Deputy arrested after punching teenager in the face, cops say

An Osceola County sheriff’s deputy arrested Saturday is facing a battery charge for punching a teenage family member in the face during an argument in St. Cloud, police said.

According to an arrest affidavit by the St. Cloud Police Department, the 14-year-old victim and her mother were arguing inside their Seven Oaks Drive home when Deputy Michael Cabassa intervened as he was getting ready for work.

Cabassa and the mother told officers the victim then kicked Cabassa in the groin, to which he responded by punching her in the eye.

Officers noted the victim’s eye was “completely swollen” but that she refused medical treatment. The victim told officers she was punched first, as did her sister. Cabassa was charged with simple battery and was later released from Osceola County Jail on a $500 bond.

Sheriff’s spokesman Maj. Jacob Ruiz said Cabassa is on paid administrative leave pending his criminal case and an internal investigation. The Orlando Sentinel requested the deputy’s personnel record from the agency, which did not alert reporters to Cabassa’s arrest.

Cabassa, who was hired at the Sheriff’s Office in August 2018, has not been arrested in Osceola County previously, according to court records. The attorney representing him at his Sunday court appearance described him as the victim of an assault by the “out of control” teen and said he has “no prior incidents in the past” of violent behavior.

Circuit Judge Hal Epperson issued a no-contact order against Cabassa and ordered him to not return to the home.