SARASOTA COUNTY (WFLA) – Sarasota County Deputy Neil Pizzo remains on administrative leave this week following a physical altercation that sent a teenage inmate to the hospital.
The 46-year-old deputy was working at the juvenile corrections facility in Sarasota on Sept. 1 – the night the alleged incident happened. Video released to WFLA.com by the sheriff’s office shows a verbal argument between Deputy Pizzo and a 17-year-old inmate escalate into a physical altercation.
Sheriff Tom Knight says an internal affairs investigation is underway to determine whether or not the deputy’s use of force was acceptable.
Sheriff Knight says he placed the deputy on leave as soon as he saw video of the incident.
“When I saw the video – it was brought to my attention, I certainly recognized something that I initially didn’t like to see or what I did see, so that is why I put the deputy on immediate administrative duty,” said Sheriff Knight.
“What we are looking at right now is: are the deputy’s reports that he submitted accurate? Are they consistent and his actions consistent with how we operate here at the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office? Did he do anything to try to de-escalate the situation, or what caused that situation to happen or that encounter to happen?” Knight added. “Again, I don’t know that information, nobody really knows right now.”
The teen’s mother wants Deputy Pizzo held accountable for what happened inside the juvenile facility. She says the video was too hard for her to watch.
“The first couple of seconds of the video, I couldn’t stomach it because he did nothing wrong,” said Latiesh Morris.
In a written statement, Deputy Pizzo said the teen was asked multiple times to remove his hands from inside his shirt. There is no audio in the video recording but Pizzo said the teen made multiple verbal threats and, at one point, said, “I’ll blow your ****ing head off, you ain’t a real cop.”
The deputy said in his statement that it was “eminent [sic] I was going to be attacked.”
Sheriff Knight says the video recording and all written statements are under review.
“At the end of the day, we take an oath to keep peace, and sticks and stones will break your bones but words will never harm you,” said Sheriff Knight. “I don’t really care what a 17-year-old says to me or what he says to the employees that work for me. If he is not harming them, it is fine. Words never hurt anybody. Hands hurt people.”
“I don’t care what the juvenile said to him or if he did say anything to provoke him, it really doesn’t matter,” he continued. “What we need to find out was, was he threatened? Did he use force that was reasonable, right, and necessary? And did he try to de-escalate the situation? And we will get to the bottom of that and make the right determination.”
Records show the teen is charged with possession and sale of cocaine and violating probation.
“The video speaks for itself. It don’t matter what he has done in the past. It is what he has done in that moment,” said the teen’s mother. “People can pull up all these different things and try to make my kid look bad or whatever. He done nothing wrong. Justice needs to be served.”
Sheriff Knight says the teen’s criminal history is irrelevant in regards to the internal affairs investigation.
“He has had a lot of interactions with law enforcement and a lot of weapons charges in the past, but that is irrelevant,” said Sheriff Knight. “Once they are in our care and custody, once they are at a juvenile assessment center, we are responsible for the treatment of individuals in our care and custody.”
The internal affairs investigation is ongoing.
