South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Police: Drunken deputy pulls gun on men in confrontation
An off-duty Palm Beach County sheriff ’s deputy faces four criminal charges after a cellphone video surfaced of him cursing at three men while displaying his badge and gun, and allegedly impaired by alcohol.
Jerald Alderman appeared in handcuffs Friday before Circuit Judge Ted Booras, after his arrest a day earlier over the 3 a.m. Oct. 12 confrontation in downtown West Palm Beach.
An arrest report states that along with the video, a city police officer observed Alderman, 54, banging on the trunk of the men’s car, and detectives obtained the video apparently recorded without the deputy’ s knowledge.
“At approximately 15 seconds into the video, Alderman reaches back, with his right hand, and draws a semi-automatic pistol from his waistband and points it at the driver’s door of the vehicle,” while yelling obscenities and repeatedly ordering the men to drive away, the report says.
Two officers who spoke with Alderman after the incident“immediately smelled the strong odor of alcoholic beverage emanating from the face and person.”
The judge agreed to a $40,000 bond for the road patrol deputy charged with three felony counts of aggravated assault with a firearm, and a misdemeanor offense of using a firearm while under the influence.
Judge Booras said the bond conditions, which include orders that Alderman not possess any weapons, illegal drugs, alcohol or contact with the men should “protect the community and protect the individuals involved here, the victims.”
Because of the charges, Alderman was placed on paid administrative leave with the agency he’ s worked for since 2006, said sheriff ’s spokeswoman Teri Barbera.
Records show he previously worked for Royal Palm Beach Police for four years before becoming a deputy.
“He’s been a law enforcement officer in excess of 17 years, and he’s lived in the county since 1969,” Alderman’s attorney Scott Richardson, told the judge. The lawyer said the bond also is appropriate considering his lack of any criminal history.
Reached after the hearing, Richardson declined to comment about the nature of the charges.
The three men in the car gave statements to investigators, but were not identified in the arrest report. They spoke to South Florida Sun Sentinel news partner, WPEC-CBS12, after the deputy was taken into custody.
“It’s sort of a slight relief, [but] I’m still stressing with a lot of this stuff,” said LeKraig Bens, the driver of the car.
Bens and his friends claim they were cruising around downtown before deciding to pull into a parking lot at 300 Banyan Blvd. They said Alderman then approached them and threatened them at gunpoint before the video started.
“He put his gun to my face and said, ‘I would shoot all three of you,’” Bens said.
The men told police that Alderman accused them of hitting his Porsche, while Alderman apparently also told officers the friends were trying to break into cars in the lot.
“At no time did Alderman say the victims were being detained for an investigation and was ordering them to leave the area when he drew his firearm,” the arrest report said.
Police said there were no 911 calls about auto burglaries or an accident in the parking lot that night.
“Police actually investigated into if we actually had done anything out there … and there was nothing,” Bens said.
The Sheriff ’s Office said in a statement that it “holds its employees to the highest standards and never forgets about its duty to preserve the public’s trust.”
Concerning the charges against Alderman, sheriff ’s spokeswoman Barbera, said, “Unfortunately sometimes an employee makes a bad decision which leads to misconduct. This misconduct was reported, investigated and subsequently determined to be criminal in nature leading to his arrest.”