LAND O' LAKES, Fla. — Pasco County, Florida Sheriff's Office is investigating in incident where a Sunlake High School Resource Officer slammed a student during an arrest.
PCSO says that the incident occurred Tuesday when the school administration requested the school resource officer, Rich Stackon, remove a student from the cafeteria.
Leading up to the incident, school administrators asked the student to return to class several times before the SRO was called in. The student was reportedly skipping class and being disruptive.
According to deputies, when the male SRO attempted to place the female student in custody she resisted arrest.
In a video, recorded by another student, the SRO can be seen slamming the student to the ground after resisting.
WATCH: Sunlake SRO slams student during an arrest:
Stackon has been at the sheriff's office since 1994 and at the high school for several years. He worked Wednesday in a different capacity, not at Sunlake High, according to the Sheriff's Office.
The Pasco County Sheriff's Office released body camera footage of the eight minute long incident.
WARNING: The following video contains profanity
"She got mad and raised her hand to hit him and that’s when he took her to the ground," said Sunlake High School junior Madie Fonde who saw the incident happen.
"You actually see the student raise her arm toward SRO Stackon. He did an arm bar take down. He grabbed her arm and then took her down," said Sheriff Chris Nocco, while describing the video.
The sheriff says after reviewing the evidence, the student resource officer did nothing wrong.
"It definitely was not his fault. He was not in the wrong for anything. He did what he had to do," said Fonte.
"If teenagers and children in schools believe that they have more authority than the teachers, administrators, principal and school resource officers, we’re in a lot more trouble than we think we are," said Nocco.
The student was arrested for resisting without violence and campus disruption.
