'We used to sit at the bottom of the federal courthouse at the elevators waiting for the court to break,' said Rundell.
There was a fairly standard routine when high-profile court proceedings were underway. Tony Spilotro served as inspiration for the 'Casino' character Nicky Santoro, played by actor Joe Pesci. 'So I was constantly there with Tony Spilotro and Oscar and the whole gang that would come in and out of there.' 'My beat was the federal courthouse,' said Rundell. Rundell's other close mob encounter came in a routine part of his job. 'I think we broke in live with it, and once we broke in the other stations started showing up,' Rundell said. Rundell was later given a commendation from his news director to Channel 3's general manager, and columnist Don DiGilio used his column in 'The Valley Times' to mock the other stations for trailing so far behind.
