Posted on August 22, 2022

A veteran police officer in Sunrise, Florida was caught on video grabbing a fellow cop by the throat after she tried to pull him away from a handcuffed suspect.

Sunrise police Sgt. Christopher Pullease, 46, and several other officers were arresting a man outside a Shop & Save convenience store on November 19 for aggravated battery when the dispute took place.

According to police bodycam footage, which was only released last week, Pullease assaulted a fellow officer because she tried to stop him from using pepper spray.

As reported by The New York Post, the footage shows that officers were struggling to get the suspect into the police car.

In the video, Pullease is seen leaning into the car, pulling out his pepper spray and aiming it at the suspect while talking to him.

As Pullease was aiming the pepper spray at the man, a female police officer -- who has not been named -- ran over and tugged on Pullease’s belt to pull him away from the suspect.

Here's what happened next.

According to police bodycam footage -- which can be viewed below -- when the unnamed female officer tried to pull Pullease away from the suspect, the sergeant exploded in anger.

He grabbed the female cop by her throat and shoved her against another patrol car.

The footage was released without any audio, so it remains unclear what Pullease said to his fellow officer. The footage suggests that he shouted at her.

Sunrise Police Chief Anthony Rosa has refused to reveal what Pullease said to the suspect, or to the female cop he assaulted.

In an interview with WSVN, Rosa condemned Pullease's behavior and praised the female officer.

"I find this behavior to be disgusting. I think the video speaks for itself... I find it to be inappropriate and unprofessional, because what he did is he escalated the situation when calm was actually required," Rosa said.

Rosa added that Pullease is a 21-year-plus veteran of the force. The young female cop he assaulted is just 28 years old, and joined the force just over two and a half years. Officers have a "duty to intervene" if they see a fellow cop using excessive force, so the 28-year-old did the right thing, according to Rosa.

"This officer intervening and stopping a situation from getting any worse is a direct reflection of the training that we do do with the police department, and I think that it’s important to note that the behavior is very unacceptable by the sergeant, but the behavior of the officer that intervened is exactly what society’s asking their police officers to do right now," he said.

Pullease is now under investigation.