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JSO officer under investigation was reprimanded for Facebook posts

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - An officer criminally charged for punching a handcuffed teen ten days ago had a history of social media posts about beating people while on the job.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - An officer criminally charged for punching a handcuffed teen ten days ago had a history of social media posts about beating people while on the job.

Officer Tim James was arrested June 10 for the battery of a 17-year-old who was in the backseat of his patrol car.

READ: Officer arrested for beating handcuffed teen

According to the police report, a JSO sergeant found James repeatedly punching the teen whose hands were restrained. The report says James ignored repeated commands from the sergeant to stop.

The embattled officer has been the subject of several investigations in 2017, including allegations that he spit on a mental health patient in April.

JSO Internal Affairs documents obtained by First Coast News show James received a written reprimand on May 12, 2016 for violating JSO's social media policy.

A JSO supervisor found five posts by James between Jan. 27 and Feb. 16, 2016 that were deemed in violation. One problematic Facebook post from January 2016 read:

"Someone just learned a hard lesson about showing your a-- in Jacksonville. 3 felonies 2 misdemeanors and an a--whooping to boot. Lol. I love my job."

Another from Feb. 2016 read:

"Yep It's that kinda night already. Someone's getting a size 13 boot to the a-- tonight. I can feel it."

In the last post flagged by JSO supervisors, dated Feb. 16, 2016, James complained about questions he received while working at a road construction site. "If you ask me "can I go this way" I'm going to drag your a-- out of your car through your window and monkey stomp you! #realtalk," said the post.

JSO internal affairs documents show Officer Tim James violated JSO's social media policy in 2016.

Out of 11 closed complaints against the officer during his three-year career, seven were sustained as credible and four were exonerated or not sustained. Both civilians and fellow officers filed the complaints.

In one sustained 2015 complaint, James was found to have "not been wholly truthful" to his supervisor when he was questioned three times about whether a female officer had been inside his police car.

On Sep. 9, 2015, he was reprimanded for running a red light in his patrol car while off duty. The traffic citation fine was not paid and resulted in the suspension of his driver's license in February 2016.

In November 2016, JSO officials found James violated their policies on safe storage of department-issued weapons. According to a case report, James reported his firearm stolen after he left it unlocked to chase his puppy. No suspect information was provided and the following day, a citizen found James' weapon "lying on the Old St. Augustine on-ramp to Interstate 295 North."

James has not responded to requests from First Coast News for a comment.

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