A police sergeant in Florida, US has been demoted to office work after he was seen on video grabbing a fellow officer by her throat and shoving her into patrol car.
Police in Sunrise, Florida have shared body camera footage of an incident that took place November 19.
Everyone in the video had their face blurred except for Sergeant Christopher Pullease, 46, a 21-year veteran of the force who assaulted a female officer.
Sunrise police say they were detaining a suspect who was ‘verbally and physically resistive’ when officer Pullease came on the scene and got aggressive, Chief Anthony Rosa said in a statement.
Pullease (pictured bottom left) then got into a verbal altercation with the suspect, who was already sitting inside a police car.
The female officer approaches Pullease from behind and pulled him by the back of his duty belt, in line with the department’s policies.
Pullease then turned around while backpedaling as he was pulled, then put his hand at the other officer’s throat before pushing her backward until she hit a nearby police patrol car.
Rosa said that Pullease was ‘inappropriate and unprofessional’ in the situation and added that he ‘unnecessarily elevated the demeanor of the suspect.’
In an interview with local TV station, Rosa was asked why Pullease hasn’t already been charged in the three months since the incident, with a reporter pointing out that any civilian who put their hands on an officer’s throat would face charges.
‘So there’s some details of the investigation that I’ve not disclosed, that I’m unable to disclose right now, and if any of the information that comes up during the investigation rises to a level of criminal behavior or criminal conduct, then we’ll address it appropriately,’ Rosa responded.
Watch the video below
Florida @SunrisePoliceFL Sgt. Christopher Pullease caught on video grabbing young officer by the throat after she stops him from pepper spraying handcuffed suspect #BecauseFlorida: https://t.co/VcghOOtoJMpic.twitter.com/RIP9Ybvxss
— Billy Corben (@BillyCorben) January 14, 2022