Video shared with the South Florida Solar Sentinel on Friday night time reveals the struggle with a lady being booked into the Broward County jail that resulted within the arrest of three detention deputies on Thursday.
Samantha Caputo, 38, was being processed by detention deputies Denia Walker, Cleopatra Johnnie and Sgt. Zakiyyah Polk on the Essential Jail on Oct. 4, 2022. The deputies took Caputo to a search cell to vary into the jail uniform, in accordance with arrest warrants obtained by the South Florida Solar Sentinel by a public data request on Thursday night.
The deputies informed Caputo to take away all of her garments, together with her bra, the warrants mentioned, however then an argument started about taking off her bra.
Caputo’s lawyer Phil Johnston informed the Solar Sentinel on Friday that his consumer took off her undershirt and was then requested to take off her bra. She requested the deputies if she may hold her private bra on, after which reached her hand out to take the jail-issued bra.
Caputo took her bra off and threw it underhand to one of many deputies, Johnston mentioned.
“There was clearly nothing threatening about that,” Johnston mentioned. “The best way the officer reacted was to shove her towards the again wall. She goes flying on the video …”
The 8-minute-long jail surveillance video shared with the Solar Sentinel confirmed Caputo stroll into the altering cell in her private garments and seem to converse with the three deputies earlier than she started altering. An indication within the cell says the room is underneath video and audio surveillance, however the video obtained by the Solar Sentinel doesn’t have any audio.
Caputo is seen eradicating her shirt and handing it to Johnnie, who then checked out an undershirt and a yellow sports activities bra Caputo was sporting, the video confirmed. Walker handed Caputo the jail uniform, and all three deputies exited the cell.
Moments later, Polk is seen reentering the cell and handing Caputo what gave the impression to be a small brown paper bag, then exiting the cell once more. Caputo moments later might be seen placing the jail uniform prime over her undershirt and yellow sports activities bra.
Caputo walked towards the closed door and knocked, and Polk opened it once more, the video confirmed. Polk touched the jail uniform prime and appeared to inform Caputo to take off her private garments that she nonetheless wore beneath. Caputo then took off her undershirt however stored her personal bra on earlier than once more placing on the jail uniform prime.
On the threshold of the cell’s door, Caputo handed over the undershirt and mentioned one thing to one of many deputies, although it’s unclear which deputy as a result of all three are out of the digicam’s view. Caputo motioned towards her chest whereas speaking, apparently about conserving on her bra.
All three deputies then adopted Caputo into the cell. Polk might be seen standing in entrance of Caputo, holding a white jail uniform sports activities bra as Caputo eliminated her yellow one. Caputo then flung her yellow bra at Polk.
About seven minutes into the recording, Polk used her proper arm to push Caputo backward instantly after Caputo flung her bra at Polk, the video confirmed. The encounter then escalated however largely occurred out of the digicam’s view.
Pepper foam might be seen spraying a number of seconds after Polk pushed Caputo backward, and Polk might be seen repeatedly making a punching movement together with her proper arm. Caputo is seen briefly on the bottom with all three deputies round her, but it surely appeared she was pulled by the deputies again into an space out of the digicam’s view.
The wrestle continues out of digicam view for about 20 seconds earlier than Polk removes a Taser from her belt and and blue sparks are seen zapping within the nook of the video. Seconds later, Walker is seen transferring backward shortly throughout the cell, slipping on the jail uniform sports activities bra that Polk tossed onto the bottom, slamming into the wall and dropping her pepper spray on the bottom within the course of, the video confirmed.
The video abruptly ends as Polk seems to be saying one thing to Caputo and bending all the way down to the bottom. The video doesn’t present Caputo being faraway from the cell.
Johnston mentioned watching the video in sluggish movement reveals one of many deputies “catch (Caputo) within the throat with open hand” earlier than they sprayed her with pepper spray. He mentioned his consumer was then kicked, punched, hit with knee strikes and shocked with a Taser twice.
A second video clip was given to Johnston by the State Legal professional’s Workplace that confirmed the deputies cleansing up after the incident, he mentioned. He mentioned it’s unclear how lengthy the struggle lasted.
The misdemeanor DUI cost Caputo was arrested on in 2022 was dropped about seven months later. Johnston mentioned she was later charged with battery on a legislation enforcement officer stemming from the struggle whereas within the jail, which was additionally dropped early final yr.
A State Legal professional’s Workplace spokesperson mentioned in an e mail Friday night time that prosecutors dropped that cost towards Caputo “as a result of there was no affordable chance of conviction.”
“It was solely as soon as the felony cost towards my consumer was dropped that we had a viable case to deliver to the Public Corruption Unit,” Johnston mentioned.
A State Legal professional’s Workplace investigator authored the arrest warrants for the deputies on Tuesday. The video confirmed Caputo was “clearly dragged behind the yellow demarcation line, which identifies the ‘blind spot’ the place a person is ready to change with out being noticed on the video,” the warrants mentioned.
BSO nursing employees handled Caputo instantly afterward. She had vital bruising beneath her proper eye and a bruised and swollen face, in accordance with the warrants. At a hospital after she was launched, she realized she had a pores and skin an infection the place she had been shocked with the Taser.
In February, Caputo in a sworn interview with the State Legal professional’s Workplace investigator mentioned she misplaced consciousness through the struggle and was “in concern of her life,” in accordance with the warrants. She couldn’t keep in mind what every of the deputies did through the struggle however mentioned she recalled Polk was the primary to turn into bodily. She informed the investigator she didn’t at any level return bodily aggression.
Walker, Johnnie and Polk had been booked into the Essential Jail on one rely every of aggravated battery inflicting nice bodily hurt, a second-degree felony, and had been launched after posting bail.
Polk, employed in 2002; Johnnie, employed in 2001; and Walker, employed in 2015, are on administrative go away with pay as of Friday, Sheriff’s Workplace spokesperson Carey Codd mentioned.
Solar Sentinel employees author Rafael Olmeda contributed to this report.
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