Ira Jultak, a veteran Broward County assistant state attorney whose claim to fame is defending serial killer David Berkowitz, was suspended from his job Tuesday after he was caught with a gun at a local store impersonating a sheriff's deputy, according to a BSO report.
BSO's Office of Homeland Security Intelligence Unit released a bulletin about the bizarre incident, which occurred on Saturday:
JULTAK, Ira W/M, DOB 10/27/44 5’10” medium build, Gray hair, Hazel eyesMr. Jultak is a Broward County Assistant State Attorney who while at a local retail store, impersonated a Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputy, stating that he was assigned to courthouse security. Mr. Jultak was wearing a black sheriff’s office t-shirt along with a firearm and badge on his belt. Mr. Jultak has been suspended from the state attorney’s office.
The gray-haired and bearded Jultak was suspended after the incident, says SAO spokesman Ron Ishoy -- just a couple weeks before he was expected to retire on Sept. 30. Ishoy forwarded this information along to the Pulp:
Ira Jultak joined the State Attorney's Office as a legal intern in 1986…After passing the Florida Bar, he became an assistant state attorney in 1990 and has spent his career in the Felony Case Filing Unit.[State Attorney Michael] Satz was notified by BSO of an incident at a store involving Mr. Jultak, a gun and a BSO tee shirt on Monday. He suspended Ira Jultak on Tuesday to run through Sept. 30, when Mr. Jultak was already scheduled to retire.
The status of the investigation isn't known at this time. A check of arrests indicates that Jultak wasn't charged with any crime. Jultak has been living in Broward County in relative anonymity at the prosecutors' office since he became a national figure in the Son of Sam case in 1977.
Berkowitz is, of course, the murderer and arsonist in NYC who claimed he was commanded by his dog to kill. He's serving a life sentence for his crimes. Here's a passage from a 1999 article from the Gazette in Maryland about the case, which was the inspiration for the Spike Lee film "Summer of Sam":
Berkowitz's father retained Jultak's services; he had been practicing law in New York for nine years and was only nine weeks out of the district attorney's office in Nassau County on Long Island.Although they were on opposing sides in the case, Jultak shared his rival's opinion of the Son of Sam.
"You read about these things and you tend to think about some monster," Jultak said. "When I met him he was an ordinary looking, certainly not dangerous-looking, person with a very genteel demeanor ... [but] it was quite apparent from the very beginning that he was a very sick person."
Here's a new post with more information.
