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Man Killed By Sunrise Police In Drug Raid Had 2 Ounces Of Marijuana
Brian Haas & Kevin Smith | Sun-Sentinel | 08/10/2005

SUNRISE -- Police seized 2 ounces of marijuana at the home of Anthony Diotaiuto after shooting him 10 times, according to information on the drug raid released Tuesday.

Also Tuesday, while many friends and relatives of the 23-year-old bartender and student mourned him at a Davie funeral home, others appeared at a Sunrise City Commission meeting to demand an explanation for the fatal raid.

"Do 2 ounces of marijuana constitute a death warrant?" asked Sunrise resident William de Larm, a friend of Diotaiuto's.

Earlier, police officials released a summary of the information they used to obtain the search warrant, listed what was seized from the house, and detailed what police say happened between Diotaiuto and SWAT officers Friday morning.

Neighbors and family dispute those details.

Diotaiuto, 23, was killed hours after he got home from work by a SWAT team looking for drugs. Friends and family say Diotaiuto worked two jobs, went to church regularly, and was dedicated to giving himself and his mother, Marlene Whittier, a better life.

Lt. Robert Voss, spokesman for the Sunrise Police Department, gave this account of the raid:

The SWAT team knocked on Diotaiuto's door and "announc[ed] their presence" before smashing in his door about 6:15 a.m. They found Diotaiuto in his living room and ordered him to "freeze" and get on the ground.

Instead, Voss said, Diotaiuto fled to his bedroom and "armed himself" with a loaded handgun. Voss said it is unclear whether Diotaiuto pointed the gun at officers.

Officers Sean Visners and Andre Bruna shot Diotaiuto dead. They shot him 10 times, leaving wounds to his head, chest, torso and limbs, according to Broward Medical Examiner Joshua Perper.

In addition to the marijuana, Voss said, officers seized plastic bags and weight scales from Diotaiuto's home. Possession of 2 ounces of marijuana is a felony, according to state statutes.

The officers' personnel records were not available Tuesday, but Visners has been with Sunrise since 1997 and on the SWAT team since 1999, Voss said. He was Officer of the Month for May 2000. Bruna has been with the department since 1999 and on the SWAT team since 2001.

Voss said both officers have no history of disciplinary problems, and neither has been involved in any previous shootings. They are on paid leave pending an investigation.

Neighbors who said they were up at 6:15 a.m. when the raid occurred said they heard the crash of the front door being smashed, but no yelling announcing the presence of police.

Rudy Strauss, Diotaiuto's next-door neighbor, came to his window when his wife noticed the SWAT team descend on the house in the sleepy Sunrise Golf Village. No words were exchanged outside Diotaiuto's home, he said.

"I heard this loud bang, and I saw a flash," Strauss said Tuesday. "I never heard them say `Police.' If somebody were pounding on the door, I would definitely hear that, or if they yelled, `Police, police!'"

The Police Department also gave a brief description of the information that led to the search warrant. Voss said that the department had the house under surveillance and made at least one "controlled" drug purchase there. Voss did not have more details about the search warrant.

The police version did little to allay anger at the department's handling of the raid.

"Nothing adds up," Brian Kickbush, Whittier's boyfriend, said during the visitation at Fred Hunter Funeral Home. "If they announced themselves, I guess all the neighbors are all liars."

At the Sunrise meeting, 15 people stood, many wearing black armbands adorned with a golden heart, as de Larm told the five-member commission about how Diotaiuto was planning his first real vacation. The trip would have included a visit to his 91-year-old grandmother.

"Now, she has to come to Florida to bury her 23-year-old grandson," de Larm said, as family members and friends wept behind him.

Saying the shooting made him ashamed to be a Sunrise resident, de Larm said the officers had too much aggression and too little judgment, using a search warrant and Diotaiuto's weapon permit to create an encounter far too likely to have the tragic outcome it did.

Mayor Steve Feren declined to address the allegations directly, saying the incident has yet to be fully investigated. The response was not what Diotaiuto's family had hoped to hear.

"We did not get what we expected," said Sarah Spivey, a cousin of Diotaiuto's who came to Florida from Washington state after the shooting. "We wanted our side of the story to be heard. Anthony was a good person and he's being portrayed as a criminal."

Her cousin would never have responded the way police said he did if the officers clearly identified themselves, she said, and the information released by the department left her with little faith in whatever investigation the Sunrise police might conduct.

"They had their minds made up about my cousin before they even went into the house," she said.

Voss said that people should be patient as the Police Department and the Broward State Attorney's Office investigate the matter.

"The department grieves for the family. We grieve for our officers, too. Taking a human life isn't easy to do," Voss said. "It will be investigated."
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Brian Haas can be reached at bhaas@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4597.

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Cassius

Awwww, poor cops. I feel so bad for them.

NOT

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Mamabudz

This is one happening in my own backyard --

The majority of the community is folks over 55 -- they are absolutely shocked. They had no problem with this man or the pot.

They do have a problem with the way this was handled by the police -- especially the entry into the house.

Mamabudz

Relatives of man killed by Sunrise police hire lawyer

By Brian Haas
Staff Writer
Posted August 11 2005


The family of a man killed in a SWAT raid Friday has retained prominent Broward County attorney William Scherer to investigate his death.

Scherer would not say if he was considering a wrongful death lawsuit. But he said details of Anthony Diotaiuto's death troubled him.

"Serious, serious questions have been raised here," Scherer said. "I have a concern about it and decided it would be something I would be able to help the family on."

Diotaiuto, 23, died Friday morning when the Sunrise Police Department's SWAT team raided his home at dawn and shot him 10 times.

One part of Scherer's investigation is likely to be the backgrounds of the two officers who shot Diotaiuto, both highly commended officers with no significant discipline on file, according to personnel records. Neither officer could be reached Wednesday.

Police have said the SWAT team executed a search warrant Friday at Diotaiuto's home looking for marijuana after at least one undercover drug purchase at the house.

During the raid, Diotaiuto ignored officers' orders to "freeze" and ran into his bedroom and armed himself with a handgun, said Lt. Robert Voss, spokesman for the Sunrise Police Department. There, Officers Sean Visners, 31, and Andre Bruna, 32, shot Diotaiuto to death.

Police say they found 2 ounces of marijuana, a scale and plastic bags at the house.

Accounts differ as to whether the SWAT team properly announced its presence and whether Diotaiuto pointed a gun at officers.

Diotaiuto's relatives and family have described him as a hard-working, honest man who held two jobs, attended community college and was devoted to his mother, Marlene Whittier.

Visners and Bruna both have "above-average" or "excellent" annual reviews and dozens of commendations, several for SWAT and drug operations, according to personnel files provided by the city of Sunrise.

Visners was hired in 1997 and joined the SWAT team in 1999. Since then, according to his file, he has been Officer of the Month four times.

Harold Zeishner, a Parkland resident who said he has been Visners' friend for 25 years, said the officer is hard-working and level-headed.

"I will say that you will find no better human being than Sean Visners in any walk of life," Zeishner said. "He's someone who actually cares. ... I never met anyone who would have used as much discretion."

Bruna has had similar success since he was hired in 1998, according to personnel files.

Both officers are on paid leave while the department and the Broward State Attorney's Office investigate.

Scherer's clients have included high-profile developers, the Broward County School Board, and hospitals and cities.

Brian Haas can be reached at bhaas@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4597.


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Yana Usdi

This one is messed up from the looks of it. I was reading about it elsewhere yesterday and one line in particular caught my eye, if it's accurate the whole thing didn't have to happen. That article suggested that the whole reason for the SWAT raid was that he was known to keep a weapon in the home for defense, so they did the raid the way they did.

It also said though that he held a regular job and was in and out all the time, and nothing suggested he walked around armed or had any history of violence. Why didn't they just approach him wide awake and unarmed coming or going instead of waking him up from a dead sleep confused and scared? Even if they did announce themselves there's no reason to be sure he'd have heard or understood them.

Hard to say for sure what actually happened inside the home, but if the impression I have is right the whole thing was avoidable, never had to be any weapons involved.

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hauptmann

I may be wrong but I think alot of raids are conducted at night or very early in the morning for the very reason to catch the person off-guard. Its harder for the person to escape, destroy evidence or put up resistance. I think this is pretty standard as far as raids go. Ive been known to be wrong though....

Another raid killing, Im not suprised. But I'm upset. Over 2 ounces.

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Mamabudz

Wait til I take you for a drive through the neighborhood where it happened...that will really bother you.

Early in the morning you have the older folks walking, and the shuffle board court folks... Very quiet and "typical" older development.

They knew this person had a weapon because he had a legal gun permit. He had a gun because he wanted to protect him and his mom from break-ins.

Niteshift

They knew this person had a weapon because he had a legal gun permit.

Really? And who issues that permit to own a firearm?

I'd like to know so that I can file a complaint because there is no permitting required to own a firearm in FL. And such requirement would be a violation of Article 1, section 8 of the Florida Constitution.

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chonla

this is rainbow farms redux

Cassius

Perhaps he had a concealed weapons permit?

Huh?