Florida Sergeant Faces Criminal Charges After Confrontation With Fellow Officer During Arrest
What began as a routine police arrest in Sunrise, Florida, in November 2021 has now evolved into a criminal case that shook the public’s trust in law enforcement conduct.
The bodycam video at the center of the controversy shows Sergeant Christopher Pullease, a 21-year veteran of the Sunrise Police Department, behaving in a manner that would later lead to multiple felony and misdemeanor charges — not for actions against a suspect, but against one of his own fellow officers.
The incident occurred on November 19, 2021, outside a convenience store where a man suspected of aggravated assault was being taken into custody. The suspect had allegedly attacked people nearby and resisted earlier attempts to detain him.
Officers on the scene managed to restrain the man and place him in the back of a patrol vehicle. At first glance, everything seemed to be under control — until Sergeant Pullease arrived.
According to footage later released by the department, Pullease walked up to the scene with a can of pepper spray in hand. His voice was commanding, his demeanor intense.
The suspect was already secured, handcuffed, and sitting in the back of the squad car, yet Pullease began shouting at him through the open door, escalating the situation rather than calming it.
A younger female officer, reportedly with just a few years of experience, noticed the growing tension and stepped in. In what appeared to be an effort to de-escalate, she gently pulled the sergeant back by his duty belt — a non-confrontational gesture meant to create space between Pullease and the suspect.
That’s when the moment that would define this case occurred.
Pullease abruptly turned around, eyes burning with anger, and grabbed the young officer by the throat, pushing her backward toward another patrol car.
The footage shows her startled expression as she raises her hands defensively, visibly stunned by the physical contact. Other officers nearby freeze, clearly unsure how to respond to a ranking superior assaulting one of their own.
The confrontation lasted just a few seconds, but its impact rippled through the department for years. Afterward, Pullease returned to the suspect’s car, pointed his pepper spray, and continued yelling before walking away. The female officer did not retaliate or file a complaint that night, but the video from multiple cameras spoke for itself.
Within days, the department’s internal affairs division launched an investigation. By early 2022, Pullease was suspended with pay pending the outcome. When the footage surfaced publicly, the reaction was swift and emotional. Community members expressed outrage that a senior officer had resorted to violence against a colleague who appeared to be doing the right thing.
Sunrise Police Chief Anthony Rosa addressed the public shortly thereafter, describing the sergeant’s actions as “disappointing” and “unacceptable.” Without naming the female officer, he praised her restraint and professionalism under pressure.
"She was acting within policy and in the spirit of de-escalation,” Rosa said. “We train our officers to intervene when necessary — even if that means stepping between a fellow officer and a suspect.”
In 2023, after a lengthy investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Broward State Attorney’s Office, charges were formally filed against Pullease.
He was accused of battery, assault on a law enforcement officer, tampering with evidence, and assault while possessing a firearm — the firearm being his service weapon, which he was carrying during the altercation.
The decision to prosecute a police supervisor for actions against one of his subordinates marked a rare and significant moment in Florida law enforcement history. Prosecutors emphasized that the case wasn’t just about internal discipline but about accountability under the law. “Wearing a badge does not place anyone above the law,” a spokesperson for the Broward County State Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Pullease, now 47, was arrested and booked before being released on bond. He pleaded not guilty to all four charges during his initial court appearance last Thursday.
His defense attorney argued that the video captured “a moment of poor judgment, not criminal intent,” and maintained that Pullease never meant to harm the younger officer.
The next hearing is scheduled for September 8 in Broward County Circuit Court, where the prosecution is expected to present both the original footage and testimony from witnesses on the scene.
Legal experts predict that the case will hinge on whether the court interprets Pullease’s actions as an unlawful assault or as a split-second overreaction during a tense arrest.
Meanwhile, the incident has reignited conversations across the nation about police culture, hierarchy, and intervention. Many departments have implemented “duty to intervene” policies in the wake of high-profile cases involving excessive force. These policies empower and require officers to step in if they witness inappropriate or unlawful behavior by colleagues — regardless of rank.
In this case, that policy may have protected the young officer’s integrity but placed her in a traumatic position. Her composure and restraint have since been publicly commended by police officials and civilian advocates alike.
One community leader said, “That young officer represented what policing should look like — calm, controlled, and focused on protecting everyone, even when it’s uncomfortable.”
As Pullease awaits trial, he remains on administrative leave, his decades-long career overshadowed by a few fateful seconds of anger. The City of Sunrise has confirmed that the department has since reviewed its supervisory conduct protocols and reinforced mandatory training sessions emphasizing emotional control and peer intervention.
For many watching the case unfold, the lesson is stark: authority in uniform comes with immense responsibility — and no exemption from accountability.
What began as a tense arrest of a single suspect has now evolved into a story about courage, restraint, and the consequences of breaking the very code of discipline that binds law enforcement together.
Whether the outcome leads to conviction or acquittal, the video has already left its mark — a vivid reminder that the integrity of the badge depends not just on enforcing the law, but living by it.
Escalations in the Dark of Las Vegas Nights
In the glitzy, neon-lit ambiance of Las Vegas, Nevada, three separate calls for help each seemingly straightforward spiral into vivid representations of chaos, danger and human frailty.
What begins as a 911 plea, a shout for assistance, ends up inside the lens of police-worn cameras and becomes part of a far bigger story: a battered girlfriend, a reluctant sex worker and a trespasser-turned-thief.
Each situation captured in the raw and unfiltered footage underscores how swiftly situations can shift when desperation, fear or impulse intervene.
Case One: The cry for help
A woman’s frantic 911 call pierces the darkness. Her voice trembles as she begs for police to come quickly.
When officers from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department arrive, their body-worn cameras reveal a scene every bit as harrowing as the audio: the woman battered, fearful, hiding the bruises she’s suffered.
The man she identifies as her boyfriend is gone, fleeing the scene before officers arrive. As she admits to them, what she’s lived through isn’t occasional—it’s a pattern. She tells the officers she finds it hard to break free, that despite the beatings, she keeps hoping he’ll change.
The video shows an investigator’s empathy as they record her statement: the battered face, the haunted look, the tension between victim and rescuer.
The footage captures not just a crime scene but a life caught in repetition—abuse, fear, hope, repeat. The officers secure the scene, give her safety instructions, and later find the boyfriend in the vicinity. He’s taken into custody.
Onlookers often assume help ends the danger; the footage reminds us that the trauma remains.
Case Two: A midnight pick-up, an unexpected arrest
In a shadowed alley behind a topless club, officers responding to a noise complaint stumble onto a man hiding, nervously pacing. A woman stands nearby—someone he just met.
He clutches her purse; she clutches his arm. The body-worn camera picks up his attempt to duck behind a wall, the flashing patrol lights, the woman’s candid admission: she’s a sex worker, paid twenty dollars tonight for her services.
She’s upfront. She seems calm, even embarrassed. He looks uneasy. The officers ask questions. The man can’t show ID. The woman’s story checks out superficially, but something feels off.
The officers search. The man’s account falters. The footage captures the moment they find contraband in his possession.
What might have been a simple stop for loitering behind a club becomes an arrest for solicitation and possession of stolen property.
The young woman’s role? A witness, a participant, someone who admits freely to her work. The man? A customer hiding his tracks—and caught on camera.
Case Three: A trespass with a twist
A trespassing complaint sends officers to a quiet neighborhood. The complainant had seen someone rifling through a backyard.
When police arrive, the body-cam footage shows an unusual sight: a man wearing a wig, clutching a large purse, walking away calmly. He appears to be leaving the scene.
Officers stop him. On-camera, he makes a weak excuse: “I was just passing through.” The glare of the camera gives no room for evasions. The purse bulges.
While searching it, officers find several expensive items—electronics, jewelry, items clearly not his. The wig? A simple disguise.
The footage captures the handcuffs snapping on his wrists as the stolen items are laid out in plain view. The trespass call has morphed into a theft investigation. What began as a potential minor violation ends in charges of burglary and possession of stolen goods.
Why it matters
These aren’t spectacle cases—they’re cautionary. They show how quickly ordinary moments in the night can tip into danger, arrest, life-changing events.
The presence of body-worn cameras means no ambiguity in what the officers saw when they arrived, how the individuals acted, how the scene changed. The footage removes some of the question marks—though not all.
For victims of abuse, the footage may bring accountability but it doesn’t erase the emotional and physical scars. For those caught behind club walls, it reveals the consequences of hidden trades and hidden transactions.
For trespassers in wigs, it warns of how far a trespassing call can carry you when contraband enters the mix.
Final thoughts
Las Vegas: bright lights, big nights, and the dark corners where lives unravel. The footage from the officers in these three calls offers more than evidence—it offers a window into desperation, reckless choices and the human cost of crime and survival.
Behind every badge there’s someone entering a world of unknown risk; behind every call there’s someone’s life in a moment of crisis. And thanks to the cameras, we’re left with unvarnished proof of how a scream in the night, a secret deal behind a club and a man hiding in a wig can all become headlines.
