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Earlier this year, a Florida police department released silent body camera footage showing a white male officer threatening a Black man who was being arrested. The footage also captured the moment the officer turned and choked a female junior colleague who'd tried to pull him off the man. Now, newly-released audio is adding even more context to the shocking incident.
Officers with the Sunrise Police Department responded to a call in November 2021 that a man was attacking people outside of a convenience store. The officers were attempting to get the man in the vehicle when Sgt. Christopher Pullease arrived at the scene, aggressively taking over the arrest.
"Hey, hey, look at me," Pullease said while holding a Mac canister in the man's face, according to audio obtained by Miami TV station WSVN. "Look at me! You wanna f––king play f––king games? You're playing with the wrong motherf––ker."
"Do what you gotta do, man," the handcuffed man responds. "You gonna Mace me? Mace me."
Pullease then leans closer to the man, before threatening him. "Look at me, motherf––ker. You wanna play f––king games? You wanna be disrespectful with me f––king officers? I will remove your f––king soul from your f––king body."
That's when a 28-year-old female officer steps in, pulling at Pullease's belt in attempt to intervene and deescalate the situation. Pullease turns around, grabs her by the throat and pins her against a patrol car.
"What the f––k? Don't ever f––king touch me again," the sergeant said. "Get the f––k off of me," he added before telling her he'll "f––king see you in about five minutes." Pullease goes to his police car before coming back and demanding all the officers at the scene to turn their body cameras off.
Pullease, who has been on the Sunrise Police Department for 21 years, was suspended after an internal investigation into the incident was launched. That investigation was paused after the Broward County State Attorney's Office initiated a criminal probe into Pullease's actions.
Sunrise Police Chief Anthony Rosa told WSVN the unidentified female officer "took some definitive action" against Pullease in the investigation. "I can only imagine what she must feeling. She's a newer officer, and he's a very senior sergeant."
Rosa also commended the more junior officer for her steps to intervene in the arrest, stating that "stopping a situation from getting any worse is a direct reflection of the training that we do with the police department."
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