Gun-Toting Ex-Commish Beats Felony Charge
Pistol-packing pol guilty of misdemeanor
By NICK BOGERT and BRIAN HAMACHER
Updated 9:11 AM EDT, Wed, Apr 29, 2009
The gun-toting former City Commissioner who went all Clint Eastwood and pulled his pistol on some punks in a grocery store beat felony charges yesterday.
Though he was found guilty of illegal exhibition of a firearm, former Miramar commish Fitzroy Salesman was acquitted on felony assault charges in a Broward County courtroom for his 2007 grocery store gun pull.
Salesman claimed he feared for his life when he brandished a pistol on two teens who he thought were gang members. Prosecutors argued Salesman was just a hot-headed customer who got out of hand.
Salesman, who hugged his defense lawyer as the verdict was read, remained upbeat afterwards, despite the fact that he still faces up to a year in the county jail.
"It is a victory," Salesman said after the ruling yesterday, though he admitted the incident has hurt his political career. "My entire life has been shredded."
It wasn't the first time Salesman has shredded his reputation. He was nabbed for disorderly intoxication and resisting an officer in a 1998 incident in a Miami bar, though he escaped prosecution. In 2005, he was busted for a DUI, felony fleeing and eluding the police, but a jury acquitted him.
He hopes his latest brush with the law won't have any bearing on his weapons permit, and though he's currently out of politics after losing his reelection bid earlier this year, Salesman is still keeping his political options open.
"I have not ruled out running for office," Salesman said. "I think it's a calling, I love serving the people."
First Published: Apr 29, 2009 6:51 AM EDT
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