SUNRISE, FLA. (WSVN) - 7News has obtained the audio in body camera footage showing a Sunrise Police sergeant grabbing an officer by the throat during an arrest, as the sergeant remains at the center of a criminal investigation.
When the department first released the bodycam video, they withheld the audio because of an ongoing internal affairs investigation of Sunrise Police Sgt. Christopher Pullease.
As the criminal investigation continues, the audio 7 Investigates obtained reveals for the first time what he said during the Nov. 19, 2021 incident.
The bodycam footage captured the moment Pullease arrived at the scene of an arrest, as fellow officers were attempting to take a man into custody.
As Pullease stepped out of his cruiser, officers tried to get the suspect, Jean Similien, in the back of a patrol car.
“Get in the car, get in the car,” an officer is heard saying in the video.
Similien was charged with battery after, police said, he attacked people outside a convenience store.
“I don’t want to talk. It don’t matter; it’s my [expletive] rights,” Similien is heard saying in the video.
Before he was apprehended, Similien said something to the officers that one of them clearly took as a threat.
“Y’all steady following me. If I open fire on one, two or three, I told y’all,” said Similien.
“Sir, are you threatening us?” said an officer.
“Take it how you want to,” said Similien.
“Subject is threatening to open fire at this time,” said an officer.
“The suspect, why is he not detained yet?” someone asked in police radio transmissions.
When Pullease pulled up, he walked up to the handcuffed suspect, pepper spray in hand.
“Just get in the car,” an officer said.
“All right, I’m getting in,” said Similien.
“Get your feet in,” said an officer.
It was at that moment when Pullease first addressed the suspect.
“Watch out, [expletive]. Hey, hey, look at me, look at me! Look at me! You wanna [expletive] play [expletive] games? You play with the wrong [expletive]!” said Pullease.
“Do what you gotta do, man. You gonna mace me? Mace me,” said Similien.
“Look at me, [expletive]. You wanna play [expletive] games? You wanna get disrespectful with my [expletive] officers? I will remove your [expletive] soul from your [expletive] body,” said Pullease.
“Well, do it,” said Similien.
At that moment, a female officer who has been on the force less than three years raced up to the sergeant and pulled him back by his belt. That’s when Pullease turned around to face her.
“[Expletive], don’t ever [expletive] touch me again.”
“Sir,” said the officer.
“Get the [expletive] off,” said Pullease.
“Sir,” said the officer.
The bodycam video showed Pullease’s hand at the officer’s neck before it moved to her shoulder.
The sergeant is then seen walking back to the squad car with the cuffed suspect inside.
“We clear?” said Pullease.
“Yes, sir,” said Similien.
Pullease, who has more than 21 years on the force, then turned to the female officer.
“And I’ll [expletive] see you in about five minutes,” he said.
Pullease briefly returned to his patrol car before he came back to the waiting officers.
“Everybody turn off their [expletive] cameras,” he said.
What happened next is unknown. This is where the videos end.
Pullease remains suspended with pay as the criminal investigation continues.
The 27-year-old female officer has requested her name not be revealed, under Marsy’s Law, as the potential victim of a crime.
CONTACT 7INVESTIGATES:
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954-921-CLUE
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