Masseria accomplished this in Detroit by supporting a Milazzo adversary, Cesare "Chester" La Mare, the boss of the Hamtramck, Michigan area. La Mare was born in Chicago in 1884, but his parents were allegedly of Castellamarese descent, so he was believed to be a close associate of Milazzo, in fact some Mafia historians claim Milazzo was La Mare's mentor during the 1920s. While Milazzo was an ally of the Eastside gang, La Mare and his Westside gang had been become rivals of the Eastside gang as La Mare's ambition and lust for power grew, but it was kept in check while the influential Sam Catalanotte was alive, nobody dare break the peace and cause an all out war. With the support of Joe Masseria in New York, La Mare began to make plans to eliminate the leaders of the Eastside gang which included Angelo Meli, William Tocco and Joseph Zerilli. There had been an ongoing rivalry and a great deal of animosity between the two groups and now La Mare used this as an excuse to set up an assassination attempt disguised as a peace meeting.