Sidney Zaffuto was a 50-year-old veteran of the Orleans Parish Criminal Sheriff’s Office who was killed on January 8, 2004, while working an off-duty security detail at an Iberia Bank branch in Algiers. Three armed men entered the bank on General de Gaulle Drive to rob it; they disarmed Lieutenant Zaffuto and a second deputy at the rear of the bank intervened, triggering an exchange of gunfire. Zaffuto was fatally shot in the chest and the other deputy suffered a leg injury.

The three suspects fled but were soon pursued; two were wounded in the shootout and all three were taken into custody shortly afterward. Joseph Smith collapsed outside the bank and was captured, and John Wayne Johnson and Herbert Jones Jr. were also arrested. John Wayne Johnson was later convicted of first-degree murder and, on May 27, 2009, a federal jury recommended the death penalty. Herbert Jones Jr. pleaded guilty but died in jail in April 2009 before sentencing; Joseph Smith was awaiting trial for his alleged role.