By Joanna Putman
Police1
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office has released body camera footage showing a man whom deputies identified as a sovereign citizen resisting arrest and charging at a deputy, leading to a fatal officer-involved shooting, WWSB reported.
According to Sheriff Bill Prummell, deputies were called to the residence on Wednesday to respond to a disturbance between a property owner and a guest. The owner wanted the guest removed from his property.
Both men held “sovereign ideologies,” meaning they did not recognize legal authority, the sheriff’s office said. When deputies arrived at the house, they discovered the owner had an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court on a trespassing charge, according to the report.
When they attempted to arrest him, the suspect resisted for about 20 minutes, video shows. During that time, deputies used tasers, pepper spray and beanbag rounds, but none were effective. At one point, the suspect physically overpowered three deputies who tried to subdue him.
As the situation escalated, the suspect charged at one of the deputies. The deputy fired, killing the suspect. The video shows deputies attempting to calm the involved deputy after the shooting.
Sheriff Prummell called the incident tragic, noting that the deputies made multiple attempts to avoid a fatal outcome.
“This is a tragic incident. None of us wanted this to happen. You can clearly see the deputies did not want this to happen. And now unfortunately because of his decision, there are children out there who are now fatherless,” Prummell said.
