FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony has fired a deputy and given another deputy a written reprimand after an internal affairs investigation into the takedown of a teenager that was caught on camera and went viral online.
Tony addressed the media on Wednesday morning and explained his actions taken toward deputies Christopher Krickovich, 29, and Ralph Mackey, 49.
Krickovich was captured on cellphone video punching and slamming 15-year-old Delucca Rolle’s head into the ground in the parking lot of a McDonald’s in Tamarac back in April.
Wednesday evening, the teen’s mother, Clintina Rolle, said her son still feels the effects from the blows he suffered that day.
“He has little headaches and stuff like that,” she said.
Nearly eight months later, Krickovich is out of a job, and the teen’s mother said she is feeling optimistic.
“I just want those who are accountable be held accountable for their actions,” she said.
“He was terminated because we don’t have a policy in place that provides deputies the opportunity to slam people’s head into the ground,” said Tony.
Krickovich and Mackey, along with 51-year-old Sgt. Gregory LaCerra, underwent an internal investigation and face criminal charges into the rough arrest of 15-year-old Delucca Rolle back in April.
LaCerra’s case remains under investigation for his role in pepper-spraying Rolle.
BSO completed its investigation, then the agency’s Professional Standards Committee, or PSC, made up of law enforcement personnel and civilians, looked over the case.
Tony said, although the PSC board reviewed the case and recommended Krickovich be exonerated, he terminated the deputy on Tuesday.
“The Professional Standards Committee was able to look at all the exact same facts that I looked at, and they elected to forward a recommendation to me of exoneration, that there should be no disciplinary action taken against deputy Krickovich for his response on that day,” he said. “Having looked at all the exact same facts, not just all the reports, not just the videos, but even his pre-disciplinary hearing document that was provided to me, I disagreed with that recommendation.”
“We don’t celebrate it as a win, necessarily, but again, it’s a step in the right direction,” said Sue Ann Robinson, the Rolles’ family attorney.
Mackey, accused of falsifying records and failing to turn on his bodycam, was given a written reprimand.
“What I looked like, outside of all the evidence that was presented, was whether or not it was a reasonable type of response. Was it necessary, and was it proportionate to what we’re dealing with in terms of the type of threat that exists out there?” said Tony.
Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputies Association President Jeffrey Bell expressed his disapproval of Tony’s decision after the press conference.
“I’m appalled here listening to the sheriff, that we have a deputy who takes justifiable use of force, force that was determined to be appropriate by his own training division and exonerated by his own hand-picked PSC board, only to overturn that case,” said Bell. “They were exonerated 11 to nothing. That is absolutely unheard of to hear an 11-to-nothing exoneration at a PSC board.”
The deputies’ union claims Tony’s decision is political, and they have taken personal jabs at him for cellphone video that showed the sheriff dancing at a community event.
“That’s unacceptable behavior in uniform. When you have somebody at the helm who is claiming not to be a politician, but all he is doing is acting like a politician, he needs to spend more time learning how to be a sheriff and acting like a sheriff,” said Bell, “instead of running over everybody’s due process and grabbing your crotch on a stage in front of a mass audience. It’s ridiculous.”
Tony’s supporters said he was just engaging with the community at the event and described the union’s decision to release the video as a distraction.
“I feel like they should do the right thing,” said Clintina.
The department has faced pushback from community members and leaders who expressed their concerns with the case taking so long to be addressed because Rolle is a black teenager. Tony said race had nothing to do with the investigation and added that all his deputies will be held accountable for their actions.
“Accountability means all of us, not just the civilians out here that we expect to comply by the laws, but also the people who are supposed to be protecting the law,” said Tony.
Rolle’s family has hired civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump and said there is a possibility that they will file a civil suit.
Crump released a statement that reads in part, “We commend the Broward Sheriff’s Office for its decision to hold this officer accountable for his treatment of Delucca Rolle.
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