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Police Sergeant Christopher Pullease of Sunrise City was recently demoted from his supervisory position and charged with battery and assault for strangling another female officer on November 19, 2021.
According to NBC News, Christopher Pullease was accused on July 21, 2022, of the offenses, along with evidence tampering and assaulting a bystander in a November 2021 incident.
Reports suggest that Pullease, 47, was dismissed from his supervisory role at the Sunrise Police Department in January after body camera footage showed the sergeant intimidating a suspect and reportedly brandishing pepper spray after the defendant had already entered a police car.
Christopher Pullease reportedly spun the female officer around
In November 2021, police officers from the City of Sunrise Police Department went to a convenience shop on the Sunset Strip to make an arrest relating to alleged aggravated violence on Jean Bernard Similien.
Sergeant Christopher Pullease got into a verbal fight with the suspect as officers reportedly battled to get Similien into a police vehicle. When a neighboring female officer intervened to stop the scene from worsening, Pullease drew out a pepper spray can.
The audio of the camera footage was released by the police in which Pullease stated,
""You wanna play f*cking games? "If you ever get disrespectful with my officers I will remove your f*cking soul from your f*cking body."
Bodycam video showed the female officer trying to pull Sergeant Pullease away from the suspect. The officer grabbed the female sergeant by the neck and violently spun her around. He kept shoving her back until she crashed into a police car.
Later, Christopher Pullease left and got into another police car. Pullease's conduct was described as "inappropriate and unprofessional" in an official statement by Sunrise Police Chief Anthony Rosa, according to Local 10:
Sunrise Police Chief Anthony Rosa said in January via a written statement,
"Once the suspect was inside the patrol vehicle, the sergeant approached and engaged in a verbal altercation with the suspect in a manner that I felt was inappropriate and unprofessional. This supervisor escalated the encounter instead of de-escalating an emotionally charged situation."
In addition, Chief Rosa spoke with 7 News Miami and commended the female officer who shall remain nameless for her choice to step in:
“So I’m very proud of this police officer. She took some definitive action. I can only imagine what she must be feeling. She’s a newer officer, and he’s a very senior sergeant.”
Rosa even said he thought Sergeant Pullease's actions were "disgusting." According to reports, public lawyer Gordon Weekes questioned the chief's decision to assign Pullease to desk work rather than have him arrested for his actions.
Rosa replied that the case is now being investigated, and he is unable to comment on the circumstances because of the ongoing investigation:
“So there’s some details of the investigation that I’ve not disclosed, that I’m unable to disclose right now, and if any of the information that comes up during the investigation rises to a level of criminal behavior or criminal conduct, then we’ll address it appropriately.”
Police officer Christopher Pullease, who has served for 21 years, has reportedly been accused of using excessive force twice in the past. He was, however, acquitted on both counts.
