The family of Salvatore Culosi Jr. is suing Fairfax County and others for $12 million.
Culosi, a 37-year-old optometrist who lived in the Fair Oaks area, had been under investigation for running a gambling operation. A Fairfax County SWAT team was sent to arrest Culosi in January 2006, but during the arrest, an unarmed Culosi was accidentally shot and killed.
The officer who killed Culosi, Deval Bullock, was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, along with Fairfax County Police Chief David Rohrer.
Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Horan declined to prosecute Bullock for any wrongdoing.
An internal police investigation determined that the shooting was caused when a car door bumped Bullock as he exited a vehicle apparently with his finger on the trigger of his gun and his gun pointed at Culosi, according to a report in the Washington Post. The report stated that the internal investigation recommended a three-week suspension for Bullock, a 17-year veteran of the police force.
The Culosi family said that there was no reason to send a SWAT team to arrest a man who police should have known had no weapons, according to a statement released by the family.
The family said that they have not been given all of the documents relating to the investigation of the shooting, and are bringing legal action to try and gain access to them.
Culosi was the first of two men killed by Fairfax County police officers in 2006. The other man, Edward Agurs Jr., was killed as he tried to escape police during an arrest after a bank robbery in Mount Vernon.