Vach "Cyclone Louie" Lewis (died May 14, 1908) was an early New York gangster and member of the Eastman Gang under Max "Kid Twist" Zwerbach.

Biography

Lewis was a wrestler, strongman, and bodyguard; supposedly wrapping iron bars around his neck and arms, at

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

side shows before joining the Eastman Gang. Following

Monk Eastman Edward "Monk" Eastman (1875 – December 26, 1920) was an American gangster who founded and led the Eastman Gang in the late 19th and early 20th century; it became one of the most powerful street gangs in the city. His aliases included Joseph " ...

's imprisonment, he sided with Zwerbach during the struggle for leadership of the gang and, after the murder of rival Richie Fitzpatrick in 1904, eliminated the remaining members of the Fitzpatrick faction. As a bodyguard, Lewis became Zwerbach's right-hand man during the next four years and was involved in the murder of a gambler known as "The Bottler", a member of the Five Points Gang who operated stuss games on Suffolk Street, shooting him twice in the chest in full view of twenty people. Trouble continued between the Eastmans and the Five Points Gang until May 14, 1908, when Lewis and Zwerbach got into a fight with Louis "The Lump" Pioggi, a member of the Five Points Gang, over his former girlfriend and dance hall girl Carroll Terry and eventually forced Pioggi to jump out the second story window of a Manhattan bar breaking his ankle. Pioggi returned to gang leader Paul Kelly, and the two plotted the murder of their rivals. Later that night, with several other gang members, Lewis and Zwerbach were ambushed while leaving a Coney Island bar and gunned down, with Zwerbach shot once in the head and Lewis five times in the head and chest. Asbury, Herbert. ''The Gangs of New York''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1928.

References

''The Life and Times of a Legend''. Syracuse: Nicholas J. Pedrotti 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Vach Year of birth missing 1908 deaths Eastman Gang People murdered in New York City Deaths by firearm in Brooklyn People murdered in 1908