JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is now in custody following a use of force incident where authorities say he struck a suspect in the head and face with a taser.
During a news conference on Friday afternoon, JSO Undersheriff Pat Ivey announced charges against Matthew Alimurung for second-degree felony aggravated battery and public servant falsifying a document.
During the incident that happened on March 29, Ivey said Alimurang was working a vehicle pursuit where the suspect had rammed into a police car.
While officers were taking the suspect into custody and attempting to remove him from the vehicle, "Alimurung used his taser as an impact weapon to the suspect's head and face region," Ivey stated. Body camera footage also showed Alimurung appearing to "spit on the individual," Ivey said.
The undersheriff said that the use of force during the incident was outside of the agency's protocols.
During a review process following the incident, JSO found that Alimurung's use of force was not accurately documented and the paperwork he filled out contradicted what the body camera footage showed.
The victim from the incident is also facing charges and was reported to have injuries to the head and facial area.
JSO said officers who also worked the vehicle pursuit have given statements on what happened during the incident.
Authorities said there is no indication from the evidence of needing to arrest anyone else at this time.
Ivey said this use of force incident didn't have anything to do with a lack of training.
JSO plans on releasing the body camera footage to the public at a later date.
Alimurung has resigned from his position within the agency. He was employed with JSO for five years.
The arrest marks the 11th arrest of a JSO employee in 2020: four corrections officers, five police officers, and two civilians.
"Compared to last year in which we only had three total arrests for employees, appears like a massive uptick," Ivey said. "But what I said during the last news conference in reference to an arrest a couple of weeks ago, was in the three years prior to last year, I think we had 11 one year, 10 one year, and nine one year. So last year was extremely low, giving the appearance that this year is extremely high."
Alimurung's first court appearance is scheduled for Saturday at 9 a.m.
Watch the full news conference below: