Former Broward Sheriff's Office deputy Baker Acted over video

'I don't want to be the next Christopher Dorner'

PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – A former Broward Sheriff's Office deputy was Baker Acted after posting YouTube videos in which he said he didn't want to become the "next Christopher Dorner," the former Los Angeles cop who went on a killing spree earlier this year. 

"I'm asking you as a viewer who is watching this video to please, please, please help me," Hicks said in the video, which was posted Thursday.

But the video took a dark turn.

"I went and bought an AK with 180 rounds and I told my mom, you might as well get in a black dress because I can't take this anymore," he said. "... I don't know how much more I can take. I don't want to be the next Christopher Dorner.

Dorner was the renegade former Los Angeles cop who authorities said killed four people and wounded three others before dying during a shoot-out with police in what is believed to have been a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Hicks then mentioned his personal disappointment with recently elected Broward Sheriff Scott Israel, an old friend. Hicks lost his job with BSO in 2000 after being charged with cocaine trafficking in a federal case. After spending nearly two years in prison he was acquitted of the charge.

He volunteered for Israel's campaigns, saying he quit his job with the hopes of getting a job with BSO. His application was recently rejected by Israel's administration.

Israel said Hicks was a friend he's known for many years and used to play police league football with. He said he had never promised him -- or anyone else -- a job at BSO for his help in the campaign.

"He turned his back on me," said Hicks of Israel on the videotape. "How can you do this to me, Scott, after everything I've done for you? ... All of the sudden he becomes sheriff of Broward County and he says I can't pass a background."

Israel said that the mention of the assault rifle and of Dorner prompted him to decide to Baker Act the former deputy, deeming him a danger to himself or others.

"In this day and age, the video speaks to itself. I took it very seriously," said Israel.

A SWAT unit was sent to Hicks' residence at the Tao Towers near Sawgrass Mills in Sunrise Tuesday. Outside the building deputies peacefully apprehended Hicks and committed him to a mental health facility, where he can be held for 72 hours before his release.

"He's a good person in a very bad place right now," said Israel. 

In 2000, Hicks was arrested at his former home in Fort Lauderdale and charged with cocaine trafficking. He spent nearly two years in jail before he was acquitted. On the YouTube video he said that he has been been charged with a firearm violation and child abuse but never convicted of either.

He claimed that all of those arrests, beginning with the federal cocaine case, were retaliation for calling out corruption in the department. Hicks engaged in lengthy legal battle with BSO that he ultimately lost.

"I couldn't believe a highly decorated officer would be in the position I was in," said Hicks.

Israel said he hopes that some good will come from the  

"I hope he gets the help he needs in the days, weeks, and months ahead," said Israel.