Gambling is bad for people. So, to stop it, we increase their gambling, then shoot them.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C…
… Salvatore Culosi … was a 37-year old optometrist in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Fairfax, Virginia. According to friends, Culosi was a wealthy, self-made man. He was easygoing and friendly, a guy who enjoyed his success.
He was also a small-time gambler. Culosi and his friends regularly met at bars in the area to watch sports, and frequently wagered on the outcomes of games. The wagers weren’t insignificant — $50, $100, sometimes more on a given afternoon. But the small circle of friends also had the means to back up their wagers. No one was betting the mortgage, here…
Fairfax police detective David J. Baucom met Culosi in a bar one evening last October, befriended him, and was soon making wagers himself… Baucom began upping the ante, encouraging Culosi to wager larger sums than what the friends were used to…
Baucom eventually encouraged Culosi to wager at least $2,000 in a single day, the lower threshold under which Culosi could be charged under state law with “conducting an illegal gambling operation.” On January 24 of this year, Detective Baucom assembled the Fairfax County SWAT team, and marched off to Culosi’s home to arrest him.
According to press accounts, police affidavits, and the resulting investigation by the Fairfax prosecutor’s office, Baucom called Culosi that evening, and told him he’d be by to collect his winnings. With the SWAT team at the ready just behind him, Baucom waited outside Culosi’s home in an SUV. As Culosi emerged from the doorway, clad only in a t-shirt and jeans, SWAT officer Deval Bullock’s finger apparently slipped to the trigger of his Heckler & Koch MP5 semiautomatic weapon, already aimed at the unarmed Culosi.
The gun fired, releasing a bullet that entered Culosi’s side, then ripped through his chest and struck his heart, killing him instantly.
Entrapment and manslaughter at the minimum, I’d say.
We need a few cops dancing at the ends of ropes over this one.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:11 am
Jesus Christ. That’s outrageous.
July 3rd, 2008 at 2:09 pm
And the good people of Fairfax did not revolt because after all, SWAT was not coming after _them_.
The police have demonstrated time and time again that they cannot “police” themselves – they only look out for #1. The prosecutors won’t do it (At least with the Trey Strickland case they at least tried).
So that leaves, what?
July 4th, 2008 at 7:56 am
This is the problem with cops running around playing “tough soldier man”. They get all the dangerous toys but none of the discipline of the military.
If prosecutors don’t start putting cops in jail for stuff like this, people are going to seek their own justice. It’s only a matter of time.
July 4th, 2008 at 9:17 am
[quote comment="149681"]
If prosecutors don’t start putting cops in jail for stuff like this, people are going to seek their own justice. It’s only a matter of time.[/quote]
Amen.
Governments should be afraid of their people.
July 5th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Unintended Consequences…
Great read. Now that you’ve mentioned it, I think I’ll pick it up again this weekend.
July 6th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
The undercover cop met with this guy week after week, but they needed a swat team to ‘take him down’?
At least he won’t gamble anymore.
September 16th, 2008 at 9:04 am
There’s something either ironic in the Alannis Morrisette sense, or tacky, or both, in that last comment.
January 17th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
unbelievable read. thx