A now-viral video shows a Florida deputy attacking a teenager who is currently in custody at a juvenile detention center.
WWSB ABC7 reports Sarasota County deputy Neil Pizzo was placed on administrative leave following the incident. In a surveillance video, the deputy is seen choking 17-year-old Terrence Reed. According to the news outlet, deputies claim the teenager refused to follow instructions.
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According to ABC7, Reed was arrested for selling cocaine, cocaine possession, contempt of court, and a probation violation. He was in the Juvenile Assessment Center at intake when the altercation occurred.
According to law enforcement, the teenager threatened the officer beforehand. A statement from the sheriff’s office made to ABC7 claims Reed told Pizzo, if they were in the streets, he would blow him head off and kill him.
Florida Politics reports Sheriff Tom Knight viewed the video and decided the deputy was out of line.
“We slowed the frames down and looked at it and I said, ‘We’ve got a problem,’” Knight said, according to the outlet. “It appears we have a violation of policy, and we relieved him of his ability to go to work.”
The sheriff tells the news outlet Pizzo is the subject of an internal investigation and hopes to have a resolution very soon.
“It should take no more than three weeks, and my push will be to have it done in two,” Knight said according to Florida Politics.
The sheriff continues, “Cops are human, but being forthright, honest, and truthful matters.”
ABC7 reports the nurse at the facility attempted to check the teenager for head injuries but he refused. Reed was later taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital where he was treated for a scrape on his head.
View the full video of the incident, uploaded to YouTube by Florida Politics, below:
Trigger Warning: police violence
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