By Alex Hobson
ABC Action News
PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — A Pinellas County detention deputy was fired Friday for using excessive force on an inmate at the Pinellas County Jail and then lying about it. Elizabeth Kretzer, 40, has worked for the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office since October 1999.
The incident, partially captured on surveillance video, happened in December. According to the sheriff’s office, it started after Kretzer believed a female inmate was trying to collect an extra breakfast tray. Kretzer and the inmate began to argue and the inmate “flipped her off.” Kretzer made the inmate leave the housing unit.
Video shows Kretzer challenging the inmate to do it again. When the inmate accepts the challenge and repeats the gesture, you can see Kretzer clearly yanking the inmate by her sweatshirt out of the cell and down the corridor into an off-camera interview room. According to investigators, the action was done with sufficient enough force, the inmate bounced off the detention deputy’s body.
Full story: Pinellas County jail deputy fired for slapping inmate and lying about it