O ' Banion's first conflict with the police came in 1909, at seventeen, when he was committed to Bridewell Prison for three months for burglary; two years later he served another three months for assault. Those were his only interludes behind bars, although he collected four more charges on his police record in 1921 and 1922, three for burglary and one for robbery. But by now O ' Banion's political pull was beginning to be effective. On the occasion of his 1922 indictment the $10000 bond was furnished by an alderman, and the charge was nolle prossed. On one of his 1921 ventures he was actually come upon by a Detective Sergeant John J. Ryan down on his knees with a tool embedded in a labour office safe in the Postal Telegraph Building; the jury wanted better evidence than that and he was acquitted, at a cost of $30000 in bribes, it was estimated. As promptly as Torrio, O ' Banion jumped into bootlegging. He conducted it with less diplomacy and more spontaneous violence than the Sicilians, but he had his huge North Side portion to exploit and he made a great deal of money. Unlike the Sicilians, he additionally conducted holdups, robberies, and safe cracking expeditions, and refused to touch prostitution. He was also personally active in ward politics, and by 1924 O ' Banion had acquired sufficient political might to be able to state: ``I always deliver my borough as per requirements.''