A Florida deputy was reassigned Friday after cellphone video showed him punching a teenage boy in the head during an arrest.
What We Know:
- Broward County Sheriff’s deputies were called to a Tamarac shopping plaza about a large group of students who were fighting, according to an arrest report from Thursday. After the teenagers were asked to leave the area, one male student was caught trespassing and arrested.
- Cellphone video then shows a young man in a tank top near the arrested student get up from the ground and stand in front of one of the deputies. The boy is then pepper-sprayed before being pushed to the ground and punched in the head, according to both the footage and the arrest report.
- The teenagers who were arrested are minors and have not been named. One was charged with trespassing while the other was charged with assaulting an officer, resisting arrest as well as trespassing.
- Deputy Christopher Krickovich said in his arrest report that he saw the boy in the tank top reach for a cellphone near the student who was arrested and then take an “aggressive stance” toward another deputy. Surrounded by students while the arrests were occurring, Krickovich claimed he feared someone might grab one of the weapons off his belt or vest after deputies pushed the boy in the tank top to the ground.
- Krickovich was placed on administrative assignment, meaning he must forfeit his county-issued weapons and is prohibited from entering any sheriff’s facility outside of his own without the approval of internal affairs, according to a Broward County Sheriff’s Office document.
Broward County Mayor Mark Bogen released a statement suggesting the deputy in the video be fired and called the incident “outrageous and unacceptable.”
In a video statement posted to Twitter, newly appointed Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony addressed the arrest of the students and promised transparency in the oncoming investigation.
Sheriff Gregory Tony holds open discussions with Broward’s Black Elected Officials at a prescheduled meeting today and emphasizes his commitment to transparency and accountability. pic.twitter.com/r3Lz1QDd8C
— Broward Sheriff (@browardsheriff) April 20, 2019
This story is developing and will be updated here.
