Photo: Broward Sheriff’s Office
On Thursday, Christopher Pullease was charged with the crimes, as well as evidence tampering and assaulting a civilian during a November 2021 incident, according toNBC News.
In January, Pullease, 47, was removed from supervisor duties at the Sunrise Police Department after body camera footage surfaced of the sergeant threatening a suspect and allegedly pointing pepper spray after the suspect was already inside a police vehicle, according toABC Local 10 News.
“Once the suspect was inside the patrol vehicle, the sergeant approached and engaged in a verbal altercation with the suspect in a manner that I feel was inappropriate and unprofessional,” Sunrise Police Chief Anthony Rosa said in January via a written statement, according to ABC Local 10. “This supervisor escalated the encounter instead of de-escalating an emotionally charged situation.”
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At the time, Rosa commended the officer whose throat Pullease grabbed and said she followed the department’s policies for intervening when they determine there is “imminent fear of engagements escalating unnecessarily,” according to NBC News.
The Broward State Attorney’s office said in astatementThursday that Pullease faces a maximum of “five years in state prison for felony battery on a law enforcement officer, one year for assaulting a law enforcement officer, and 60 days for assault on a civilian.”
“The sergeant is also accused of tampering with evidence, his cellphone, in January of this year,” the statement reads. “If convicted, the maximum possible penalty is five years in state prison.”
source: people.com
