A cop in Sunrise, Florida, is under investigation after video showed him grabbing his fellow officer by her throat after she tried to deescalate a situation.
Body camera video obtained by NBC News shows the moment Sgt. Christopher Pullease grabbed a female officer by her throat and pushed her up against a cop car. The incident began on Nov. 19 when officers responded to an emergency call about a man attacking people outside of a convenience store.
Pullease, a 46-year-old who has been with the department for 21 years, was standing over the suspect with pepper spray in his hand and engaged in a “verbal altercation,” Sunrise Police Chief Anthony Rosa said in a statement Friday.
When a 28-year-old female officer who has been on the force for over two years pulled on Pullease’s belt to deesecalate the situation, Pullease can be seen on video whipping around and grabbing her by the throat with one hand before pushing her against a cop car.
Audio of the incident was removed from the video by the department. In his statement, Rosa commended the female officer for deescalating “an emotionally charged situation.”
“I am very proud of the officer involved in this incident and believe that the actions taken were definitive and demonstrative of good leadership during a tense situation,” Rosa added.
Pullease had two previous allegations of excessive force nearly 20 years ago, but was cleared on both, local station WSVN reported . Pullease has been placed on desk duty pending the outcome of the investigation.
“I find this behavior to be disgusting,” Rosa told WSVN on Friday. “I think the video speaks for itself”.
Source: yahoo
