Sergeant charged with felony battery after gripping an officers throat -

The suspect was already handcuffed and getting into the back of a police car in Sunrise, Fla., when Sgt. Christopher Pullease approached him with a can of pepper spray in one hand.

“Look at me,” Pullease yelled, according to body-camera footage of the Nov. 19 incident obtained by WSVN.

If “you’re going to mace me, mace me,” the suspect said from the car’s back seat.

Leaning in, Pullease screamed that he would “remove” the suspect’s “soul” from his body, according to the footage.

That’s when a female officer walked up behind Pullease, grabbed his belt and pulled him away from the car, video shows. Pullease then turned around, briefly grabbed her throat with one hand and pushed her into another police car, according to the footage. The female officer said “sir” as Pullease told her not to touch him again. He let go, walked over to other police at the scene and told them to turn off their body cameras, the video shows.

Now, Pullease, 47, has been charged with assault and battery on an officer, as well as assault on a civilian and tampering with evidence, according to the Broward County state attorney. Pullease turned himself in on Thursday after the charges were filed, and he was released on a $7,500 bond, the Miami Herald reported.

The Sunrise Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Monday, but said in a statement last week that Pullease remains on administrative leave. Pullease could not be reached for comment late Sunday, and an attorney was not listed in court records. If convicted of all the charges, he could face a maximum of 11 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Pullease is accused of “intentionally touching or striking the female police officer against her will” and “holding pepper spray up to her face,” prosecutors said in a news release. He also tampered with his cellphone, which was considered evidence, prosecutors said.

The footage served as a rare illustration of an officer confronting a colleague over actions toward a suspect. Criticism of police declining to intervene when colleagues engage in possible misconduct erupted after a Minneapolis police officer in 2020 pressed his knee into George Floyd’s neck for nearly 9½ minutes, killing him, as three other officers stood by.

In February, the three men were convicted of violating Floyd’s civil rights by failing to act and provide medical assistance. One of those former officers, Thomas K. Lane, was sentenced last week to 2½ years in prison. The others are awaiting sentencing.

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While departments around the country require personnel to intervene when they spot misconduct, many officers lack the training to follow through, the New York Times reported. Intervening can be tricky in a community in which one might face retaliation for speaking up, the Times reported. Hundreds of departments nationwide are now seeking improved training, the paper reported.

In a January statement, Sunrise Police Chief Anthony W. Rosa said members of his department are expected to “intervene immediately if it appears that a fellow officer is losing control of themselves or displaying inappropriate conduct while engaged with the public.”

Rosa praised the officer who pulled Pullease away from the suspect for following the department’s policies, saying her actions demonstrated “good leadership during a tense situation.”

The chief said the Nov. 19 incident began when police placed a man under arrest northwest of Fort Lauderdale for a “violent felony.” The man, Rosa said, was being “verbally and physically resistive” as officers tried to put him into the vehicle. Without naming Pullease, Rosa said the sergeant then approached the suspect in an “inappropriate and unprofessional” manner and proceeded to escalate the situation.

Concerned that escalation was unnecessary, the female officer pulled Pullease away by his belt, Rosa said. That’s when Pullease “momentarily places his hand at the throat of the officer while pushing the officer backwards,” Rosa said.

Moments after releasing the officer, Pullease pointed to her and yelled that he’d see her in “about five minutes,” according to the footage.

“Everybody turn off their … cameras,” Pullease told the officers on the scene a short time later, using an expletive, the footage shows.

Upon learning of the incident, Rosa said he’d relieved Pullease of his supervisory role. The department later placed him on administrative leave as the incident is further investigated.

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