A Sunrise police sergeant has been relieved of supervisory duties and is under investigation after bodycam footage captured him putting his hands around the neck of a female officer.
The sergeant, Christopher Pullease, was captured on video putting his hands around another officer’s throat during a November 2021 arrest.
On November 19th, officers were called to a convenience store along Sunset Strip after suspect Jean Bernard Similien battered several people.
As officers tried to arrest Similien, he resisted, upsetting Sgt. Pullease.
According to Sunrise Police Chief Anthony Rosa, after the suspect was placed in the patrol car, Pullease confronted him in a confrontational manner, telling Local 10 WPLG "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. This supervisor escalated the encounter instead of de-escalating an emotionally charged situation.”
Body came footage captured Pullease holding his can of pepper spray while speaking to the suspect, however he did not use it.
A nearby officer became concerned things were escalating and intervened, grabbing Pullease and pulling him away from the suspect.
Pullease then turned and aggressively grabbed the officer by the neck while pushing her backwards.
The sergeant is seen on video going back to the squad car and slamming the door before pointing and yelling at the female officer who was trying to de-escalate the situation.
Public defender Gordon Weekes sent a letter to Chief Rosa inquiring why Sgt. Pullease was not arrested for his actions.
In the letter, Weekes says his office is representing 410 individuals that have pending cases for battery on a law enforcement officer who all were immediately arrested on site.
He claims officers engaged in the same wrongdoing should not receive different treatment.