POMPANO BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A family member is seeking answers from the Broward Sheriff’s Office after she said her loved one was attacked by one of the department’s K-9s while being taken into custody.
Deputies arrested 36-year-old Friscost Jerome on Tuesday in Pompano Beach, and accused him of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, armed burglary, and resisting arrest without violence, according to the arrest report.
However, family members questioned the fact that a K-9 was used by the deputies to subdue Jerome.
“I’m sure, when the officers came upon him, and he was sitting on the ground, he didn’t have a box cutter in his hand. So why did they feel that they was threatened to sic the dog on him?” said Shirley Burke, Jerome’s aunt.
Burke said that her nephew was struggling with mental health and drug issues, and she believed that the situation could have been handled differently.
“I mean he’s just a good person. He’s fighting two demons. The drug demon and the mental [health] demon, and we’ve been fighting the system for years since his mom died trying to get help for him, in and out of the system,” she said.
Cell phone video showed Jerome as he laid on the ground after being ordered to do so by authorities.
According to BSO, he stole a yellow toolbox from a maintenance shed at a nearby community.
7News obtained photos of the toolbox and the box cutter that deputies said was allegedly used by Jerome.
According to the arrest report, when the victim confronted Jerome, “….The defendant reached inside the yellow toolbox and produced a box cutter with the blade attached.”
Deputies then found Jerome on the road after the incident, with cell phone video showing the K9 grabbing Jerome’s foot as deputies appeared to handcuff him.
BSO said that when they attempted to take him into custody, “The defendant did not follow commands accordingly, preventing deputies on scene from conducting their investigation.”
“Lay on your stomach, [expletive],” said a deputy to Jerome.
Burke said that she could only bear to watch part of the cell phone video.
“I didn’t see that part with the beating and the handcuff, I did not see that part. So I cannot speak on that, but I’m sure the video tells the story,” she said.
She said that she does not know where her nephew is currently, and that she hopes that he gets assistance.
“From this, I hope and I pray that Friscost gets the help that he needs,” she said.
BSO released a statement on the incident which reads in part:
“Per agency policy, when K-9s are used to apprehend suspects, like in Tuesday’s arrest of an armed suspect, the suspect receives medical treatment, and the use of force is reported to supervisors and thoroughly documented for an administrative review.”
Friscost has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, armed burglary, and resisting arrest without violence.
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