It’s hard to reconcile the two descriptions of the now-former Summerville, S.C., police officer who was charged with murder last week in the March 20 shooting death of Michael O’Neal of Pfafftown, N.C.
On the one hand, The Post and Courier’s Alan Hovorka reports, Anthony DeLustro was a veteran police officer who guarded the remains at ground zero during his 23 years with the New York Police Department, who retired from law enforcement and was brought back to work at the Summerville Police Department for what Police Chief Douglas Wright said was the purpose of mentoring young officers. An officer described by the chief who fired him last week as mild, meek and known for de-escalating tense situations.
On the other hand, Mr. DeLustro was a man who got so upset over something that happened when he and his wife were at a Chick-fil-A that he and Mr. O’Neal jumped out of their cars, argued, taunted each other and exchanged blows. A man who allegedly told Mr. O’Neal mid-fight that he was going to arrest him, even though he had no right to demand obedience since he was off-duty and acting on a personal grievance. A man who had to be restrained by bystanders after he allegedly told Mr. O’Neal he would shoot him if he tried to leave. A man who then jumped into Mr. O’Neal’s car — as if he were trying to detain a dangerous suspect — and did just that.
Maybe something caused Mr. DeLustro to snap and act in an uncharacteristically reckless and violent way. Maybe Summerville police officials, who seem to have handled this matter as well as anyone could — immediately calling in SLED to investigate even though state law doesn't require that and announcing immediately after the arrest that they were reviewing the use-of-force policy for off-duty officers — could not have been expected to see Mr. DeLustro as a threat to the community.
Or maybe what happened last month should have been predicted. Maybe that prediction should have started with his revolving-door career in law enforcement since he left New York in 2003 in the midst of an investigation into allegations that he used excessive force: From 2003 until his retirement in 2013, he worked for Trident Technical College, the Summerville Police Department, the College of Charleston and the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office. He returned to work in 2020 at The Citadel, then rejoined the Summerville department in 2023.
Today, S.C. police chiefs and sheriffs are required to notify the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy of most instances when officers are suspended, fired or charged with a crime, and prohibited from letting someone resign to avoid being disciplined. Agencies also are required to check prospective employees’ records before hiring them. But that wasn’t required until 2018, and not as clearly so until 2022. Even since then, we’ve seen instances when police don’t follow the law as intended, so we really have no idea why Mr. DeLustro left any of his previous jobs.
Most police officers are dedicated professionals who risk their lives every day to protect the rest of us, but just like every other profession, they have in their ranks people who don't belong there. The difference is that police carry a gun and wear a badge, so it's essential that law enforcement agencies and the state properly vet officers — and keep a close eye out for problematic behavior once they're hired — to protect the public as well as all those cops who would never do anything inappropriate.
Police agencies should use this moment as an opportunity to take a closer look at officers hired before 2019 who had a history of frequent job changes, particularly changes that didn’t amount to promotions. That's especially important for Summerville police. After all, this wasn’t the only time in recent weeks that one of its officers made the headlines — or that there were questions about the officer’s history.
Bystander video shot on April 1 sparked accusations of excessive force when Officer Dante Ghi pushed a 13-year-old palmetto rose seller’s head and neck toward the ground during what many considered an unnecessary and racially charged arrest. Police video shows a less disturbing but still questionable view of the arrest, which could have ended much worse than it did.
Now, The Post and Courier’s Kailey Cota reports that Mr. Ghi was fired from the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office for misconduct in 2003 and later resigned from the North Charleston Police Department during an internal investigation before being hired at the Summerville Police Department in 2018. Ms. Cota also found numerous complaints filed against the officer, and settlements paid by the state totaling nearly $250,000 from incidents in 2016 and 2017.
As police agencies do a close check on their officers to make sure they all have the appropriate temperament and history to carry a badge, the Criminal Justice Academy needs to ensure that police are obeying the mandatory-reporting and mandatory-check law, and let the Legislature know if it needs more tools to enforce it.
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