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.
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