By Victor Omondi
When a Sunrise police officer saw her sergeant towering over a guy already in custody with pepper spray, the two-and-a-half-year veteran attempted to pull her superior away to deescalate a situation that might have swiftly spiraled out of hand.
Her attempts to follow protocol and intervene, however, were met with hostility: According to body camera recordings published Thursday that capture the event from two different angles, the sergeant spun around, grabbed her by the throat, and pushed her against a police vehicle.
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Sergeant Christopher Pullease, the cop who became violent with his co-worker, is now the subject of an internal affairs probe and was suspended from his job before the probe began on November 25, according to local television station WSVN 7 News Miami. He’s been on the force for 21 years.
Sunrise Police Chief Anthony Rosa said in a statement Friday that the sergeant approached and participated in a verbal altercation with the suspect in an unethical and unprofessional manner. “This supervisor escalated the encounter instead of de-escalating an emotionally charged situation.”
According to a news release from the Sunrise Police Department, officers were responding to an emergency call regarding a guy attacking individuals outside of a convenience store on Nov. 19. Officers attempted to get the handcuffed man into a patrol vehicle, but he refused to go all the way in so they could shut the car door.
As Pullease approaches to assist, at least four officers battle to get the man all the way into the vehicle. With his pepper spray ready, the sergeant approaches the culprit, who ultimately leans his complete body into the vehicle.
Pullease continues leaning over towards the man in the backseat for nearly 20 seconds, even though the man is now cooperative. Pullease never uses the pepper spray, but he does get into a “inappropriate and unprofessional” verbal fight with Chief Rosa.
There is no audio in the publicized police body camera clip. But whatever was said prompted the other police, a 28-year-old officer, to run over and intervene.
“In accordance with our department policies and procedures that call for intervention when there is an imminent fear of engagements escalating unnecessarily, the officer is seen grabbing the sergeant by the back of his duty belt and pulling him backwards,” Rosa added.
Source: Police Sergeant Grabs Junior Officer by the Throat After She Pulls Him Away from Suspect
