This hasn’t been confirmed in the media, but someone close to Culosi just informed me that there will be no criminal charges against the officer who shot and killed him.

I haven’t yet heard if there will be any disciplinary action taken by the Fairfax Police Department. I also have yet to hear an explanation as to why the gun discharged.

Here’s an email from another acquaintance of Culosi’s:

I’m a long-time friend of Sal’s and want to thank you for raising some important questions. I’m sure you’ve read the other related articles in the Post, but I’m also sending one we found in The Examiner (link below). I feel as if all the commentators are dancing up to and very close to the real issue, but are not quite making it. So here’s my take: Recall that “the detective” worked on Sal’s case for 3-4 months. Given that amount of time, I’m at a loss that the D-E-T-E-C-T-I-V-E didn’t get to know Sal’s gentle and gregarious nature. The man was hilariously funny, charming, gentle, and tame. He was no threat to anyone…everybody loved the guy. That the police didn’t research the man and realize that a SWAT team was wholly uncalled for is surreal to me. Any “detective” with a brain should’ve known that:

1) Sal was a life-long resident of Fairfax County (he’s not a “pro bookie” coming from NY or LA or Las Vegas, setting up shop).
2) His entire family resides in Fairfax County
3) He was a DOCTOR…and his very successful professional offices were in Fairfax County.
4) He had no prior arrests, no prior anything.
5) His town home and car were in Fairfax County
6) He had no registered firearms
7) He graduated from one of the University of Virginia.

Along with other things mentioned (unarmed, alone, compliant), the bigger point seems to me to be that a SWAT Team should never have been called in the first place. If the petty gambling is true (probably is), there’s no way Sal would jeopardize his career, his family etc, over this. Worst case scenario in his mind is a slap on the wrist and a fine. “Where do I pay up?” he’d probably ask. To Sal, betting a few bills on The Skins was a stress reliever and done among friends. And FYI - it doesn’t take the CIA or a crack detective to “infiltrate” our group. If you like sports and want to watch college/pro sports at one of many fun and popular sports bar in the Fairfax area, just stop on by. We’ll be there. And until Sal’s death, none of us single, successful professionals ever thought that betting $50 bucks or so on the UVA/Va Tech football game, etc was a crime worthy of investigation…we looked at the penalty (if ever there was one) like speeding 10 miles over. What do you want, a $100 fine? Okay.

The police could’ve picked him up at work or anywhere else (if they were so scared that he’d “destroy evidence”). Hell, it could’ve and should’ve happened over the phone. If Sal was caught, he’d stroll down and turn himself in. Given above and the petty nature of the gambling, do they really think he’d dodge a warrant? Again, it’s ridiculous. There’s at least a lack of common-sense here on the part of the police, but I smell and fear something worse. This may be only the beginning.

Your article was dead-on accurate about our police using military tactics for non-violent, petty “crimes.” The .45 gun is awful and extremely lethal; it’s a battlefield weapon and has no place chasing mischievous young adults. My sad guess is that without pressure from the media, the police and Fairfax County will conduct a whitewash. No charges against the officer and no change of arrest tactics. Sal is dead and shouldn’t be…it scares the hell out of me.”

Here’s the Examiner piece. The author asked that I not post his name. He’s afraid the Fairfax police will come after him, too. I doubt that’ll happen. But that he feels that way speaks volumes about the kind of fear and terror these raids instill in the community.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 8th, 2006 at 1:37 am by Radley Balko and is filed under Gambling, Police Militarization. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.