Bodycam footage shows arrest of Tampa community activist during traffic stop in Hillsborough County
By: A group of community activists are calling for action over what they say was an unlawful arrest in Hillsborough County, but the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) is painting a different picture with the release of the full one-hour body camera video of the incident.
It started with a traffic stop on August 29 for Pastor Carl Soto, Co-Founder of Black Lives Matter Restoration, Inc.
“I'm going to give you about .2 seconds to explain to me what you pulled me over for because I have not committed any traffic violations,” said Soto in body camera video provided by the Sheriff’s Office.
“The tag. You can't have that design,” the deputy replied.
A criminal report affidavit said the deputy saw the car with a Florida joker tag, which it states isn't an approved tag and violates Florida statute.
The body camera video shows the deputy repeatedly asking for Soto's license and later pull out a taser.
The deputy can be seen in the video directing Soto to get out of the car, and later after being handcuffed, Soto tells the deputy he recently had surgery. The footage shows the deputy place Soto under arrest.
"You're on my back, and I just had surgery," said Soto during the incident.
Soto was charged with resisting an officer without violence.
"He pulls me over in the middle of Hillsborough, walks up to my vehicle with his hand clenched around his weapon,” Soto said during a press conference on Friday.
Community activists demanded his charge to be dropped and action to be taken against the deputy.
Soto was asked during that press conference why he didn't hand over his license.
“When he approached me, he was being aggressive. I did not feel safe,” said Soto. “I didn’t feel safe doing absolutely anything with him. He made it known, and he made it very clear that he was there to intimidate me. I wanted to get a higher up there to potentially deescalate the situation because I knew that the reason for the stop was unlawful in the first place.”
“This was a lawful traffic stop, and there is one thing that Mr. Soto and the Hillsborough County Sheriff's office agree on: it's that this could have simply been resolved with a warning or a civil traffic ticket,” said Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Amanda Granit.
The Sheriff's Office said despite multiple commands, Soto repeatedly refused to comply with the deputy's instructions, saying at no point was a firearm displayed and at no point was the taser deployed.
HCSO said a supervisor reviewed the footage and didn't find any policy violations.