The two Carabinieri officers who responded to Olbia last Saturday evening after residents reported assaults by a man on the streets of the Santa Mariedda neighborhood are being investigated for manslaughter. Stopped with a taser, Gianpaolo Demartis, 57, originally from Bultei, died of cardiac arrest in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
The patrol leader and the soldier who actually used the taser to subdue Demartis are under investigation . The registration of the suspects by Tempio Pausania prosecutor Gregorio Capasso is a necessary step following the opening of the case and the decision to proceed with an autopsy on the victim's body.
According to investigations, the military warned Demartis three times to be ready to use the taser: on the third warning, the discharge immobilized the man, who then went into cardiac arrest.
The Tempio Pausania prosecutor's office is pursuing a dual-track investigation: first, to determine the exact cause of death—the victim's family has confirmed that he suffered from a heart condition—and second, to reconstruct the detailed sequence of events.
Meanwhile, the SIC, the Independent Carabinieri Union, has announced that it will provide legal assistance to the two officers. "The two colleagues under investigation placed their trust in our union," explains SIC Secretary General Luigi Pettineo, who is gathering all the testimonies from those present and from the officers who intervened Saturday evening in the Santa Mariedda neighborhood. "We are guaranteeing the provision of a lawyer precisely because the alleged events occurred during duty. There is a possibility, which is almost a certainty in this case, that the legal protection provided by the recent security package enacted by the Meloni government will be activated. "We understand," Pettineo reiterates, "that the two Carabinieri officers complied with the technical operational procedures regarding the use of the taser."
The appointed defense attorney is Maria Paola Marro, a lawyer at the Milan Bar Association specializing in military law: "My clients are deeply sorry for what happened, but they acted in full compliance with procedures and carried out their work proportionately to protect their personal safety and that of the public. The use of the Taser," the lawyer emphasizes, "was used to prevent the use of the gun, in a situation of escalating violence in which the individual was unresponsive to any type of stop and was uncontrollable . The head of the security detail, now under investigation as a necessary step, was attacked and injured in the face. Both officers have many years of service behind them and are also qualified experts in the use of the Taser. "We calmly await the results of the autopsy, which will take place next Thursday and will determine the cause of death. We are calm and confident in the work of the Prosecutor's Office."