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.