Broward sheriff reinstates deputies charged in jail fight, says ‘public corruption' led to arrests

Yahoo

15 hours ago

An incensed Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony announced Friday the reinstatement of three detention deputies recently arrested over a fight with an inmate, describing the decision to charge them as evidence of 'public corruption and favors for friends.'
The three deputies, Denia Walker, 37, Cleopatra Johnnie, 47, and Sgt. Zakiyyah Polk, 44, were arrested on felony aggravated battery charges last week following an investigation by the Broward State Attorney's Office. The three women were processing Samantha Caputo, 38, who had been arrested on a DUI charge, when an argument ensued and she flung her bra at one of the deputies, according to jail footage and arrest warrants. The altercation then became physical, though most of it occurred off camera. Caputo lost consciousness during the fight and suffered multiple injuries, saying in a sworn statement that she was in fear for her life. The deputies also had injuries.
At a news conference Friday, Tony was flanked by the deputies' private attorneys as he repeatedly condemned the State Attorney's Office over its charging decisions both in the jail fight and in other cases while suggesting that prosecutors treated Caputo differently because of her name and connections. He did not elaborate on what those connections were.
'This is most certainly a miscarriage of justice and exhibits signs and symptoms of public corruption in itself. Favors for friends,' Tony said, adding that there are individuals who 'are selectively charged and those who are not. Is it their last name? Is it they're a power player or influence in this community?'
The Sheriff's Office will foot the bill of the three deputies' criminal defense and all of them will be reinstated to full duty, Tony said.
Tony began the news conference by going through the numbers of potential criminal cases involving his deputies that he has sent to the State Attorney's Office, arguing that prosecutors have repeatedly declined to charge them. He then had reporters watch segments of the jail footage from the Oct. 4, 2022, incident to show that the deputies acted professionally. All of the deputies 'demonstrated only the level of force necessary' to get Caputo into compliance, Tony said.
BSO nursing staff treated Caputo immediately after the incident. She had significant bruising underneath her right eye and a bruised and swollen face, according to the warrants. At a hospital after she was released, she learned she had a skin infection where she had been shocked with a Taser.
The deputies also sustained injuries during the fight, Tony said, including a bite that fractured the bones in Polk's finger. Caputo had been charged with aggravated battery following the fight, but the State Attorney's Office dropped those charges, as well as the original DUI charge, another decision that he suggested was selective treatment.
'I don't care if it's the Caputos, the Thurstons, the Rockefellers, the Vanderbilts, the Trumps or the goddamn Obamas,' Tony said. 'It doesn't matter when you're in Broward County. Everyone's going to be held to the same standards.'
The State Attorney's Office did not immediately respond to Tony's allegations Friday afternoon.
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