Pubdate: Wed, 18 Oct 2006 Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL) Copyright: 2006 Sun-Sentinel Company Contact: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159 Author: Jamie Malernee, South Florida Sun-Sentinel SUNRISE SWAT OFFICERS EXONERATED IN FATAL SHOOTING OF SUSPECTED DRUG DEALER Seconds after a SWAT team stormed his home, a suspected drug dealer ran to his bedroom closet and emerged pointing a gun at a detective, according to a grand jury report released Tuesday. Police opened fire, and the man fell back into the closet. But when officers moved closer, they found him still breathing -- his finger still on the trigger. Then, the suspect raised his gun again. This time, he died in a hail of police bullets. Such was the account released in the Broward County grand jury report exonerating two Sunrise SWAT officers in the shooting of Anthony Diotaiuto, 23, on Aug. 5, 2005. The shooting had come under scrutiny after neighbors watching the raid said they did not hear police announce they were serving a search warrant. Family and friends protested that Diotaiuto, a disc jockey who attended Broward Community College, was merely a recreational pot smoker with no history of violence. Inside the home, police found 30 grams of marijuana, about an ounce. Based on police testimony, the grand jury found police were right to worry Diotaiuto would fight back using a semiautomatic handgun he had a concealed weapons permit for and justified in shooting him as many as 13 times when faced with the barrel of his gun. "Your Grand Jury further finds that there existed at the time of the shooting no other reasonable means ... to avoid the danger before resorting to force," the report states. William Scherer III, attorney for Diotaiuto's mother, questioned police accounts. "I don't think the story is credible. It sounds like it came from a movie," Scherer said. "It's completely illogical to conceive that Anthony acted in this way. You don't get in a dogfight over what he had in the house." Diotaiuto's mother, Marlene Whittier, said: "I'm very disappointed in our judicial system. I had more faith in it than this." Police Chief David Boyett could not be reached for comment, despite several attempts by phone. Officers testified that they announced themselves before the raid and told the suspect to "get down" as they entered. When he ran into the closet, officers said they heard Diotaiuto chamber his gun and one detective yelled that Diotaiuto would be "blasted" if he came out armed. Attorney Michael Dutko, who represented Detectives Sean Visners and Andre Bruna, the SWAT officers who shot Diotaiuto, said the officers were not responsible. "No one will ever know, maybe, why he [Diotaiuto] chose to pull a gun under those circumstances," he said. Staff Writer Brian Haas contributed to this report. - --- MAP posted-by: Elaine