MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (AP) — A judge is considering whether to grant bond to a former police officer as he awaits a murder trial after an off-duty fight led to a shooting in a South Carolina fast food restaurant parking lot.
Anthony DeLustro, 65, has remained jailed since his arrest on April 10. Circuit Judge Deadra Jefferson promised a ruling later this week at a Monday bond hearing.
Investigators said the shooting happened on March 20 as DeLustro was trying to stop a man from leaving a Chick-fil-A parking lot in Summerville after the two had fought. DeLustro got into the passenger seat of the victim’s car as the man told him to get out and began driving off, according to a sworn statement from the State Law Enforcement Division.
DeLustro walked into his bond hearing with a crutch and his lawyer Joseph Cannarella said the ex-police officer who had worked in New York City for 22 years before coming to South Carolina was still suffering from injuries from the parking lot fight, according to media reports.
Cannarella told the judge DeLustro should be allowed to leave jail while awaiting trial because he wasn’t a risk to run away and a doctor who evaluated him determined he wasn’t likely to commit other violence and be a danger to the community.
Solicitor Scarlet Wilson asked the judge to jeep DeLustro in jail, saying his personnel file shows he has a problem with his temper and struggles with stress, anxiety and anger.
DeLustro’s attorney told the judge that his investigation shows the man who was killed initiated the fight. “His behavior was reactive,” Cannarella said.
DeLustro faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted of murder. He was fired from the Summerville Police Department after his arrest.
DeLustro told state agents he shot Michael O’Neal because he feared he might get trapped under O’Neal’s moving vehicle, but investigators said someone restraining DeLustro after the fight heard him threaten to shoot the 39-year-old man if he tried to leave, according to an arrest warrant.
O’Neal never had a weapon or threatened to use a weapon during the fight, which involved kicks and punches, state agents said.
State agents didn’t detail why O’Neal and DeLustro started fighting, but said DeLustro initiated the altercation, yelling at O’Neal “do you want to do this?” and using an anti-gay slur.
DeLustro, who was not working that day, told O’Neal he was under arrest during the fight and showed him his law enforcement credentials, the agents said.
During the fight, DeLustro’s gun fell out of its holster and the officer’s wife tried to hold O’Neal during the fight and as he tried to get into his car, according to the sworn statement.
Someone was holding DeLustro back as O’Neal tried to leave, but DeLustro got away, grabbed his gun off the pavement and then got into O’Neal’s car, state agents said.
DeLustro fired one shot while partially seated in the passenger seat, striking O’Neal as he was driving, state agents said.
DeLustro told agents he was acting in self-defense, but investigators said he recklessly put himself into danger and O’Neal was not a threat when he was killed.
