Sergeant Pullease is under investigation but has not been charged with a crime, and the Sunrise Police chief calls him 'disgusting' and says he is 'very proud' of the woman he choked, for speaking up.
A Florida police officer is being investigated after an officer’s bodycam video shows him putting his hands on a fellow officer's neck.
Bodycam footage shows a suspect being placed in the back of a police car and Sgt. Christopher Pullease leaning into the car with what authorities said was can of pepper spray that “was out and aimed at the suspect.”
The video then shows a 28-year-old female police officer who has been on the force just over two years pulling Pullease away by his belt in an apparent effort to de-escalate the situation.
According to the video and Chief Anthony Rosa, Pullease puts his hand on the junior officer’s throat and pushes her backward into another police vehicle.
The department has muted the sound and all faces are blurred, except for Pullease. The video shows him walking away, pointing and then saying something else to the officer.
According to WSVN, Rosa told WSVN he is “...very proud of this police officer” who was grabbed by the throat by Pullease.
“She took some definitive action. I can only imagine what she must be feeling. She’s a newer officer, and he’s a very senior sergeant.”
The video of the incident from November 2021 was released by the Sunrise Police Department, and Rosa, and the department’s chief of police, says he finds “this behavior to be disgusting” and says he thinks “the video speaks for itself.”
This incident remains under investigation, but Pullease has not been charged with a crime and is currently on desk duty, reported WSVN News 7 Miami.
Gordon Weekes, Broward County public defender, wrote a letter to Chief Rosa asking why Pullease was not arrested and instead was placed on desk duty, WPLG Local 10 News Miami reported.
Weekes writes, “It appears as if law enforcement officers engaged in wrongdoing get different treatment, as opposed to everyone else. This must not be the case.”
Sgt. Christopher Pullease was reportedly cleared of two previous allegations of excessive force nearly 20 years ago.
According to the police union, Pullease is declining to comment.
