Two Carabinieri officers are under formal investigation for manslaughter following the death of Gianpaolo Demartis, 57, during an intervention in Olbia’s Santa Mariedda district last Saturday night. Responding to citizen reports of street assaults by a man, the officers subdued Demartis with a Taser. The Bultei native—resident between Sassari and Olbia—suffered cardiac arrest en route to the hospital and died in the ambulance.
Tempio Pausania Prosecutor Gregorio Capasso registered the patrol leader and the officer who deployed the Taser as suspects, a procedural step after opening the case and ordering an autopsy. The prosecutor’s dual-track investigation aims to pinpoint the exact cause of death—relatives confirmed Demartis had pre-existing heart conditions—and reconstruct the incident’s precise sequence.
An autopsy, scheduled for Thursday, August 21, will seek to determine the fatality’s origins. Authorities continue examining the circumstances surrounding the confrontation as part of ongoing inquiries.