BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony held a news conference Friday to comment on the recent arrests of three detention deputies. In it, he defended the deputies and criticized prosecutors for bringing charges.
The news conference was held at 11:30 a.m.
WATCH NEWS CONFERENCE:
Sgt. Zakiyyah Polk, 47 and deputies Cleopatra Johnnie, 47, and Denia Walker, 37, were taken into custody last Friday following the issuance of an arrest warrant on May 27. All three have since been reinstated after Tony said their actions were appropriate.
The charges stem from an altercation on Oct. 4, 2022, during the jail intake process.
According to investigators, the woman was being processed into the facility when a verbal dispute broke out in a search cell.
Authorities said the woman, who had been ordered to change into standard detention attire, reportedly refused to remove her personal undergarments.
The argument escalated, and investigators said the deputies used excessive force — including physical strikes, deployment of pepper spray, and use of a department-issued Taser, according to the warrant.
The warrant stated that surveillance video shows the woman being shoved and dragged into a “blind spot” in the cell — an area not visible on jail cameras — where she was punched and kicked by the three deputies.
It stated that she was later treated by jail medical staff for facial injuries, exposure to pepper foam, and Taser-related wounds.
Days later, deputies said she was hospitalized and diagnosed with a skin infection at the site where she had been hit with the Taser.
Investigators said video captured by the jail’s internal surveillance system and documented in the warrant played a key role in the investigation.
But Tony, flanked by the women’s attorneys, criticized the Broward State Attorney’s Office for bringing charges against the trio, defending their records and their actions.
“I’m not gonna let these women get hung like this is some sort of Salem witch trial,” he said Friday, also saying, “The video is crystal clear that they only demonstrated the use of force necessary to get this individual back in compliance.
“You don’t get a pass to strike, injure, hurt or harm any of my g--damn deputies in this agency. None of them.”
He said their actions were proportionate to the threat posed by the combative suspect, who caused significant injury.
“They (prosecutors) dropped the battery charges (against the suspect) that were filed after the suspect placed her hands, struck, scratched, kicked and bit one of my deputies to the level of force that it not only penetrated her skin, but it fractured her bones,” he said.
Tony, saying that the sheriff’s office will pay for the women’s attorneys, said he would go to law school to defend them himself if he had to.
Broward State Attorney Harold Pryor said in a statement, in part, that he was “disappointed that the Sheriff said that he was speculating when he made vague comments alleging public corruption by my agency” and said attempts “to verbally bully my office or sway public opinion prior to trial will not deter us from seeking justice and striving to do the right thing.”
“Let me assure the residents and dedicated law enforcement officers of Broward County that I will provide complete transparency regarding this matter while also complying with the ethical rules that discourage prosecutors from commenting on the facts and circumstances of cases we are prosecuting,” Pryor said. “My prosecutors and I will continue to try all criminal cases in the courtroom, based on facts and evidence – not in the media."