BOYNTON BEACH – An arbitrator has ruled that the city of Boynton Beach must rehire a police officer it fired following the December 2021 death of a 13-year-old boy.
The arbitrator, James W. Mastriani, ruled that the city found that Mark Sohn violated the police department’s pursuit policy, but did not prove that there was good cause to fire him in the death of Stanley “SJ” Davis III, according to a written decision. released in May.
Mastriani recommended that Sohn be reinstated “within a reasonable period of time,” but without back pay, benefits or seniority.
A city spokesperson said Wednesday, June 5, that the city is still weighing its legal options. The city has 90 days to respond to the arbitrator’s ruling.
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Boynton Beach fired Sohn in August 2022 after an internal affairs investigation found he violated multiple department policies, including one on vehicle pursuits.
Sohn allegedly was involved in a high-speed chase of Davis on the afternoon of Dec. 26, 2021, when the teen’s dirt bike struck a median on North Federal Highway and crashed. Davis III was catapulted into a street sign and died at the scene.
It was reported that the teenager was traveling at speeds of up to 80 miles per hour in the moments before the crash.
In his ruling, Mastriani wrote: “There is simply no credible evidence that the operator was pushed at his excessive speed, especially given the evidence that Officer Sohn was 600 feet or more than two football fields away from the operator when the crash occurred. “
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Attorneys for fired officer Mark Sohn disputed whether the pursuit continued
An internal affairs investigation found that Sohn not only violated rules on vehicle pursuits, but also engaged in conduct unbecoming a police officer, failed to perform required duties and violated the officer’s code of ethics. Sohn was acquitted of criminal charges after a Florida Highway Patrol investigation found Davis was driving recklessly while unlawfully fleeing an attempted traffic stop.
Police union attorneys representing Sohn argued during an April 2023 arbitration hearing that Sohn was not engaged in a sustained pursuit but instead had made two attempts to stop Davis’ vehicle. They argued that Sohn attempted one traffic stop, aborted it and then reinitiated it after seeing Davis run a red light on North Federal Highway.
They noted that at the time Sohn was on duty, he was working with a grant from the city entitled the “Boynton Beach Motorcycle Initiative.” The program was intended to provide high-visibility enforcement to deter violations by motorcyclists.
The city argued that Sohn persistently pursued Davis. It argued that while Davis’ actions were illegal, they did not constitute a violent crime, a prerequisite for a vehicle pursuit.
Boynton Beach police policy limits initiating a vehicle pursuit to cases where an officer “reasonably” believes a fleeing driver has committed a violent crime, such as murder, assault or armed robbery.
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Boynton Beach noted in its argument before the arbitrator that the incident was Sohn’s fourth documented violation of the city’s no-holds-barred policy during a 20-year career.
According to an 81-page internal affairs file, Sohn’s file includes 10 written reprimands and three suspensions, including two for violating the department’s pursuit policy. Including Davis III, Sohn has been involved in three high-speed chases that resulted in the deaths of black victims.
In 2012, Sohn was suspended for a day after his pursuit of 38-year-old Cyrus Deal led to a fatal crash. Sohn told investigators he believed Deal’s vehicle was stolen when he began the pursuit, which ended on Interstate 95. It was later determined the vehicle was not stolen.
In 2016, Sohn chased a speeding 2008 Buick Enclave and began a pursuit that ended with him striking and killing 5-year-old Jayden Readon, a Miramar boy in Boynton Beach to visit his grandparents. Sohn was not sanctioned in that case.
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In making his decision, Mastriani determined that the city did not give sufficient weight to the motorcycle grant initiative mandates and said there was no evidence of training regarding the limits of high-visibility enforcement.
“In this case, Officer Sohn worked on a grant specifically for High Visibility Enforcement, which, among other things, provided ‘enforcement activities above and beyond what normally occurs,'” Mastriani wrote.
He also ruled that insufficient penalties had been imposed on Sohn for past violations, leaving him “insufficiently informed of the importance of compliance.”
“This is not to say that a flagrant violation cannot trigger termination, but the agreement does reflect the existence of progressive discipline,” he wrote.
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Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @JuliusWhigham. Support our work: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Boynton ordered to rehire officer fired after teen’s 2021 dirt bike death
