After strangling another female officer on November 19, 2021, Sunrise City Police Sergeant Christopher Pullease was recently removed from his supervisory post and charged with assault and assault.
According to NBC News, Christopher Pullease was charged on July 21, 2022 with the crimes, as well as evidence tampering and assaulting a bystander in a November 2021 incident.
Pullease, 47, reportedly lost his supervisory position with the Sunrise Police Department in January after body camera footage showed the sergeant threatening a suspect and allegedly brandishing pepper spray after the suspect had already gotten into a police vehicle.
Christopher Pullease reportedly turned the officer over
Police from the Sunrise City Police Department visited a Sunset Strip grocery store in November 2021 to make an arrest in connection with the alleged aggravated assault on Jean Bernard Similien.
When police appeared to be having trouble getting similia into a police van, Sergeant Christopher Pullease got into a verbal altercation with the suspect. Pullease whipped out a can of pepper spray when a nearby police officer stepped in to prevent the situation from getting worse.
Police provided the audio of the camera footage and Pullease said:
“Want to play some damn games?
If you ever disrespect my cops, I’m gonna rip your damn soul out of your damn body.”
The officer was seen on bodycam video attempting to pull Sergeant Pullease away from the suspect. The officer forcibly turned the sergeant over after grabbing her neck. She collided with a police car after being repeatedly pushed back by it.
Christopher Pullease later departed and boarded another police vehicle. Sunrise Police Chief Anthony Rosa called Pullease’s actions “inappropriate and unethical” in a written statement, as reported by Local 10:
Sunrise Police Chief Anthony Rosa said so in a written statement in January
“The sergeant approached the suspect after the suspect got into the squad car and began verbally arguing with him in a manner that I felt was inappropriate and unprofessional. Instead of de-escalating an explosive scenario, this supervisor heated things up.”
In addition, Chief Rosa praised the officer, who must remain unnamed for her decision to intervene in a conversation with 7 News Miami.
So I’m pretty proud of this cop. She made a decision and did something. I can only speculate how she must be feeling. He is a very senior sergeant while she is a junior officer.
Rosa went so far as to describe Sergeant Pullease’s behavior as “disgusting.” Gordon Weekes, a public defender, reportedly questioned the boss’s decision to let Pullease work at a desk rather than have him arrested for his actions.
Rosa replied that the situation was now being investigated and that he could not comment on the details due to the ongoing investigation: