FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A plea deal has been reached in the case of a man who struggled with St. Lucie County deputies last fall, then was shot and injured by a deputy who mistook her gun for her Taser.
Body camera video recorded the encounter last September.
A man threatened to jump from the North Causeway Bridge while Deputy Cortney Hoyt was trying to de-escalate the situation.
"Hey, I'm here, you're not alone. … Don't let go," video showed Hoyt pleading to the man during the incident.
Eventually, the man, Dylan DeReivera, jumped down to a lower landing, and went underneath the bridge to the other side of the road, ignoring the deputy's commands.
Hoyt believed DeReivera was armed.
Another deputy arrived, but DeReivera refused to be restrained, and during a struggle, grabbed at one of the deputy's Tasers.
Hoyt shot DeReivera in the backside. She was given a six-day suspension without pay and took a remedial training session involving gun and Taser practice.
In a plea deal, DeReivera was found guilty of resisting an officer with violence.
Two other felonies, including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, were dropped.
At a news conference last fall, a knife that the sheriff said was on DeReivera was displayed.
In addition to the time served, DeReivera was placed on two years probation with the condition that he is released directly into mental health court.
WPTV asked Sheriff Ken Mascara why his agency agreed to the plea deal.
He said prosecutors contacted both deputies who were involved in the incident, and that all parties realized there was some type of mental health issue with DeReviera.
At the time of the incident, the sheriff said nearly a third of their calls that week were for mental health issues, a challenge they face regularly. Hoyt has already served her suspension.
