Pubdate: Sat, 19 Jul 2003 Source: Palm Beach Post, The (FL) Copyright: 2003 The Palm Beach Post Contact: http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pbpost/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/333 Author: Joe Brogan, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis) SUSPECT KILLED IN DRUG RAID Those who lived near Dennis Colombo Jr. said he had been a continuing problem in their quiet, well-trimmed working-class neighborhood on Arthur Street. He reportedly threatened neighbors in the unincorporated Palm Beach Gardens community west of Military Trail and north of Northlake Boulevard, and frequently drove his motorcycle at full throttle during early-morning hours. His purple, customized truck blared foundation-rattling rap music, they said. They also suspected that a steady stream of visitors arriving at his duplex at 4830 Arthur St. were buying drugs. But Palm Beach County sheriff's Organized Crime Bureau agents had more than suspicions about Colombo's drugs and weapons. Agents said they had been investigating him since June and had made marijuana buys at his home and spotted firearms. Armed with a drug search warrant, they arrived at 8:30 a.m. Friday with the sheriff's SWAT team, its tank-like vehicle and agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Within minutes, Colombo was dead. When the heavily armed force got there, they said he was smoking a cigarette in the back yard, but ran into the shingled gray duplex and barricaded himself. After the front door was broken open, and a flash-bang stunning device thrown in, SWAT deputies Trenton Thompson, 31, and Michael Collister, 43, entered and encountered Colombo with a MAC-10 submachine gun in his hands, said sheriff's spokesman Paul Miller. Both deputies fired their weapons. Colombo was dead at the scene, Miller said. A neighbor who would identify herself only as LaDonna said she was awakened by a loud bang and saw deputies surround Colombo's house. She said she got close enough to hear one deputy say to another, "It's OK. I saw him pull it on you first." Although additional tests are to be done, Miller said it appeared the MAC-10 had been altered to fire fully automatic. When investigators searched Colombo's apartment, they discovered six loaded clips for the weapon. Clips typically hold 30 rounds, Miller said, adding, "He was ready for war." While investigators were searching the home late Friday, they also found ammunition for .45-caliber, .40-caliber and 9mm weapons, Miller said. The only other weapon they found was a pellet gun. Agents also discovered about 20 grams of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, such as water pipes, Miller said. Neither Thompson, with 10 years of service, nor Collister, with 20 years, had shot suspects before, Miller said. Both were placed on paid leave while sheriff's detectives conduct a homicide investigation and an internal probe to determine whether they followed proper procedures. A check of internal affairs investigations showed that Collister was reprimanded for leaving his gun in a restaurant in 1999, but he was cleared in 1997 after he shot an aggressive pit bull terrier while serving a search warrant. Thompson was cleared after a 2000 complaint by a Jupiter man that he was missing a large sum of money after being taken to the county jail by Thompson and another deputy. Miller said Colombo, who has been arrested 14 times in Florida, was a felon. Had he lived, federal agents would have arrested him for illegal possession of weapons and, because of his record, he would have been facing 15 years to life in prison, Miller said. Joseph Mammino, an army paratrooper who lives across the street from Colombo, said Colombo refused his repeated requests to turn down his music. "He has no respect for anyone, including himself," Mammino said. Sheriff Ed Bieluch said, "If it weren't for the professionalism and high qualifications of the deputies on the team, there's no question in my mind that we'd have dead cops and civilians here today. He had a MAC-10 with his finger on the trigger." - --- MAP posted-by: Jackl