William D. Wheeler, Excessive Force and Filing False Report, Florida 2013

A Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Deputy has been indicted for using excessive force and filing a false report.

According to the indictment, William D. Wheeler, 46, unlawfully assaulted a man at the Palm Beach County Detention Center on October 9, 2013, and filed a false report on the incident.

The indictment alleges that Wheeler was employed as a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Deputy and was assigned to the Corrections Division at the West Detention Center in Belle Glade, Florida.

As part of his duties, Wheeler escorted an inmate, J.S., to the medical area of the facility where he was seated in a chair with his hands restrained behind his back with handcuffs.

The complaint alleges that J.S. did not comply with the treating nurse’s attempt to review his medical bracelet, and Wheeler then placed his hands around the inmate’s neck, struck the inmate’s head against the wall and pulled the inmate to the floor.

The inmate sustained facial injuries as a result of the incident, which was allegedly captured on a video recording.

Wheeler is scheduled to be arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge James D. Hopkins on April 15, 2015.

If convicted, Wheeler faces a maximum punishment of 30 years in prison.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Rhee Osborne of the Southern District of Florida and Trial Attorney D.W. Tunnage of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

Wheeler, William D. Indictment (PDF)

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

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