A Sunrise SWAT team shot and killed 23-year-old bartender Anthony Diotaiuto during a 6 a.m. raid on his home on 5 August 2005.[1] Armed with a search warrant alleging drug activity, officers smashed in his door; Diotaiuto fled from his living room to his bedroom and picked up a pistol, and officers Sean Visners and Andre Bruna opened fire.[1] The Broward County medical examiner reported ten bullet wounds to his head, chest, torso and limbs.[1]
Police said they knew Diotaiuto held a licence to possess a weapon and sent the SWAT team to reduce the chance of violence.[1] Their lieutenant said the team knocked, announced itself and ordered Diotaiuto to freeze, but next-door neighbour Rudy Strauss, awake and watching from his window, said he heard the door smashed in with a flash and never heard anyone say “Police”.[1]
The police take, announced that week, was two ounces of pot (about 57 grams) with plastic baggies and a set of scales.[1] Friends and family described Diotaiuto as a hard worker with two jobs who had recently bought the home, and his boss said he smoked marijuana only casually and did not sell drugs.[1] His girlfriend said he worked a second job as a DJ and had sold his sports car to pay for the house he shared with his mother.[1]
At least 15 people wearing black armbands confronted the city council that Tuesday, with one friend asking whether two ounces of marijuana constituted a death warrant; the mayor declined to answer while the department and the Broward County District Attorney’s office investigated.[1] Sun-Sentinel columnist Michael Mayo took up the case days later under the headline “An ounce of pot, 10 bullets and one failed drug war”.[2]
