A school resource deputy with the Broward Sheriff's Office who was arrested on a child abuse charge after he was caught on camera slamming a student to the ground back in 2019 has been fired.
Deputy Willard Miller, who had worked at Cross Creek School in Pompano Beach, was fired Wednesday "for his egregious lack of control, discipline and numerous policy violations," Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony said in a statement.
"His action and behavior are not reflective of the great work and self-discipline frequently displayed by the overwhelming majority of my deputies," Tony's statement read.
Miller was arrested on the felony charge of child abuse without great bodily harm back in November 2019.
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Surveillance footage showed Miller grabbing a 15-year-old girl by the neck and throwing her to the ground in a room at the school back on Sept. 25.
NBC 6 obtained a copy of that Internal Affairs Investigation Report that found that Miller had violated several BSO policies.
The report explained that the student had gotten in trouble for having a vape pen at school and was brought to a room called the “timeout room.”
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The report also reveals that even before the incident, Miller had handcuffed that student and put her in his patrol car to question the student about the vape pen.
IA investigators said Miller did not record the incident on his body camera and did not document the use-of-force incident or notify a supervisor about what happened.
At the time, Tony said he didn't know what occurred before the deputy slammed the girl to the ground, but said it didn't matter.
"The way the deputy responds, for whatever occurred, whatever type of verbal dialogue was going on, it makes no sense and it wasn't necessary," Tony said.
Miller, who was 38 at the time of his arrest, had been with BSO since August 2016 and was assigned to the school in February 2018. He had been suspended without pay amid the investigation.
"We look forward to defending the criminal charges in court," Miller's attorney, Jeremy Kroll, said in an email to NBC 6.
