Broward sheriff fires deputy accused of punching suspect handcuffed to a hospital bed
A Broward sheriff’s deputy has been fired for punching an arrested man handcuffed to a hospital bed on Jan. 2, an act caught on the cop’s bodycam video.
Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony announced the termination Wednesday morning.
Tony said a 30-day suspension for Deputy Jorge Sobrino originally was recommended to him after an internal affairs investigation by the Professional Standard Commission, which is comprised of civilians, BSO union members and sheriff’s office command staff.
But after seeing the evidence, Tony decided that wouldn’t do.
The union that represents Broward deputies doesn’t agree.
“We are going to vigorously fight this,“ said Jeff Bell, president of the Broward Sheriff’s Office Deputies Association.
Bell says two captains, two lieutenants and one sergeant gave sworn statements saying Sobrino was within use of force guidelines.
Sobrino, 24, also has been charged in Broward County criminal court with misdemeanor battery.
His bodycam video, released in April after the Broward County public defender’s office asked Tony to initiate an investigation, shows David Rafferty O’Connell handcuffed to a Broward Health North bed. He had been arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting an officer without violence. O’Connell was taken to the hospital for injuries to his face, by BSO policy.
On the video, O’Connell repeatedly yells that he doesn’t want to be there and he’ll sign off that he’s physically fine. Sobrino tells him to “sit down” and “shut up” numerous times. O’Connell also didn’t like that he had to urinate in a plastic bottle, an act made difficult by his right arm restricted by handcuffs.
Their argument in January became physical when Sobrino struck O’Connell with a right cross to the face, according to the video, then twisted O’Connell’s left arm behind him before handcuffing that arm to the bed.
Sobrino’s arrest report description didn’t match what the video showed.
“We will not turn a blind eye and act like we did not know,” Tony said Wednesday.
The video was released around the same time other Broward deputies got into trouble for violently head-slamming an unarmed high school teenager in Tamarac while arresting him in April.
The teen’s charges were dropped and the two Broward deputies involved were suspended.
This story was originally published October 30, 2019 at 11:00 AM.
