A police officer in Florida was fired last year after an arrest video showed her yelling at and calling a man a “punk” after he called 911 for help. She has since been hired back by the department.
The officer, Bethany Guerriero, was fired in September after an internal review into the arrest of Ryan Gould, according to WPTV of West Palm Beach, which is an NBC affiliate.
A lawsuit Gould filed in January says that he called the police when a man showed a gun after a fight between Gould and the man’s wife at their apartment complex’s community pool.
The suit said that Gould called the cops to “step in and protect his safety.”
The city said Wednesday that Guerriero was put back to work this month after a “union-forced arbitration and a binding decision by the arbitrator to return her to work without back pay.”
A spokesperson said that she is going through retraining and will be sent to the records section.
Wednesday, requests for word from the police and Guerriero’s lawyer were not answered right away.
Eric Rice, a lawyer for Gould, said, “I’m disappointed that the police department failed to recognize the significant trauma Ryan lived through.”
“He went to the police for help when he was threatened with a gun, but instead of being safe, he was held at gunpoint.” “We have seen no action that will stop these things from happening again,” Rice said in a statement on Wednesday.
The lawsuit said that Guerriero told Gould to shut up and made fun of him for having nail paint on his toes during the incident in May 2023. He was said to have been “angry” and “disrespectful.”
Guerriero pulled out her gun and pointed it at Gould seconds after she arrived, even though she had just told him to keep his hands out of his pockets. This was shown on video from a body camera that Gould’s lawyer released.
Gould lay down on the ground with his phone. He told Guerriero and another cop over and over that he hadn’t done anything wrong and that he wasn’t the one with the gun.
The film showed that Guerriero handcuffed Gould and told him that he was being held “because you don’t want to listen.”
He said, “That’s not a crime.” “Are the body cams on?” “This guy is pointing a gun at me, so I called for help.”
The claim said Gould was only wearing swim shorts and Crocs and that “it was clear that he did not have a weapon on him.”
Guerriero is heard at one point calling Gould a “punk” and making fun of him for having his nails painted.
She said, “I’m in charge, not you.” “And your cute blue nail polish.”
He told Gould to “keep your mouth shut” as he kept asking what crime he had committed.
“I don’t care.” I’m not going to do it. “Arrest me,” he yelled at the police officer.
In the film, Guerriero told a boss that Gould kept reaching into his pockets because he was “high on something.” Gould’s lawyer released a body camera and security video that showed he only reached into his pocket once to get his phone.
The claim says that Gould was taken to jail but was let out before he was processed.
