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| Appointed Sheriff Tony |
The Broward Sheriff’s Office released documents that identified two of the deputies involved — Krickovich and Sgt. Greg LaCerra. The agency said Krickovich was placed on restricted assignment pending an investigation. As of Monday, LaCerra’s position with the agency remained unchanged, the agency said. But Bell, the union president, disputed that, saying he had also been placed on restricted duty.
Bell said, “It’s very disappointing that [Tony’s] crumbling now that he’s feeling a little political pressure. We’re taught to do one thing and now he’s turned his back on his deputies.”
The prosecutor who oversees the juvenile division in the Broward State Attorney’s Office, Maria Schneider, said no decisions had been made on whether the boy in the video would face formal charges. He was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault against a law enforcement officer. A judge reduced it to simple battery.
“We are evaluating all aspects of the incident, and we will take appropriate action when we are done,” she said via email Monday evening.
Defense attorney Richard Della Fera, who represented the boy in court last week, said the child did nothing wrong and the video was “the equalizer” that proved it.
“Everything [the deputies’] describe in this incident is refuted by this video,” Della Fera said. “I don’t know what they’re going to say this kid did aggressively. He took an aggravated stance with his fists clenched? Well, that didn’t happen.”
And throwing the boy to the ground after he was pepper-sprayed point blank in the face was way out of hand, he said.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel isn’t naming the 15-year-old boy because he’s a minor facing misdemeanor offenses.
Classmates of the boy, a Taravella freshman who lives in
North Lauderdale, said they are still stinging from last week’s viral encounter with the Sheriff’s Office.
On Monday, a half-dozen sheriff’s squad cars and motorcycles were parked at the McDonald’s across the street from the high school in Tamarac. It’s where kids hang out and grab a bite after school. It’s also the spot where Thursday’s melee erupted.
After deputies arrested the first boy, the 15-year-old boy stepped forward to pick up his classmate’s phone on the ground, said John Brown, 16, a sophomore from Coral Springs, whose still feeling “sad and angry” about what he witnessed.
“That’s when things got bad,” said another witness, Keylani Canton, 19, a senior from Tamarac.
The kids were expecting two separate fights to break out, she said. That’s when the deputies tried to stave off problems, she said, by taking aim and challenging: “who wants to get pepper-sprayed?”
Most of the kids cleared out amid the threat of being pepper-sprayed, but one teen wound up in handcuffs, students said. When the teen went after his friend’s phone, he wound up part of the mess, students said.
Krikovich, in a report, said he was “dealing with” another boy who he had face down on the ground when the boy’s phone slid away.
“I observed a teen wearing a red tank top reach down and attempt to grab the male student’s phone,” Krickovich wrote.
That’s when, according to Krikovich’s account, the teen “took an aggressive stance” toward LaCerra “and began clenching his fists.”
That claim is not supported by the cellphone footage that captured the beating, according to Della Fera, students and others.
Canton said the teen in the video questioned the two deputies on top of him, asking “why did you push me” before one of them smacked his forehead into the ground.
“I was cursing [the deputy] out,” Canton said. “I was mad, upset. That’s not the way you treat a child.”
“Everyone was screaming: He’s bleeding! Stop!” said Lee Castro, a 15-year-old freshman from North Lauderdale. “Why would they do that to him? Even when they found the kid from Douglas [the shooter who killed 17 people in Parkland] they didn’t hit him.”
“They did not have to hit him like that,” Castro said.
Castro and Canton took a stand Monday by wearing red to school. Castro sported a red polo. Canton donned a red dress. The boy who was beaten had worn a red shirt.
Several students wore shades of red on Monday, Canton said, in solidarity with the 15-year-old boy and in silent protest of his treatment.
He’s “a chill, funny person,” Castro said.
“He has a mouth,” but he’s not a troublemaker, she said.
A peaceful rally is planned for Saturday afternoon at Hampton Pines Park in North Lauderdale, with attendees encouraged to wear red. The gathering is scheduled for 3 to 5 p.m. at 7800 Hampton Blvd.
Source: SunSentinel
