A Colorado man is accused of threatening to kill a Broward Sheriff’s deputy who was recorded on video using force to arrest a teenager in Tamarac.
Justin Devon Vick, 24, of Thornton, Colo., was arrested Thursday and is in an Adams County jail.
Vick made a written threat to kill or do bodily injury to Deputy Christopher Krickovich, according to an arrest warrant.
The warrant did not describe how that felony threat was made.
“It doesn’t matter who the threat is made against, our detectives can’t allow any threat to go unchecked,” Broward Sheriff’s spokeswoman Joy Oglesby said Friday. “They thoroughly investigate these cases and make arrests when they have probable cause.”
Krickovich was one of several deputies who went to the Tamarac Town Square Plaza on April 18 when an estimated 200 teenagers had gathered and where a fight had begun, according to an arrest report.
While Krickovich was taking a teen into custody who was accused of trespassing at the shopping center, at 8301 N. Pine Island Rd., another deputy used pepper spray on Delucca “Lucca” Rolle, 15, and took him to the ground.
Krickovich took over Rolle’s arrest. The deputy was recorded on cellphone video pushing Rolle’s face into the pavement of a McDonald’s parking lot and punching the teen’s head.
Krickovich wrote in his report that he arrested Rolle on suspicion of assaulting an officer and resisting arrest without violence. Krickovich also wrote that he felt outnumbered in the crowd, which was yelling, threatening and surrounding the deputies.
The parking lot was the site of student fighting after school, Krickovich’s report said.
Rolle is a student at nearby J.P. Taravella High School.
The Broward state attorney’s office has declined to charge him with any offenses and is investigating the deputies’ actions.
Rolle’s attorney said the teen’s nose was broken during the arrest.
Krickovich and another deputy were suspended with pay during their agency’s internal affairs investigation.
Krickovich, 29, joined the sheriff’s office in August, 2012.
The video and the arrest has drawn widespread reaction, from celebrities and Tamarac city officials, who demanded punishment for the deputies involved. Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony has said the deputies were the subject of an internal affairs investigation and had a right to due process.
Staff writer Brittany Wallman contributed to this report.
ljtrischitta@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4233 or Twitter @LindaTrischitta
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