JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office has been arrested after reportedly hitting a handcuffed individual multiple times.
During a news conference on Thursday, JSO Undersheriff Pat Ivey says Officer Alexander G. Grant, 28, was charged with one count of first-degree battery, which is a misdemeanor.
JSO says that on Saturday night Grant was working off-duty at the Poker Room on Monument Road.
According to JSO, Grant was alerted to the presence of a man in the parking lot that was causing a problem and making threats to "shoot up the business."
The decision was made to take the man into police custody and charge him with making threats. JSO says he was handcuffed and placed in the backseat of a police car.
Police say that the arrested man then spit on Grant through the window of the back seat. Grant then reportedly opened the police car door and hit the handcuffed individual in the face more than once.
The handcuffed man suffered a small abrasion on his face, JSO says.
Police say the event was observed by another police officer who was also working off-duty with Grant, who alerted the sergeant.
JSO says it has been working with the State Attorney's Office to discuss what charges were appropriate and Grant was arrested and booked into jail.
Grant has been with JSO for five years.
In related news:
The man killed in a police-involved shooting on Tuesday on Jacksonville's Westside has been identified by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.