FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – A newly released video shows a detention deputy at Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility punching an inmate to the floor after the inmate threw a walker at him.
The video's release comes a day after the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office announced Jarred Tazewell resigned while being investigated on suspicion of excessive use of force.
"Excessive use of force will not be tolerated at the Flagler County Sheriff's Office," Sheriff Rick Staly said in a news release Tuesday.
Documents from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office show Tazewell told an investigator the inmate was talking about going to another place or world and told Tazewell he was going to take him.
Tazewell told an investigator he thought the inmate had a pen in his hand during the incident, according to documents from the Sheriff’s Office.
“The walker, I thought I saw the pen all of that came into play instantly and I didn’t know
what he was going to do, I needed to get him away from me though. My body just reacted,” Tazewell told in an investigator.
The inmate was using a walker as he recently had hip surgery, according to documents from the Sheriff’s Office.
Tazewell's Florida Correctional Officer certification could be revoked, according to investigators.
“During the investigation, investigators determined the inmate’s behavior did not warrant the level and type of the force used by the detention deputy. He resigned in lieu of being terminated, which was the likely outcome of the investigation. Often, inmates will ‘bait’ Detention Deputies and I expect Deputies to keep their cool and not react inappropriately, as was done in this case. Fortunately, use of defensive tactics by Detention Deputies in the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility has declined 38.5% since I have been Sheriff. Tazewell’s action is not a reflection of the many men and women that serve professionally at the jail keeping us safe from some of the worst people in society,” Staley said in a statement.
The Sheriff's Office said the state attorney's office decided to not file charges against Tazewell.