LARGO, Fla. (AP) -- A Florida sheriff has fired a decorated deputy he says taunted an autistic boy.
The Tampa Bay Times reports Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri fired Deputy Ural Darling on Friday.
Gualitieri said Darling took the 13-year-old to his middle school's office last May for throwing a book at a teacher. He said the boy has the cognitive ability of a first grader. Darling was assigned to the school.
He said Darling taunted the boy with handcuffs and threatened to put him in a mental hospital for life. The confrontation was captured on a recorder the boy's mom placed in his pants.
Darling received a commendation last year for saving a woman who collapsed. He was Florida's 2011 school resource officer of the year. Darling doesn't have a listed phone number.
