ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County Sheriff John Mina says he's "extremely upset, disappointed and outraged" by the conduct of one of his deputies.
At a news conference Friday, Mina confirmed that the deputy was immediately fired.
According to law enforcement, it started with a fight between two groups of girls. The brawl began at a middle school and continued off school grounds. The sheriff says the first deputy -- who responded already -- had the situation under control by the time the school resource deputy arrived. Video of the incident was posted on social media and quickly brought to the sheriff’s attention.
The sheriff says that deputy escalated the situation and “lost control”.
He says the deputy’s actions “violated policies, standards and expectations” of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. The school resource deputy was immediately terminated, and the findings of an Internal Affairs investigation will be forwarded to the State Attorney’s Office to see if criminal charges should be filed.
“I hope this sends a strong message not only to our community but also to our deputy sheriffs who are sworn to protect all of us including our children,” said Sheriff Mina. “This one incident does not reflect the values that we have at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.”
So far, the deputy’s name has not been released, but the Sheriff said he was hired in Feb. 2019 to fill one of more than 100 open school resource deputy positions. According to the sheriff, he was hired because he had past experience as a school resource deputy in North Carolina.
10News has submitted a request for the deputy’s body camera video which is now part of the investigation.
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