Crazy Sal tattoo skull with cowboy hat traditional design known as Rough Rider — Hand painted flash of the famous Rough Rider skull drawn from the book “death on a Dude Ranch”

The Rough Rider tattoo, often called the Crazy Sal tattoo, predates a 1980 Brooklyn crime. Tattooer Tony Polito referred to the design as "Rough Rider." The "Crazy Sal" name came from newspaper coverage after the suspect’s arrest photo showed the tattoo. The image itself has earlier roots in pulp illustration and traditional tattoo flash.

Salvatore DeSarno with his famous Tony Polito tattoo — Salvatore DeSarno photo from newspaper

In 1980, a Brooklyn murder suspect was photographed in police custody. He was shirtless. On his chest was a killer tattoo from legendary Brooklyn tattoo artist Tony Polito.

The newspapers ran the image and this almost instantly became known as the "Crazy Sal Tattoo".

This is the story of how a single press photo reshaped the identity of a traditional design, and maybe where it originated.

The Crime That Changed the Name

Salvatore DeSarno, nicknamed "Crazy Sal," was on parole for a 1978 armed robbery in which he robbed a 60-year-old woman at knifepoint. Not long after on January 28, 1980, he shot NYPD officer Cecil Sledge four times during a traffic stop in Brooklyn. He then ran Sledge over and dragged him for several blocks. , DeSarno had been wanted for questioning in connection with a donut shop robbery and had reportedly been seen brandishing a pistol prior to the stop. Sledge was wearing a bulletproof vest, but after being shot, run over, and dragged beneath DeSarno’s car, he later died in the hospital from his injuries.

Crazy Sal newspaper article — Headline from a paper after the crime.

After crashing his vehicle into a house on Avenue I, DeSarno entered the residence, took 50-year-old homeowner Marion Mazer hostage, and barricaded himself inside before eventually surrendering to police.

The story dominated local headlines. One particular photograph of DeSarno being escorted in custody, the skull tattoo on his chest, elevated this design to instant recognition.

From that moment on, many began referring to the design as the "Crazy Sal" skull.

He was convicted in 1981 and sentenced to 25 years to life. Multiple parole hearings, including 2012 and 2018, resulted in denial of release, and he remains incarcerated.

What Tony Polito Called It

Tony Polito working at his tattoo studio Old Calcutta — Tattoo artist Tony Polito, owner of Old Calcutta tattoo

Legendary Brooklyn tattooer Tony Polito had been tattooing since 1959. He may not have invented the image, but he refined and named the version that became dominant today.

Polito often called the design "Rough Rider." or anything else.

Not the Crazy Sal tattoo.

Why Rough Rider?

Because the name fits, and may have helped separate the design from the crime it became tied to in the press.

Tony Politos original flash design or the “Rough Rider”

Roosevelt.s Rough Riders

The phrase "Rough Riders" most famously refers to Theodore Roosevelt’s volunteer cavalry regiment during the Spanish–American War in 1898. The term became part of American frontier mythology. It was a common theme in artwork, books, ads and recruitment media.

However, the skull artwork itself aligns visually with a 1937 book cover almost exactly, not the documented Spanish–American War imagery I’ve seen.. A shared phrase may not establish direct visual lineage.

For historical reference on Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, see: https://www.nps.gov/thri/learn/historyculture/the-rough-riders.htm

Other Flash Lineages: Coleman, Grimm, and the Tom Berg Question

Beyond the book cover, the design also intersects with early American tattoo flash..

Cap Coleman is often cited as an early source of skull that circulated through acetate and hand-painted flash in the mid-20th century.

I’ve also seen other names thrown around using this design like Bert Grimm, Paul Rogers, Huck Spaulding, and maybe Tex Rowe as the the original with a very close line drawing to the cover of the book.

Tom Berg flash design of the famous skull

Then there is the early Tom Berg design dated 1910, which raises even more questions. The date seems hard to verify, but if authentic, it suggests that this design may have existed decades before the book printing. That would complicate the current narrative.

The difficulty is documentation. We have a clear printed example from 1937. We have oral history and scattered flash references from Coleman, Grimm, and others, and we have a disputed early photograph attributed to Berg.

What I’m not seeing is a fully documented chain from 1910 through mid-century flash to Polito.

It is possible the book cover popularized an existing motif, as skeleton designs were popular from the mid 1800s on in pop culture. It’s also possible the illustration from “Death on a Dude Ranch” became the template that tattooers later adopted. Several early examples in American tattooing show line-for-line borrowing and adaptation from book cover into flash. Both scenarios seem to remain open.

Death on a Dude Ranch and the Line-for-Line Match

Death on a Dude Ranch book — highly collectable rare book, often found between $600-$800

One of the clearest documented visual sources for the design, it appears on the 1937 book cover Death on a Dude Ranch.

The book was written by Audrey Walz under the pen name Francis Bonami. The cover illustration was created by commercial illustrator called Walter Keith Frame.

When comparing the book cover to later tattoo flash versions, the composition is so close almost identical. The angle of the skull, the tilt of the hat, the bandana placement, and the structural proportions align closely. It is not a loose thematic resemblance. It is a near line-for-line match.

If a printed, dated 1937 example exists with a documented illustrator, it becomes the earliest clearly verifiable visual anchor for this specific drawing.

This does not eliminate the possibility of earlier Western skull designs circulating in popular culture that may just be unknown or lost.. But it does establish that the version most tattooers recognize today mirrors a crime-genre book cover rather than a late-19th-century military image.

The paper trail begins in print. The flash comes later.

Dr. Louis Cruzes rough rider illustration, is this the original source?

The Dr. Louis Cruzes Question and the Rough Rider Paradox

Some have asked whether the name “Rough Rider” traces back to an earlier illustrator identified as Dr. Louis Cruzes and his Rough Rider-themed drawing. This design is similar and the theme matches.

Here is the timeline problem.

The design used in tattooing is a near line-for-line match to the 1937 book cover from Death on a Dude Ranch. That image exists in a documented crime-fiction context, not in the late-19th-century.

If the design was not documented as being called “Rough Rider” prior to Tony Polito’s use of the term, then the name itself cannot function as proof of origin.

This creates the paradox:

The phrase “Rough Rider” was culturally established in the late 1800s.
The skull drawing appears in print in 1937.
The tattoo name “Rough Rider” is documented with Tony Polito decades later.

The image appears first. The name arrives later.

That does not invalidate Polito’s title. It simply means the title does not establish visual lineage.

The phrase may echo 19th-century American mythology. The drawing traces to 20th-century pulp print culture.

Two different historical streams intersecting in tattooing.

In the absence of archival evidence showing the skull design being called “Rough Rider” before Tony Polito’s documented use of the term, the simplest explanation remains:

The image predates the nickname.
The name reframed the image.

It is not inaccurate. It is interpretive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Rough Rider tattoo the same as the Crazy Sal tattoo?

Yes. They refer to the same skull-with-cowboy-hat design. "Rough Rider" is the traditional tattoo name used by Tony Polito. "Crazy Sal" comes from media coverage in 1980.

Did Tony Polito invent the Rough Rider tattoo?

No. The motif predates Polito. He refined a version that became widely recognized in New York tattooing.

Is the Rough Rider tattoo connected to Theodore Roosevelt?

Polito’s use of the name "Rough Rider" clearly invokes the cultural meaning of being a rough rider. someone who lives hard, rides hard, and accepts the consequences of that life. the phrase itself can be associated with the Roosevelt’s Rough Riders.

Is the design an anti-police symbol?

There is no evidence the design was originally created as an anti-police symbol. However, after the 1980 crime and the widespread press coverage, the image inevitably absorbed that association for some. The "Crazy Sal" story may have given the skull an ACAB edge. Even though that meaning developed after the fact.

Timeline Summary

1930s: Skull-with-cowboy-hat appears on cover of Death on a Dude Ranch
1940s–1950s: Circulates in traditional tattoo flash.
1959 onward: Tony Polito tattoos and refines the design in Brooklyn.
1980: many start calling it the "Crazy Sal" after a high-profile case.
2021: Jonah Hill immortalized the design forever on his forearm, making it a legendary image.
Today: Both names circulate, but "Rough Rider" seems to be the one that Polito preferred.

reasearh summery

The design known as the Rough Rider tattoo was used by Brooklyn tattooer Tony Polito before 1980. The nickname “Crazy Sal” originated from newspaper reporting after the arrest of Salvatore DeSarno. The image itself predates the crime and appears in earlier American pulp art nd traditional tattoo flash.

Closing Thoughts

I am not a historian. I am a tattooer who is passionate about traditional American tattooing and its history.

celebrity tattoo design — Jonah Hill wearing the design.

There are undoubtedly others who know more, who have seen original flash, or who hold pieces of the story that are not widely documented.

If you have information, images, corrections, or first-hand knowledge you would like to share, I would genuinely welcome it. The goal is not to claim authority, but to keep researching, documenting, and preserving the lineage of traditional American tattooing as accurately as possible.

There is also a larger question worth asking. Without Tony Polito refining and naming it the Rough Rider skull, and without the public shock of the Crazy Sal story, would this design be as widely recognized today? Regardless of its earlier lineage, those two moments amplified its reach. Sometimes history is not only about origin. It is about impact.

Crazy Sal Tattoo Origin: The Story of the Rough Rider Skull