A Florida corrections deputy was caught on video assaulting a Black teenager. The deputy has been placed on administrative leave.
What We Know:
- Sarasota County Deputy Neil Pizzo was placed on administrative leave after being caught on surveillance footage assaulting 17-year-old Terrence Reed. The now-viral video shows Pizzo choking Reed and throwing him to the ground. Deputies claim that Reed was not complying.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMnD20ZmE0k&feature=youtu.be
- According to ABC7, Reed was in custody at a juvenile detention center for selling cocaine. The sheriff’s office released a statement saying that Reed threatened Pizzo by telling him he would kill him if they were in the streets.
- Pizzo is currently undergoing an internal investigation, according to the sheriff’s office. Sheriff Tom Knight said the investigation “should take no more than three weeks, and my push will be to have it done in two . . . Cops are human, but being forthright, honest, and truthful matters.”
- According to Florida Politics, Sheriff Knight decided that Pizzo was out of line after viewing the tape. “We slowed the frames down and looked at it and I said, ‘We’ve got a problem,'” said Knight. “It appears we have a violation of policy, and we relieved him of his ability to go to work.”
According to ABC7, the facility’s nurse attempted to check on Reed. He was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital and was treated for a scrape on his head.
