Gregory Impeciati couldn't watch his friend shoot up with heroin again, so he left their studio apartment early Saturday morning and went to buy a soda.
When he got back 15 minutes later, his friend, Joseph Fenezia, appeared to have lost touch with reality. Within an hour, Fenezia was dead.
Impeciati found his 300-pound friend inside their room, kicking the door and screaming that people were going to kill him. As other residents of the Sheridan Beach Motel & Apartments woke up and came outside to see what was happening, Fenezia ran down the stairs and into the middle of the street.
"He swung the knife, and he didn't mean to, but he almost cut me, so I backed off because I didn't want to get hurt," Impeciati said Saturday morning.
Several people called 911, and police officers raced to the 3800 block of A1A. Officers saw Fenezia, 53, put the knife to his own throat and threaten to kill himself, Detective Mike Reed said. They shut down the southbound lanes of traffic and managed to get Fenezia to drop the knife.
"He agreed to be transported to the hospital for a [psychiatric evaluation]," Reed said. "They were able to go up there and handcuff him. There was no struggle."
But shortly after the officers got him into a police car, Fenezia flew into a rage again. He banged his head off the back seat and the window. The officers pulled him out of the car and tried to calm him again, but he rolled around on the street and refused to let anyone near him, Reed said.
Just as suddenly, he went limp. Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue medics were already on scene and started CPR. They rushed him to Holy Cross Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival, Fire-Rescue Division Chief Stephen McInerny said.
Doctors performed an autopsy Saturday but will not determine a cause of death until they get toxicology test results, Reed said.
Crime scene investigators carted away dozens of bottles of prescription drugs and some illegal drugs from Fenezia's apartment. Many of them were prescribed to Fenezia for his various ailments and addictions, but many were drugs he had collected from others over time, his roommate said.
Impeciati said Fenezia did drugs most of his life. The pair met at a rehabilitation program five weeks ago and decided to stick together and help each other restart their lives. They just got out a week ago. When the first thing Fenezia did upon leaving the hospital was take a hit of heroin, Impeciati knew they were in for a rough ride.
"The thing they tell you at [Narcotics Anonymous] is everybody relapses. Don't feel guilty. Just come back until you get it," Impeciati said.
"His ex-wife told me, `He died for a reason. You've got to pick it up and keep going,' and I will."
Staff Researcher William Lucey contributed to this report.
