BARI – They were ready to bet they had already seen the face of that boy, behind the wheel of the gray Panda that was crossing Via Caldarola in Japigia at high speed.
They were almost sure they weren’t making a mistake and to dispel even the last doubts, the agents of the “Falchi” section of the Flying Squad, the other afternoon, followed the small car until it stopped in front of number 27 of via Caldarola. The boy who was alone in the car got out, inserted the safety lock and entered the Betaland sports betting room.
At that point the officers had confirmation that it was indeed Dennis Di Gioia, 21 years old, an old acquaintance of theirs, who had already been arrested and reported for crimes relating to the detention and dealing of narcotic substances.
Dennis Di Gioia is the brother of Christian Di Gioia, 27, who died on the evening of June 22nd after crashing his motorbike on the San Pio bridge in Japigia. In the following hours, a reconstruction was spread through social platforms in which some of the victim’s family and friends attributed responsibility for the misfortune and Christian’s death to the police – and to one in particular.
After the funeral, dozens of roaring motorbikes escorted and accompanied the hearse with the coffin on board, stopping – against traffic – even in front of the prison. The DDA’s investigations into this procession have already been closed due to a road block with the aggravating mafia. Eleven people ended up under investigation for three consecutive road blocks from via Caldarola to the monumental cemetery of Libertà, stopping and stopping in symbolic places, including the house of the boss Eugenio Palermiti and the prison, where the young victim’s father-in-law was locked up.
Dennis Di Gioia, Christian’s brother, the other afternoon, as already mentioned, entered the Betaland room and the “hawks” followed him, suspicious of his driving behaviour. Once inside the premises, the officers informed the patrons that they wanted to carry out a routine check, inviting everyone to collaborate. The young Di Gioia showed signs of nervousness and made the mistake of telling the first lie, claiming to have arrived at the betting shop on foot. He had not realized, before entering the room, that he was being observed.
For the officers, that was confirmation that the boy was hiding something. During the personal check, the keys to the Panda came out of Dennis’ pockets.
The search extended to the car and inside the glove compartment of the driver’s side door the police found 9 doses of hashish for a total gross weight of almost 43 grams packaged in baking paper and shaped as if they were small sweets.
It didn’t end there. The search was extended to the young man’s home, an apartment in a condominium not far from Via Caldarola, where in the past the same policemen had found drugs.
Once on site, under the portico that protects the entrance to the building, hidden behind one of the boxes for the gas meters, they found an envelope containing three transparent plastic bags containing 156 doses of hashish for a total gross weight of more than 718 grams, of the same type of hashish recovered inside the Panda.
Considering the facts ascertained by the investigators during their intervention and during the searches and the specific precedents, Dennis Di Gioia (who did not intend to inform any of his family members) was confined to house arrest pending the validation hearing.
