ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — "I felt he wasn't a cop. He was a criminal," 30-year-old Christopher Butler told First Coast News Friday.
Butler was referring to the deputy who was caught on camera reportedly beating him during a traffic stop in December. Cell phone and dashcam video captured the incident when a deputy kicked and hit Butler on the ground, next to a car.
"That wasn’t a beating. That was torture," Teri Morgenstern, Butler's mother, said.
In late December, Butler was driving erratically on Interstate 95, then he pulled off onto County Road 210. He was pulled over in a Winn Dixie shopping center in St. Johns County.
In a phone interview Friday, Butler only remembered a snippet of that night.
"They asked me to open the door and they started beating me," Butler said. Video shows deputies grabbing him shortly after the car comes to a stop.
In three minutes and 44 seconds, the sheriff’s report says Butler was hit 19 times and kicked twice in the head. The report also said he was tased twice, but Butler’s mother says it was more like ten times. Her attorney, John Phillips, said enhancing the videos makes that clear.
Morgenstern said her son was driving erratically because he was having a diabetic medical emergency. Phillips said medical documentation supports that explanation.
Butler told First Coast News, "I wasn’t in my right state of mind."
"Christopher was sick," his mother said. "He needed help. He didn’t get that. Instead, he got tortured."
Anthony Deleo, a deputy in the video, was fired and was arrested for aggravated battery this week.
Butler's mother wants Deleo to be stripped of his police certification, to never be able to carry a weapon again, and she wants all the deputies on the scene to be held accountable for the beating of her son -- even if they didn't strike him.
Deleo is the only one who was fired and arrested. Another deputy on the scene resigned when presented with the investigation. Another was reprimanded.
Morgenstern and her son are in the process of filing a civil suit against all the deputies and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.
Phillips said his office has received similar stories from other men in their 20s who say they've been beaten by some of the same deputies in the lawsuit.
"I’ve never before seen a class action of police abuse, but we’re almost headed in that direction," Phillips said, "because so many 20-something-year-old boys have been beaten."
Butler said, "It’s anyone the cops think they might not have family support or who could get a private attorney. They’re neglecting and taking their authority to neglect… and they’re taking advantage of it."
Butler was arrested on various charges that night and all of the charges were dropped except for attempting to elude police.
WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE