenager, not only slurring his last name but because he was just 5 feet 7 inches tall. Since name-calling is often the first step towards bullying, it’s easy to see how he could have felt himself dragged into a troubled life.

His father came from Italy in 1891 and married a 14-year-old girl who had recently immigrated. Danny was their seventh child, with three more to follow. They grew up in the old Southwark neighborhood around 5th and Manton Streets.

The first record of his criminal behavior was in 1931 for robbery. On April 13, 1932 he and Anna Caruso were given a marriage license after traveling to the Delaware County Courthouse in Media. He listed his address in Philly as 811 Alder Street, where he lived with his family. Both of them said they were 21 although he was just 16. Anna’s real age is unknown, as is anything else about her.

Both his father and an older brother died in 1936, and things weren’t getting better for Danny. He became what police described as a “small-time gunman and racketeer.” That term is loosely defined as someone who makes money from a dishonest or illegal business activity.

At age 25 he registered for the draft but had no employment, and listed his mother as a contact person. His death occurred a day after Valentine’s Day in 1943 when he was shot in the back of the head while riding in a car.

Police investigators speculated that he was unaware the others in the car were about to do him in. Based on the scratches found on him, they said he was apparently thrown from the car after he was shot, landing on a sidewalk on Washington Avenue near 11th Street.

A newspaper story said the 27-year-old “had been recently involved in a holdup in which a policeman was shot by another member of his mob.” Danny’s grave is toward the northern edge on the Yeadon side, to the east of the Naval Plot. All the other members of the Impriano family were buried elsewhere.