ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — A Treasure Coast sheriff is facing criticism for a video posted on his agency's Facebook page.
The video shows recently-appointed St. Lucie County Sheriff Keith Pearson boasting about catching a suspect in a high-speed chase.
In the video, Pearson showed the cars he said deputies used in the incident and the man accused of leading law enforcement officers on a five-county high-speed chase.
Pearson addressed the suspect, Franklin Sanders, directly in the video saying the following:
"Hey, what did you think, good? Yeah, no comment," Pearson said to the suspect.
However, Brandi Kohler and her husband, James, had plenty to say about the video.
"It was a little cocky," James Kohler said about the video.
"Just the bragging part of it seemed to rub me the wrong way," Brandi Kohler said.
The Kohlers' daughter was struck and killed by a St. Lucie County deputy's cruiser that was on its way to assist with a traffic stop last year. The deputy was cleared this week in the case.
"It's just so gross to me," Brandi Kohler said. "It's so disrespecting to the families of all of us that he would brag."
Aisha Nash, the president of the St. Lucie County NAACP, also weighed in on the video.
"How would you describe the video?" WPTV investigative reporter Dave Bohman asked Nash.
"Dehumanizing, racist," Nash said.
Nash said the sheriff is using Sanders as a prop, pointing out that Sanders is only accused, not convicted, of leading deputies on a high-speed chase.
"And the whole video was dehumanizing," Nash said. "That's not something that we want our sheriff, the person who is supposed to pave the way and lead the way to keeping our streets safe, treat people who are arrested."
WPTV asked the sheriff's public information officer to ask Pearson to address the concerns. Pearson did not respond to those critics. After an email and three phone calls, the sheriff released the following statement:
"Yesterday's arrest of Franklin Sanders was a multiagency effort. Sanders' actions put himself and the lives of others in danger. This suspect is no stranger to law enforcement; he was just released from jail five days prior to this incident on unrelated charges of grand theft of a motor vehicle and burglary. This raw, unfiltered video, which was shot at the conclusion of this incident, is a direct message to others who want to victimize our community: We will not tolerate your complete disregard for the law, and we will use every tool in our toolbox to apprehend you."
Pearson's video also has supporters, who posted the following comments.
"Great job everyone involved," one post said.
"Good job officers," another post said.
Pearson also posted, "#notinstlucie".
There is also a timing issue with the video since it comes just three weeks after the deaths of Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Zachary Fink and trucker Arsenio Mas after law enforcement was involved in a high-speed chase with a felon in Port St. Lucie.
