SUNRISE, FLA. (WSVN) - A Sunrise Police sergeant has bonded out of jail hours after he turned himself in to authorities in connection to an incident where he was caught on camera grabbing a fellow officer by the throat.
7News cameras captured Sunrise Police Sgt. Christopher Pullease as he walked out of the Broward County Jail, Thursday evening.
When asked if he regrets his actions during the Nov. 19, 2021 incident, the 47-year-old refused to answer.
The sergeant raced by news cameras this time, but it was his presence on camera eight months earlier that led to the 22-year veteran of the force finding himself on the wrong side of the law.
His arrest follows a lengthy investigation by the police department and the Broward State Attorney’s Office.
Body-worn camera video that first aired on 7 captured Pullease going after one of his own officers when she intervened during a heated arrest.
The officers were attempting to arrest a man, they said, who attacked people outside a convenience store.
The bodycam footage showed Pullease as he walked up to the handcuffed suspect, can of pepper spray in hand.
“Get in the car,” an officer said.
“All right, I’m getting in,” said the suspect.
“Get your feet in,” said an officer.
“Hey, hey, hey, look at me, look at me, look at me!” said Pullease. ‘You wanna play [expletive] games? You played with the wrong [expletive], man!”
“If you’re gonna mace me, mace me,” replied the suspect.
“Look at me, [expletive]. You wanna play games?” said Pullease.
Seconds later, the sergeant told the suspect, “I will remove your [expletive] soul from your [expletive] body.”
At that moment, the female officer, who had been on the force less than three years, raced up to Pullease and pulled him back by his belt.
The footage shows Pullease as he turned around, grabbed the officer by the throat and pushed her against a patrol car.
“Never [expletive] touch me again. Get the [expletive] off me,” said Pullease.
Another angle showed Pullease’s hand at the officer’s neck before it moved to her shoulder.
“And I will [expletive] see you in about five minutes!” said Pullease.
What started with the young officer intervening to de-escalate a tense situation has now led to the sergeant at the center of it all facing serious charges.
Pullease faces felony charges of battery on a law enforcement officer and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, as well as two misdemeanor assault charges. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Prosecutors said the assault charges stem from Pullease holding pepper spray up to the faces of both of the handcuffed man and his fellow officer.
But what is not included in the charging documents is what happened after the sergeant told the other officers on the scene to shut off their body cameras.
“Everybody turn off their [expletive] cameras,” he said.
Pullease was suspended with pay back in January while the investigation was conducted.
At the time, Sunrise Police Chief Anthony Rosa told 7News in an exclusive interview that he found the incident “disgusting,” and he promised transparency.
Thursday evening, Sunrise Police released a statement that reads in part, “Further determination with regards to the employment of Sergeant Pullease will be made in accordance with Florida State Statute 112.532, due process, and the collective bargaining agreement.”
7News reached out to the sergeant’s union. Friday evening, the president of the Fraternal Order of Police Sunrise Lodge #80 responded: “We don’t have any comments at this time.”
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