John Casablanca

Case record: John Casablanca

Status and disposition

John Casablanca entered a plea bargain to three counts of manslaughter in 1965. He was paroled in 1982. He was ruled insane on two counts in 1981.

Background

John Casablanca was described as a former Mafia enforcer from the Bronx with three murders on his record. He was 51 at the time he surrendered.

Herbert Arnold was described as a convicted murderer and rapist from Brooklyn and was 50 at the time he was arrested. The two men had long criminal records and histories of mental instability.

The two men were described as criminally insane killers who escaped at gunpoint from a psychiatric hospital and remained at large afterward.

Timeline

• May 28 — John Casablanca and Herbert Arnold escaped at gunpoint from the Mid-Hudson Psychiatric Center in New Hampton, about 55 miles northwest of New York City.
• 3 A.M. (day of surrender) — John Casablanca turned himself in to New York City police officers Lieut. Thomas Moran and Officer Gil Zimet during a traffic stop in the East New York section.
• 5:30 P.M. last Friday — Guards opened the doors for John Casablanca and Herbert Arnold and a hostage after the men forced access to the hospital while Robert Kamrowski was held with a gun to his head.
• yesterday morning (day of surrender) — Herbert Arnold was arrested wandering the area at daybreak with a loaded Smith and Wesson .357 Magnum in his belt and $11.86 in his pocket.
• 5:55 A.M. — state police investigators spotted Herbert Arnold walking on Pennsylvania Avenue near Twin Pines Drive and arrested him.
• June 4, 1994 — The weeklong hunt ended quietly in the dark hours of yesterday morning as John Casablanca emerged from a wooded area in Brooklyn.

Escape from Mid-Hudson Psychiatric Center

John Casablanca and Herbert Arnold escaped at gunpoint from the Mid-Hudson Psychiatric Center in New Hampton, in Orange County, about 55 miles northwest of New York City. The escape involved a hostage taken from the hospital.

Authorities said the two men arranged for a gun to be smuggled into them and grabbed a hospital aide as a hostage on the way out. There was no evidence that the two men committed any crimes after their escape.

Hospital hostage incident

With Herbert Arnold holding a gun to Robert Kamrowski’s head, guards at the hospital followed procedures and opened the doors for the two patients and their hostage at about 5:30 P.M. last Friday. None of the guards were described as carrying guns.

When Robert Kamrowski reported that the men fled to New York City, authorities predicted their movements largely based on knowledge of Herbert Arnold.

Manhunt and police surveillance

The weeklong hunt for the two criminally insane killers ended quietly in the dark hours of yesterday morning after John Casablanca emerged from a wooded area in Brooklyn. He was described as thirsty, incoherent and covered with ticks.

More than 100 New York State Police troopers and city police officers began watching the homes of friends and relatives, cutting the men off from any means of support and tightening a net around the area where they were eventually found. A bloodhound named Copperfield was involved in the search.

James L. Harney, the state police major who headed the hunt, attributed the peaceful conclusion to “around the clock surveillance which prevented the suspects from contacting sources in New York City.”

Surrender of John Casablanca

At 3 A.M., John Casablanca found Lieut. Thomas Moran and his partner, Officer Gil Zimet, writing a traffic ticket at the corner of Pennsylvania and Seaview Avenues in a residential neighborhood in the East New York section.

Lieutenant Moran said that even before he knew who John Casablanca was, he knew the man had a problem. The officer said John Casablanca was disheveled and confused.

Lieut. Thomas Moran quoted John Casablanca as having told him: “I Want to Give Myself Up” He “was a little dirty and babbling.”

The officers quickly realized who John Casablanca was. He offered no resistance as Officer Zimet handcuffed him. The officers took him to the 75th Precinct, where they gave him a drink of water.

Arrest of Herbert Arnold

At 5:55 A.M., state police investigators spotted Herbert Arnold walking on Pennsylvania Avenue near Twin Pines Drive. Herbert Arnold was carrying a loaded Smith and Wesson .357 Magnum in his belt.

Herbert Arnold put up no fight when arrested. His arrest occurred about three hours after John Casablanca surrendered.

Herbert Arnold was described as wandering the area at daybreak with $11.86 in his pocket.

Locations where the men hid

The two men told police that they hid out in a marshy area near the Belt Parkway in East New York and ate for the last time at a diner three days ago.

Authorities described that after the police flooded Brooklyn, the presence of police apparently pushed the two men east into East New York and Canarsie.

Investigators searched the swampy areas along Jamaica Bay on Thursday, and Major Harney said he thought Copperfield picked up a scent of the two men. After that, investigators returned to state police headquarters in the Bronx, described as cold and tired, and they pulled ticks from their skin. The two men were still at large at that time.

Planning and escape preparations

Richard Bennett, the deputy director of the Mid-Hudson hospital, confirmed a report in the Times Herald Record of Middletown that the hospital learned in September that John Casablanca, Herbert Arnold and two others were planning an escape.

Richard Bennett said that talk by patients of escaping was not unusual at Mid-Hudson. He said searches were stepped up after staff were told of the plans.

Richard Bennett said: “One of the staff members had been informed by a patient these two gentlemen and two other gentlemen were planning an escape where they would obtain a gun and go out through the front door,”

Richard Bennett said that in November a woman arriving to visit Herbert Arnold was arrested when she was found to be carrying a knife that authorities believed she was planning to pass to him. Richard Bennett said Herbert Arnold was considered “someone who would try to introduce a weapon into the facility.”

Police knowledge of Herbert Arnold

Vito R. Spano, a New York City police lieutenant, was described as knowing Herbert Arnold well “the way a hunter knows his prey.” Lieutenant Spano tracked Herbert Arnold in 1991 for several months when Herbert Arnold and two others were wanted for abducting and raping a 16-year-old girl.

The three surrendered after a seven-hour siege during which Herbert Arnold threatened to blow up his block.

Lieutenant Spano was familiar enough with Herbert Arnold to know Herbert Arnold hated being called Herbert, preferring Tony or Anthony.

Lieutenant Spano also knew Herbert Arnold’s family in the Sunset Park section of Brooklyn was likely to protect him. At home, Herbert Arnold was not considered a threat, and he was not viewed poorly in his neighborhood.

Lillian Rivera, a neighbor on 46th Street, said: “He was a nice person, he would play with the kids,”

Despite this, Lieutenant Spano considered Herbert Arnold “a time bomb” whom he presumed would return to his neighborhood.

Lieutenant Spano talked with Herbert Arnold’s relatives by telephone, but they denied they had seen Herbert Arnold. The police flooded Brooklyn, receiving reports of possible sightings.

Prior records and mental state at earlier proceedings

John Casablanca’s record included that soon after being paroled for his first murder in 1981, he killed a bartender in Manhattan after an argument and then, a few days later, killed a friend who criticized him for killing the bartender. In both cases, John Casablanca was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Herbert Arnold’s adult criminal record began in 1965 when he was accused of raping a 13-year-old girl and killing her and her mother. Those crimes were described as crimes for which he was found mentally incompetent to stand trial.

Herbert Arnold was described as having been arrested for auto theft when he was 17.

Aftermath and continuing investigation

Police hoped to discover how the gun was smuggled into the hospital to John Casablanca and Herbert Arnold. Authorities said they knew little about what the two did all week, and the men told police their most recent meal had been at a diner three days earlier. There was no evidence they committed any crimes since their escape.