Video Shows Police Sergeant Grabbing Fellow Officer By Her Throat

A police sergeant in Sunrise, Florida, is under investigation after he was filmed grabbing a junior officer by her throat, officials said.

The Sunrise Police Department recently released a body camera video of the Nov. 19, 2021, incident to WSVN and NBC News. The department turned off the sound and obscured almost all of the faces in the footage except for that of the police sergeant, who was identified by WSVN as 46-year-old Sgt. Christopher Pullease, a 21-year-plus veteran of the force.

The footage showed Pullease putting his hand on the throat of a younger officer who intervened when the sergeant aimed pepper spray at a suspect who was already in handcuffs.

At the time, police officers were arresting a "verbally and physically resistive" suspect, who was not named, for aggravated battery after he allegedly hit people outside a convenience store.

As officers were getting the handcuffed suspect into a patrol vehicle, the sergeant arrived and became aggressive with the suspect, Sunrise Police Chief Anthony W. Rosa said.

The sergeant engaged in a verbal altercation with the suspect sitting inside the car and "escalated" the encounter, according to Rosa.

The body camera video showed the sergeant leaning into the car to talk to the suspect and holding a can of pepper spray. The police chief said the sergeant "aimed" the pepper spray at the suspect, though he did not deploy it.

"I find it to be inappropriate and unprofessional because what he did is he escalated the situation when calm was actually required," Rosa told WSVN.

One concerned officer then ran toward the sergeant and pulled him by the back of his duty belt, according to the police chief.

In the footage of the incident, the sergeant can be seen turning around and momentarily placing his hand at the throat of the officer. He then pushed her backward, until her back hit a nearby police vehicle, before walking away, the video showed.

The officer who pulled the sergeant was following department policies that require officers to intervene when there's "imminent fear of engagements escalating unnecessarily," Rosa said.

The sergeant was immediately relieved of his supervisory responsibilities following the incident, and the police chief ordered an internal affairs investigation that is ongoing.

The sergeant involved has no contact or supervision over subordinate personnel, according to Rosa.

"I am very proud of the officer involved in this incident and believe that the actions taken were definitive and demonstrative of good leadership during a tense situation," Rosa said in an official statement.

The 28-year-old officer, who has not been named, has been with Sunrise Police for just over two and a half years.