BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Monitor Editor
STARKE— A Bradford County sheriff’s deputy resigned following a traffic stop in which the agency said he failed to follow policy and exhibited unacceptable conduct.
Deputy Jacob Desue clocked a Jacksonville mother driving 75 mph in a 55-mph zone between Starke and Lawtey on U.S. 301.
When DeSue initiated his lights, the driver activated her emergency lights, then kept driving for several minutes before pulling over at Lawtey’s Fast Track convenience store.
The encounter was captured by Desue’s dash cam and body camera.
“You make any movement,” Desue shouted from his vehicle while pointing his weapon at the woman’s van. “that will be your last mistake you’re going to make.”
The woman: Ebony Washington tried to tell Desue she delayed pulling over in order to find a well-lit area.
“I don’t care about why,” Desue responded. “Just shut up.”
Prior to the stop, Desue is heard on video repeating his command for Washington to pull over immediately.
One of Washington’s children also captured the stop on a cell phone camera. On that recording, the woman’s children can be heard crying in the van while their mother was handcuffed.
“His verbal abuse was intolerable, and we weren’t going to allow that at the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office,” said Col. Brad Smith.
Washington told Desue that her 17-year-old, her 10-year-old and her 1-year-old were in the van.
Desue told Washington that if she had pulled over immediately, she would by now be back on the road.
“I could have given you a warning for speeding, and get you on your way,” he said.
Col. Smith said that while Desue was in pursuit, his sergeant told him not to engage the driver until backup arrived, and Desue disregarded those instructions.
Smith added that after the traffic stop, the agency’s Patrol Division Commander: Capt. Kevin Mueller scheduled a meeting with Desue to discuss the incident, but before the meeting, the deputy resigned.
Past problems
Smith said Desue has undergone previous remedial training, once for turning in a dirty patrol car, once for “getting snippy” with a communications supervisor after he failed to sign off on paperwork and the supervisor complained to sheriff’s office administration, and once for refusing to fill out required paperwork after he was injured on the job.
Smith said that up until the traffic stop, Desue’s most serious policy infraction was using abusive language during a January incident involving two bail bondsmen at a Starke convenience store.
Smith said Washington’s lawyer has made public records requests related to the incident but has not contacted the agency about legal action or compensation for the Jacksonville woman.
Hoping to bridge the gap
A month after the sheriff hired him in 2020, Desue spoke to a Jacksonville television station about joining law enforcement after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
Desue said that as a biracial deputy, he understands discrimination.
“I’m black and I’m white,” Desue told WJXT. “That’s where my nationality comes from. I’ve always dealt with discrimination even at a younger age.”
The new lawman added that he hoped to bridge the gap between law enforcement and the black community.
“If they know my story and they know where I come from coming in that would help them to understand the world around them,” he said.
