Angry Tamarac city commissioners demanded Wednesday that a third deputy involved in the forceful arrest of a Taravella High freshman be forbidden from working in the city.
Commissioners voted 4-1 to ask Broward Sheriff Greg Tony to remove the deputy from any assignments in the city, after last week’s high-profile arrest and head banging of 15-year-old Delucca “Lucca” Rolle.
City spokeswoman Elise Boston said the “city manager will need to review the [sheriff’s] contract and move forward accordingly.”
Cellphone video — which spread nationwide on social media — shows deputies pepper-spraying Rolle, throwing him to the ground and banging his head into the pavement at a McDonald’s near the school.
Three deputies are visible in the video, although the Sheriff’s Office said at least four were present. The agency wouldn’t say how many deputies responded to the scene.
Two officers were suspended Tuesday as the agency conducts an internal investigation. A third deputy handcuffed the teen but did not hit him, according to the Sheriff’s Office. A fourth deputy was listed as the arresting officer, but the Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday that he was not.
Tony didn’t want to hear complaints, telling commissioners forcefully that he was working on the investigation and deputies are entitled to due process. He said he was reviewing video from deputies’ body cameras, as well as McDonald’s surveillance video.
“I will not stand here as if I’m suspect to anything,” he said. “I will not be lectured to.”
Commissioner Marlon Bolton told him, “I don’t see any reason why the third deputy should not be removed.” He said Tony’s comments reflected “the same aggression your officers used.”
Although the high school is in Coral Springs, scores of students often walk across the street to McDonald’s, which is within the Tamarac city limits. More Tamarac students attend the high school over the border than even students from Coral Springs.
School records show 1,370 Tamarac students are assigned to Taravella, with 200 more students than assigned to the school from southern Coral Springs. The remaining students of the 3,200 students come from throughout the county, including North Lauderdale, which is where Rolle lives.
Broward prosecutors said they won’t file any charges against Rolle. Another teen was arrested in the incident, and charges have not been filed in that case.
Tony faulted prosecutors, who he said “jumped ahead of this investigation. Politics is starting to impact justice.”
Some Tamarac commissioners have lashed out on social media about the incident.
“To stay silent is not acceptable to me,” Commissioner Julie Fishman said on Facebook. “Many of us have seen the video clip of the officer taking down a young man, hitting him in the head and shoving his head into the pavement. We have each seen the violence used. …
“In my opinion, no amount of interaction between the officer and that young man would have warranted this kind of violent reaction. If the officer is found to have used excessive force, he should be removed ASAP.”
Rolle’s lawyers — including nationally known civil rights attorney Ben Crump — said the boy’s nose was broken during the incident.
Crump said the teen has not been in trouble before.
An earlier version of this story mistakenly identified the third deputy seen in the cellphone footage. The Sheriff’s Office has not released that deputy’s name.
lhuriash@sunsentinel.com, 954-572-2008 or Twitter @LisaHuriash