St. Lucie sheriff's deputy arrested on charges of battery and making false statement (2024)

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — A St. Lucie County sheriff's deputy was arrested Saturday on charges of battery and falsifying an official statement made by a public servant during an inquiry, Sheriff Keith Pearson announced.

Randy Carlton Walker, 36, an eight-year deputy with the Sheriff’s Office, was arrested on two warrants related to an arrest he was involved with April 2 and his use of force during the incident, Pearson said in a video message Saturday.

“In this instance, there was never a complaint of excessive force. This was the result of our internal review process, which includes the review of video from body-worn cameras,” Pearson said. “As all use-of-force incidents are internally reviewed per our policy. The supervisors and peers present concluded his actions that day were excessive and not the conduct we expect from our deputies.”

An arrest affidavit released Saturday shows Walker was accused of using his knee and fist to repeatedly strike a man in the head and neck who was apprehended in a wooded lot after fleeing in a truck during an April 2 traffic stop in Fort Pierce.

Sheriff’s officials turned an internal affairs query over to their Criminal Investigations Division, which began working with state prosecutors in securing the battery and false statements arrest warrants that were signed by a judge, Pearson said.

Arrest records show Circuit Judge Michael Linn signed the warrants May 30. The felony false statement charge is related to the April 2 incident report Walker completed, Pearson added.

With Walker’s arrest, his administrative leave has been changed to unpaid leave “pending a notice of termination.”

“I feel the need to act swift with this matter … His actions, had it not been for the other deputies present coming forward, and the body worn cameras all deputies wear, could have gone unreported or without consequence,” Pearson said. “The men and women of the Sheriff’s Office are among the best. But like all professions, incidents like this casts a shadow on all the greatness they do.”

After being booked Saturday into the Martin County Jail, Walker posted a $15,000 bond and was released, jail officials confirmed.

Walker is represented by attorney Adam Less, who declined to comment Saturday.

What happened April 2?

Arrest reports shows the traffic stop incident began around 2:37 p.m., when a sheriff's deputy saw a blue Ford F-250 pickup truck on Kings Highway passing Indrio Road being driven by a man who was wanted in St. Lucie County on charges of grand theft and dealing with stolen property.

The deputy initiated a traffic stop in the 5200 block of Winter Garden Parkway in Fort Pierce and because of the open warrants, the deputy approached the truck with his weapon raised, investigators noted in a report.

The unidentified man quickly sped off westbound on Winter Garden Parkway but then struck a traffic sign and crashed into a wooded lot at the 6900 block of Deer Park Avenue. The man ran from the truck and was found — with the help of a police service dog named Mak — “hiding under thick brush.”

Walker assisted in apprehending the man, and the actions were recorded on his body camera video. Arrest papers show after the police dog “engaged” with the man several times, he implored deputies to get the dog off him, and didn’t appear to be resisting officers.

Walker can be seen on bodycam video telling the man to get on the ground and “delivers what appears to be a knee strike to the left side of (the man’s) head,” a report states.

Walker “then releases (the man’s) left arm and proceeds to deliver approximately 11 strikes to (the man), while shouting ‘put your hands behind your back’ … Some of the strikes appeared to be closed fist and/or hammer fist strikes to the back of (the victim’s) head and neck area,” investigators reported.

Because of the angle of the video recorded by deputy’s body cameras, investigators couldn’t determine “if the remainder of these strikes were knee strikes, elbow strikes, open-hand strikes, closed-fist strikes or a combination of these strikes.”

Then as the man is being cuffed by deputies and does not appear to be resisting “in any way,” Walker “re-engages with (the man), delivering what appears to be a single knee strike to (his) head," a report said. “After Detective Randy Walker delivers this final strike, (the man) can be heard wincing in pain and sounds as if he was knocked unconscious.”

A report Walker submitted the next day didn’t match up with what was recorded on the bodycam video, in that he failed to note he struck the man “at least three times to (the) head/neck area.”

Walker “did not report this use of force incident to his supervisor,” investigators concluded. In addition, the man was never seen on body camera video attempting to place his hands under his stomach, as Walker reported.

Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers and is writer and co-host of "Uncertain Terms,"a true-crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com. If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest local news on the Treasure Coast.