‘Unreasonable’: Florida Deputy Who Slammed Handcuffed Man to Ground, Knocking Him Out, Then Lied to Justify It Faces Up to 30 Years In Federal Prison
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A Florida deputy sheriff faces up to 30 years in prison after a federal jury found he violated a man’s civil rights by slamming him to the ground, causing him to hit his chin on asphalt and lose consciousness, and then lying about why he did it.
Tyler Williams, 30, a former Hendry County Sheriff’s Office deputy, was convicted on Feb. 10 of violating an individual’s civil rights and obstructing justice in connection with the July 4, 2023, incident, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida said in a news release.
In a report he wrote the day after the incident, Williams said he grabbed the man’s shoulders, turned, and “took [him] to the ground” because he was afraid the man might be armed. Then he put the knocked-out man in a “recovery” position and called for first responders to evaluate him, according to the indictment, reported the Miami Herald.
But bodycam video shows Williams lied to justify his use of force, prosecutors said.
In the video, Williams, who had detained the man as a suspect in a residential burglary, is seen talking to his supervisor as he holds the man face-forward against his police car. The man is standing still, and his hands are handcuffed behind his back.
At various points, the man interrupted their conversation and tried talking to the deputy. When he did so again, Williams grabbed the man, spun him around and forcefully threw him down face-first into the pavement. Unable to brace himself, the man was immediately rendered unconscious. Then Williams began yelling at him, saying he was warned not to push against him.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office called Williams’ use of force “unreasonable” and his false justification for it, obstruction of justice.
Williams’ conduct was first investigated by the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office, which referred the case to the FBI.
In April of 2024, when Williams was indicted, Sheriff Steve Whidden said at a press conference that when he first watched the body cam video, “I was shocked and appalled. You know, when we swear a deputy in, he has great power, and with that trust comes great responsibility. And what I saw on this body camera violated the trust of our community.”
U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg said then that “law enforcement is not immune to the presence of a small number of individuals who tarnish the reputation of their profession, who erode public trust,” reported WGCU News.
Williams already had numerous black marks on his law enforcement record when he joined the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office in 2021.
Prior to that, he was employed as a Fort Myers police officer for five years but left that department after he was investigated and arrested for not reporting suspected child abuse at a traffic stop.
In that case, he stopped a woman for speeding who turned out to have narcotics, including suspected heroin and syringes, in her car, as well as an unsecured 3-year-old toddler sleeping in the back seat.
In a video of that incident, he told the woman and her friend that despite the “bag of ice,” used needles he had spotted in the car and the danger it posed to the “beautiful little girl” in the back seat, he had decided to give them a “freebie” and let them go, because “ultimately I really don’t feel like dealing with DCF (Department of Child and Family Services) at six o’clock in the morning. … I want to go home.”
Less than a month later, the same woman blacked out while driving under the influence of narcotics, hitting several trees, reported WINK News. And the same 3-year-old girl was thrown from the van and died from her injuries. Williams was put on administrative leave and arrested by Fort Myers police for his failure as a mandated reporter to notify the state about possible abuse and neglect of a child. That criminal charge was eventually dropped after the police union fought on his behalf, but he faced dozens of other disciplinary charges during his FMPD tenure.
The charges included a pattern of reckless driving, failure to notify a supervisor about a domestic violence incident, falsely reporting his body camera had died, tampering with equipment, and threatening a citizen with a metal jack handle while off duty.
He was also put on administrative leave after an officer-involved shooting in 2017 that he participated in. An investigation found Williams was justified in using deadly force, according to the Fort Myers News-Press.
In all, WINK News found that Williams received 38 disciplinary actions at the Fort Myers Police Department that were sustained by the police chief. He resigned in February 2021 while three investigations were still pending and was hired a month later by Hendry County.
Hendry County Sheriff Whidden said last year that the sheriff’s office had justified hiring Williams because the criminal charges against him had been dismissed, reported WGCU.
For his recent conviction involving excessive force, Williams is facing up to 10 years in prison on a charge of violating the man’s civil rights and up to 20 years on a charge of obstructing justice, prosecutors said. A date for his sentencing hearing was not posted as of Monday.
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