Man fatally shot by deputies in confrontation ID'd as Port St. Lucie man

Will Greenlee | Treasure Coast Newspapers

Show Caption Hide Caption Deputy-involved fatal shooting, st. lucie county, drug deal Sheriff Ken Mascara said Saturday an attempt to buy drugs from a known cocaine and heroin trafficker ended with the death of Rio Antwuan Thomas, 27, of Port St. Lucie. Mascara said Thomas almost ran over several detectives, who fired their weapons.

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office on Sunday identified the 27-year-old man fatally shot by deputies a day earlier as Rio Antwuan Thomas, the agency stated.

Thomas, of Port St. Lucie, was shot Saturday afternoon by investigators in the 2800 block of Okeechobee Road on Crossroads Parkway in Fort Pierce. No deputies were seriously hurt.

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Before Thomas’s name was released, Sheriff Ken Mascara in a video interview described him as a “known heroin dealer not only in our county but also in Martin County.”

“There were arrest warrants being initiated for him and today (Saturday) the special investigation unit was here to make that arrest,” Mascara said.

The suspect had driven into the parking lot of the Kentucky Fried Chicken/Long John Silver's combo restaurant, Mascara said.

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Mascara said he has a “history of fleeing and eluding law enforcement.” He said investigators knew that and “centered one of their vehicles behind him.”

“As they approached the vehicle he threw it in reverse, backed into the vehicle that was behind him, one of our sheriff’s office vehicles, then threw it in drive and in doing so actually struck one of the deputies that was there at his door,” Mascara said.

Mascara said a deputy at the passenger side yelled for him to stop.

“He continued to accelerate more and more, putting the deputies that were near the front of his car in danger and they used deadly force to stop this forward advancement of the car, firing into the vehicle striking him,” Mascara said.

Thomas, who died at the scene, was arrested in September 2017, in Martin County on charges including trafficking heroin, possession of cocaine with intent to sell, possession of drug paraphernalia and curfew violation, records show.

In that case, Thomas was the passenger in a Honda stopped in the area of Southwest High Meadows Avenue and Southwest Sunset Trail in Palm City, an arrest affidavit states. Martin County Sheriff’s investigators reported smelling marijuana and finding items including cocaine and heroin in the vehicle.

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The driver, Adam Costello, told deputies he smokes crack cocaine. Costello, who also was arrested, said he drives Thomas around so he can sell drugs.

“In exchange, Mr. Thomas repays Mr. Costello with money or ‘hard’ (crack cocaine),” the affidavit states.

According to St. Lucie County Clerk's Office records, Thomas has a criminal history in St. Lucie County going back several years including arrests related to driving with license suspended prior conviction; resisting officer without violence; possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana; willful, wanton reckless driving; fleeing or eluding – lights and siren; high speed or wanton fleeing; and battery.

In several St. Lucie County cases, some of the more serious charges against him, such as possession of cocaine, burglary of a dwelling and child neglect, were dropped or not pursued.

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At the deadly scene Saturday, the car stopped haphazardly on a grassy incline on the side of the parking lot.

No one else was in the vehicle.

“Him being a known heroin dealer, they knew that he was bringing drugs back to St. Lucie County,” Mascara said. “I don’t know if they knew he was coming here exactly but this is where they saw him and attempted to effect the arrest.”

A day before the Thomas incident, investigators say two Fort Pierce men were involved in a shootout involving deputies as they traveled through the Orange Blossom Estates community.

Jose Nava, 19, and Eduardo Ramierez, 21, were each charged with four counts of attempted murder. Ramierez also was charged with aggravated fleeing with injury or damage.