coll was raised in the bronx by an elderly woman who took him in as her own. at age 12, coll was first sent to a reform school. after being expelled from multiple catholic reform schools, he joined the gophers street gang. run-ins with the law were almost inevitable. vincent soon developed a reputation for being a wild child of the streets and began the first of several stints in catholic reform school before he reached his teens. at age 12 he was arrested for unlawful entry and sent to a catholic reform school. four years later he was arrested for carrying a gun, and by the age of 23 he had been arrested a dozen times. in the late 1920s he started working as an armed guard for the illegal beer delivery trucks of dutch schultz's mob.