Police have identified a one-armed Gambino crime family soldier as the alleged mastermind behind a $1.77 million heist at the Chanel boutique in Midtown Manhattan. Thomas "Tommy" Dono, 52, was arrested and pleaded not guilty to grand larceny on May 19, 2026, in connection with the July 13, 2024 burglary.
Heist Details
According to police, Dono recruited a gang of 10 individuals who stole items worth $1,776,700 from Chanel's main store in Midtown. The operation was well-planned and executed over three hours. Dono oversaw the operation from a white minivan, driving away around 1:25 a.m., followed by a second white van containing 10 large laundry and trash bags packed with 300 Chanel items.
The robbers, disguised as construction workers, gained access to the store by breaking through a stockroom ceiling hatch. None of the stolen merchandise has been recovered.
Identification and Arrest
Sources said Dono was quickly eyed in the scheme due to his left arm, which was amputated at the shoulder following a horrendous car crash. "Given his unique physical characteristics," court records state, he was "identified relatively early." Investigators also found surveillance videos of Dono and the two white vehicles parked outside a three-family home on Bay 10th Street in the Bath Beach section of Brooklyn on the same days they were allegedly used in the heist.
Dono was released by Judge Felicia Mennin on $300,000 bond, half of what the Manhattan District Attorney's office had requested. According to the organized crime website Gangland News, the investigation is continuing with more arrests expected.
Mob Connections
According to famed organized crime writer Jerry Capeci on his Gangland News website, Dono is an unassuming Gambino crime family soldier and a onetime bank burglar who stole a small fortune in the 1990s. He is the nephew of late Gambino soldier Thomas "Huck" Carbonaro, who was behind a plot to kill turncoat underboss Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano. Carbonaro was convicted on racketeering and attempted murder charges.
Dono became a made man five years ago after being released from prison for his role in the 1998 murder of FBI informer Frank Hydell, who was fatally shot outside a strip joint on Staten Island. Capeci reports that Dono's 2008 racketeering indictment alleged that in 2001 he was proposed for membership in the crime family "as a reward for crimes (he) committed on behalf of the family, including the murder of Hydell." Dono took a plea for a 15-year prison term for his role in the Hydell murder and was released in 2021.
Sources told Gangland that Dono is a mobster in good standing under capo Louis "Big Lou" Vallario, who took over Gravano's old Brooklyn crew when Gravano began cooperating with authorities.
