Sgt. Christopher Pullease (right) grabbing unidentified female officer in video dated Nov. 19.
A police sergeant has been arrested after he was recorded on video grabbing a female cop by the throat. The woman, who was a fellow officer with the Sunrise Police Department in Florida, had pulled him off a handcuffed man. Now Sgt. Christopher Pullease, who reportedly served on the force for more than two decades, is charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, tampering with evidence, assault on a law enforcement officer, and assault.
“The sergeant is accused of intentionally touching or striking the female police officer against her will, assaulting her by holding pepper spray up to her face, and assaulting the civilian male by holding pepper spray to his face,” the Broward State Attorney’s Office said in a news release Thursday.
Police have said the incident happened back on Nov. 19. A man allegedly hit people outside of a Shop & Save convenience store. Cops took him in for aggravated battery, handcuffing him behind his back, but based on body cam footage, they seemed to be having trouble getting him inside. Pullease arrived and walked up to the scene. He pulled out pepper spray, and aimed it at the man, who retreated further into the backseat.
Footage from his point of view shows him commanding the man to look at him.
“If you’re going to mace me, mace me,” said the man.
“I will remove your [censored] soul from your [censored] body,” said the officer, identified as Pullease.
The female officer can be seen in video pulling the sergeant off the man, but Pullease turned around and briefly grabbed her by the throat, and he pushed her back as his hand shifted to her right shoulder.
“The initial contact between the sergeant and the officer was his hand against her throat,” said Sunrise Police Chief Anthony Rosa in January, according to WSVN. He commended the younger officer for intervening.
Officers put Pullease on desk duty. The sergeant initially declined to comment through his union, according to the outlet.
The tampering with evidence charge relates to Pullease’s cell phone, prosecutors said. This crime happened on Jan. 19, according to court documents. That was just several days after news broke about the body cam footage.
Pullease, with a hoodie over his head, rushed from a reporter who asked him for comment after he bonded out of jail Thursday.
[Screenshot via WSVN]