Local News in Brief : 4 Shots by Deputy Hit Intruder, Report Shows

A ballistics report received Monday concluded that a Simi Valley man, who was killed last Tuesday after he mistakenly kicked in the apartment door of a Los Angeles County deputy sheriff while looking for a drug dealer, was shot four times by the deputy, Simi Valley police said.

The off-duty deputy’s wife, who also fired a revolver at the man, did not hit him, according to the report from the Ventura County sheriff’s crime lab.

The report said the gunshots that killed John Little, 26, came from the service revolver of Deputy Joe Mario Grasso, Simi Valley police Detective Tony Harper said.

Little was shot about 1:30 a.m. at the Meadowood apartment complex in the 1700 block of Cochran Street where Grasso, 25, lives with his wife Robin, 24. The shooting was re-enacted Monday and a detailed report on the incident was sent the Ventura County district attorney’s office for review, Harper said.

Little had paid another man, who has not been identified, between $40 and $50 for some cocaine in a local restaurant. When the dealer did not return with the drug, Little began searching the apartment complex for him, Lt. Rick TerBorch said.

Whe Little knocked on Grasso’s door, the deputy told him he had the wrong apartment, but Little persisted and finally kicked in the door, TerBorch said. When Little entered the apartment, Grasso identified himself as a police officer and ordered Little to freeze, he said.

Little, who was unarmed, lunged at Grasso and was shot once in his upper body, police said. He ran from the apartment, started down the stairs, then turned and shouted that he was going to kill Grasso, TerBorch said.

Grasso had fired several rounds at Little outside the apartment when Robin Grasso, believing that her husband had been shot, rushed to the door and fired several times with another gun, police said.

Grasso has remained on his job at the Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho, the county jail in Castaic.