Video shows traffic stop that led to deputy's arrest

Deputy faces battery, theft charges

PLANTATION, Fla. – Cellphone video reveals a traffic stop that led to the arrest of a Broward Sheriff's Office deputy on charges of burglary, battery, criminal mischief and petty theft. 

WATCH: Cell phone raw video

Neyda Osorio said she had just pulled out of a shopping center on the northwest corner of Broward Boulevard and U.S. 441 on May 23 when she got into the left turn lane and made a U-turn to go east. Her friend, who was in the passenger seat, said a man in the car next to hers was trying to get her attention, so she stopped. 

"He's just going nuts and inviting her to return from whatever country she came from and saying all kinds of things, and he ends his diatribe with a finger, and she was offended by that and returned the salute," said Ed McGee Jr., one of Osorio's attorneys. 

Osorio's legal team said that's when Deputy Paul Pletcher, 37, flipped on his lights, and she realized he was a police officer and pulled over. 

"We don't know what started it because she never got any citation for any traffic offense. He was just mad at her for some reason," McGee said. 

As Pletcher approached, Osorio said she anticipated there may be trouble, so she asked her friend to use her cellphone to videotape the incident. When Pletcher realized he was being recorded, he demanded the phone and then took it by force when she refused to hand it over, Osorio's attorneys said. 

"Give me the phone now," Pletcher can be heard saying on the video. 

Pletcher then threw the phone on the ground, smashing it, according to Osorio's attorneys. 

"The very scary nature of this is that she is supposed to be protected by these people, who now she is afraid of," said Jamie Finizio Bascome, another attorney for Osorio. 

Osorio asked a security guard at a nearby bank and asked him to call 911. Plantation police arrived. 

Police said Pletcher was not on duty at the time of the incident. 

He faces charges of burglary, battery, criminal mischief and petty theft. His bond was set at $6,100.