BRADFORD COUNTY, Fla. — New body-worn camera footage shows a former of Bradford County Sheriff's deputy pulling a man out of his truck, wrestling the man to the ground and kneeling on his back before handcuffing him during an incident at a gas station.
It's the same deputy that was seen on video pointing a gun at a pregnant woman and handcuffing her while her children were in the car.
Former deputy Jacob Desue responded to a priority call for service at a Circle K on Jan. 11.
First Coast News has obtained body-worn camera footage of the incident from a local law firm. Desue can be seen pulling a man out of a truck, wrestling him to the ground, and putting his knee on the man's back before handcuffing him.
It's not the first time Desue had disciplinary action taken against him.
Desue started his employment with the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office in March 2020. Since then, he has accumulated a list of disciplinary actions, First Coast News has obtained records going back to July 2021.
On July 14, 2021, Desue was reported by a supervisor for insubordination after a supervisor asked Desue to response to a locked vehicle call for service. Desue replayed that another officer was in the area and could “pick it up along the way”.
He also told a supervisor ‘no’ when asked to complete a report.
Then on July 23 he was reported again for ‘employee disrespect’ following a conversation between Desue and a supervisor in which Desue was described as having a negative and disrespectful attitude. The observation report says of Desue “your attitude seems to always be negative and disrespectful and is not tolerated.”
In October, Desue was assigned corrective training after a traffic stop incident where the deputy parked in the field of fire of another officer on scene. The supervisor’s report goes on to say that the Desue had a responsibility to “make a decision to terminate the pursuit. This [suspect’s] driving behavior posed a great threat to the citizens and utilizing a PIT maneuver or alike maneuver would have been a good and justifiable means to terminate this incident.”
Then in December, Desue was reported for not working an assigned detail at a local library.
In January 2022, a report says Desue had his body-worn camera turned off while response to an incident in front of the Bradford County jail. Later that same day, the deputy was observed using aggressive behavior while using profanity during a call for service at a Circle K.
In February, Desue lost privileges to utilizes his patrol vehicle as a 'take home vehicle' after the car was left dirty and filed with wood pieces and leaves due to Desue using the car to haul wood in the back seat.
In April, Desue was suspended without pay after an incident in which Desue refused to report injuries sustained during a suspect pursuit. A letter of reprimand was issued for insubordination, non-compliance, and failure to report personal injury.
The letter describes the incident in which Desue was involved in a pursuit of suspect. A responding Sergeant, who arrived at the scene after the pursuit, observed Desue had a bandage around his hand which was bleeding. Desue told the Sergeant that he suffered a cut from a pair of scissors that he claimed were inside the suspect's pocket.
Desue initially refused to allow the Sergeant on scene to see the wound and refused to allow the wound to be disinfected on scene. Sergeant advise Desue that if he did not want to disinfect the injury on scene he would need to go to fire-rescue headquarters. Desue told the Sergeant he would and left the scene. It was later uncovered that Desue never went.
Stemming from this April incident, Desue was issued a last chance agreement in which he agreed to a special probationary period that would last until April 2023. According to the agreement, any violation of BCSO policies would result in the immediate termination of Desue, and per the agreement Desue was made to write a letter of resignation that would be invoked upon any violation.
Desue was under this probationary period when, on August 15, he conducted a traffic stop in which he pointed a gun at a pregnant woman and who had her three kids in the car.
His resignation was immediately enforced.