TAMARAC, FLA. (WSVN) - A misdemeanor battery charge against a Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy has been dismissed.
Broward County Circuit Judge Jill Levy ruled that BSO Sgt. Gregory LaCerra acted in self-defense during the controversial arrest of Delucca Rolle in April 2019 at a Tamarac plaza.
“It’s scary as hell, I’ll be honest with you, when you have that many people around you,” LaCerra said.
The judge ruled LaCerra should be immune from prosecution under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law.
“LaCerra was justified in arresting Delucca Rolle for assault on a law enforcement officer, pepper spraying him and pushing him to the ground to make the arrest,” the judge wrote.
The deputy was captured on cellphone video pepper-spraying the 15-year-old, who, LaCerra claimed, took an aggressive stance towards him.
“Sgt. LaCerra is not a bad police officer,” defense attorney Eric Schwartzreich said. “He was doing his job, and I’m glad the judge was able to take her time, follow the law.”
The attorneys argued that the teenagers had gathered in the parking lot to watch a fight.
“There was terror and mayhem in the Tamarac Town Square Plaza,” Schwartzreich said.
Clintina Rolle, the teenager’s mother, said her son was not surprised by Friday’s ruling.
“He already that’s what’s going to take place,” she said. “He said, ‘It don’t make no sense. You go through all of this, and he was right. There’s nothing taking place.”
In the same incident, Deputy Christopher Krickovich is seen shoving Rolle’s head to the ground multiple times.
“The scene blew up,” Krickovich said. “It felt so dangerous and so chaotic.”
The judge did not drop the battery charge against Krickovich, who was later fired from the agency.
The judge wrote after denying to dismiss the charge, “Once Delucca Rolle was pushed onto the ground by LaCerra to make an arrest, he no longer posed a threat of imminent harm.”
LaCerra still faces a misdemeanor charge of falsification of police records.
Prosecutors said they plan to appeal the dismissal of charges for LaCerra.
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