VIDEO: Inside IRCSO Jail. Self - Defense or Excessive Force?
IRCSO deputy exonerated after pushing female prisoner face first into wall. Other law enforcement officers on the scene never questioned.
Editor’s Note: The Sunshine Journal has provided a link to the reports generated from the public record regarding this story. The Internal Affairs Report contains the initial arrest paperwork as well as the investigation. Readers can view them in their entirety to draw their own conclusions. LINK TO DOCUMENTATION
The Sunshine Journal obtained distressing video(s) from inside the Indian River County Jail. The footage is from October 16, 2022 and depicts a citizen being processed for arrest who was at all times in the care, custody, and control of the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office (IRCSO).
The citizen, Melissa Zawistowski, filed a Citizen’s Complaint on February 29, 2024 after viewing the video footage of her processing at the IRCSO jail. The Sunshine Journal first learned of this incident on May 30, 2024 after the videos were shared by her family. Since then, The Sunshine Journal has received public records, including use of force procedures, incident reports, Internal Affairs’ reports, and a medical staff report. The final information request was answered on Friday, August 2, 2024.
The videos embedded herein were recorded video surveillance from within the IRCSO jail. Officer Kassandra Ayala, of the Vero Beach Police Department’s (VBPD) had arrested Ms. Zawistowski. She was involved in a traffic accident at Beachland Blvd. and A1A and was being booked for suspicion of DUI. Officer Ayala’s report confirms, “Zawistowski was transported to the Indian River County Jail where she was placed on video at 23:07 hours.”
The first video shows…
The first video depicts 2 deputies and a medical nurse waiting for Ms. Zawistowski to return from the restroom. Dressed in blue medical attire, the nurse was an on-duty contract employee from Treasure Coast Community Health (TCCH).
Leaving the restroom, Ms. Zawistowski then enters the intake room escorted by two female deputies. According to the IRCSO Internal Affairs’ report, Ms. Zawistowski recalled, “When she came out, she was told to sit in a blue chair. She said there were multiple blue chairs and she did not see the one by the wall. Ms. Zawistowski said Deputy Hiss grabbed her arm from behind and redirected her somewhere else. She said she was falling backwards and was trying to keep her balance when Deputy Hiss, ‘shoved’ her into the wall. She said she passed out and when she woke up, she was sitting in a chair.”
In the video, one of the 4 deputies, Deputy, Jeffrey Hiss, can be seen apparently taking command, as he attempts to redirect Ms. Zawistowski toward the chair by the concrete wall. He points his left arm in the direction of the stand alone chair. The 3 deputies, one male and two female, are near them while the TCCH nurse observes the incident from the opposite side of the room. She begins to walk in the direction guided by Deputy Hiss and a female deputy behind her. The female deputy can be seen to reach her hand out to guide her in the correct direction.
Then, Ms. Zawistowski stops. It looks as if she questions him about which blue chairs he wishes for her to occupy. At that point, Deputy Hiss strong-arms her forcing her to move toward where he wishes her to go. In doing so, he grabs her left arm with his right hand. Deputy Hiss then escalates the situation. Ms. Zawistowski becomes upset by his clamping down on her arm. Startled, she turns toward Deputy Hiss to get him to lessen his powerful clasp of her arm. She gestures to request he lessen his grip. At the same moment, Deputy Hiss changes his arm hold from his right hand to his left hand. Ms. Zawistowski is visibly unbalanced. Deputy Hiss puts his free right hand between her shoulder blades at the base of her neck and shoves her towards the chair against the wall. Ms. Zawistowski can be seen colliding face-first into the wall. She collapses limp on the chair falling to the ground. The video immediately ends.
The second video shows…
The second video is a six minute version from a slightly different camera angle. The viewer will not initially see the TCCH nurse present for the incident. However, it provides a close-up view of the incident and shows what happens after Ms. Zawistowski collapses. It begins after she is led toward the single blue chair. About the 17 second mark, Deputy Hiss and Ms. Zawistowski, followed by the other deputies, can be observed coming into frame and moving towards the wall. After Ms Zawistowski gestures for Deputy Hiss to ease his grip on her arm, the deputy places his hand at the base of her neck and full-force pushes Ms. Zawistowski’s face into the cement wall and chair. The remainder of the video includes almost three minutes where Ms. Zawistowski is lying motionless on the floor. The deputies then bring her to her feet and place her in the chair.
In the video, Ms. Zawistowski shows signs of dizziness as the weight of her body keeps falling forward. Deputies repeatedly assist her back to an upright position. At the 3:54 - 4:05 minute mark, a female deputy lunges toward her and violently slams her in the face. Ms. Zawistowski’s head jerks back from the hit. Ms. Zawistowski’s notarized citizen complaint stated, “The late arriving female officer punches with a right closed fist to the left side of her head while Melissa is handcuffed, seated in the chair.”
The medical treatment of Ms. Zawistowski continues as she is treated for a wound on her forehead. At the 5:25 mark, a deputy removes her hair from the wound and another takes 2 close-up pictures of her head injury. The nurse, who witnessed the whole incident, applies a bandage. Ms. Zawistowski is escorted out and the video ends.
The investigative findings of Internal Affairs
Later that evening, Ms. Zawistowski was charged with felony Battery of a Law Enforcement Officer (LEO). According to the incident report filed by Deputy Hiss and Booking Supervisor, Deputy Cornelia Harris, she was assigned “medical or Impaired Housing status”.
Ms. Zawistowski’s criminal case is still pending with a felony jury trial date of Monday, August 26, 2024.
Ms. Zawistowski’s citizen complaint lists the Nature of the Complaint as “Undue force upon a citizen in custody of and by Indian River County Deputies.”
Lieutenant Linda Nolan, the Internal Affairs investigator, noted she used the video to describe what happened that evening. In the interview, Ms. Zawistowski said the video brought more understanding. Specifically, she did not realize a female deputy had “punched her” until she saw the video although she had mostly recalled the events of October 16, 2022 on her own. The charge against Deputy Hiss brought under General Order 2531.00 - Code of Conduct reads, “Unbecoming Conduct Offenses (48) Excessive Response Resulting in Injury.”
In use of force incidents, procedure requires that deputies use de-escalation techniques. Page 5 of IRCSO’s document “4020.00 Response to Resistance,” it says, “If safe under the totality of circumstances, and time permits, deputies shall attempt the use of de-escalation tactics in order to reduce the need for force.”
First charge answered - was she ‘punched?’
The Internal Affairs’ investigation took the two allegations of being shoved into the wall and being “punched” separately. The video does not reveal entirely the punch Ms. Zawistowski alleged in her complaint. Regarding the allegation, Lieutenant Nolan’s report states, “Internal Affairs viewed the video as it was recorded but the narrative provided by the complainant is clearly exaggerated and incorrect. At time stamp 23:31:38, Ms. Zawistowski began leaning forward and her momentum was stopped by the deputies who are standing around her. At no time does any deputy, male or female, punch her in the head as she notes in her complaint (emphasis added). The deputies that stopped her forward motion did straighten her in the chair but her head did not, as indicated in the complaint, snap ‘sharply back into the wall.’”
The report continued, “In her interview, Ms. Zawistowski stated, ‘So when we actually saw the video, I didn’t even see where she punched me, but I know I got punched.’”
The video below is edited to when the incident of the alleged punch occurred.
In a summary, Internal Affairs concluded, “The lack of evidence in the video coupled with the Internal Affairs analysis of the video and the complainant’s statement is sufficient to determine that she was not punched when seated in the chair” (emphasis added).
The alleged punch occurs after Ms. Zawistowski is in the chair but again, falling forward. The female deputy seen on video slamming Ms. Zawistowski’s head is not named, nor, does the report indicate the female deputy was interviewed during the Internal Affairs’ investigation or criminally charged in this matter.
Were Deputy Hiss’s actions self-defense?
In the Internal Affairs’ report, Lieutenant Nolan says, “[Ms. Zawistowski] admits to an open hand slap of Deputy Hiss,” confirming resistance from her. Lieutenant Nolan also refers to the video showing her admittance to be true and adds the witness confirmation from Officer Ayala’s case report.
When an inmate is combative, the Internal Affairs’ report says Deputy Hiss has to assess whether Ms. Zawistowski’s actions could cause physical harm to himself or others. The report does not make any reference to the other 3 deputies on the video assisting Deputy Hiss with processing Ms. Zawistowski. Instead, Lieutenant Nolan refers to self-defense guidelines. It reads, “In this case, a physical strike from an inmate that is not handcuffed or restrained, resulted in a physical response from Deputy Hiss in self-defense. Deputy Hiss reacted and defended himself by pushing the complainant away from him. The force used by Deputy Hiss, in conjunction with her level of intoxication, was significant enough to propel her forward, causing her to impact the blue chair and half wall behind it.”
Lieutenant Nolan continued, “Once the complainant stopped her physical resistance, all response to resistance by deputies ceased as required and medical assistance was provided.”
But, the six minute video clearly shows this is not a true statement.
Lieutenant Nolan added, “There is no indication that the nursing staff requested medical treatment beyond what is available at the jail and the complainant’s statement that she was unconscious cannot be confirmed with the video surveillance.”
After Ms. Zawistowski hit the wall and collapsed to the floor, Deputy Hiss and the other deputies laid her flat on the floor by pulling her legs and straightening her torso. The video shows her face sideways down on the floor, her body appearing limp and her not reacting to the pushing and pulling by the deputies.
After lying her flat on the floor, Ms. Zawistowski was handcuffed. The deputies held her legs upward, a technique used to ensure that she wouldn’t attempt to run. She remained motionless for 3 minutes. The TCCH medical nurse who witnessed Ms. Zawistowski hit the wall and collapse never came forward to examine her while she was lying on the floor. His report never mentions the incident or performance of any examination for concussion. The medical report states, “Swelling observed on the right frontal lobe. Appears to be impair (sic).”
Was Ms. Zawistowski unconscious? She claims she was knocked out and the video seems to corroborate her assertion. Yet, how can any full determination be made by watching a video without audio? In his Incident report, Deputy Hiss wrote, “I then pushed her away from me and she hit the wall and fell to the ground. Once on the ground inmate Zawistowski was placed in wrist restraints. Inmate Zawistowski began yelling "y'all don't touch me." Inmate Zawistowski sustained a bump and small cut to the left side of her forehead due to the fall.”
There wasn’t any mention of the ferocity of the push.
While Deputy Hiss states that Ms. Zawistowski was yelling at the deputies, his report is unclear as to when she did so. In the video, the 4 original deputies chatted while she was lying motionless on the floor. As they stood waiting, 3 more deputies entered the area. And while the video is not absolute proof, it suggests Ms. Zawistowski returned to consciousness, and only then was she lifted to her feet and placed in the chair.
Deputy Hiss’s statement does not fully corroborate with the video evidence. Was the point of lifting her also the time when she said “y’all don’t touch me?” The very next sentence Deputy Hiss wrote says, “License Practical Nurse F. Mitial #TCCH24 responded to conduct a medical evaluation. It was determined that Inmate Zawistowski needed to be housed in medical on Impaired Housing Status.”
Deputy Hiss’ narrative conveniently omits Ms. Zawistowski’s physical state during the three minutes she was lying motionless on the ground. It seems unlikely that Ms. Zawistowski was yelling at the deputies while seemingly unconscious. Did Internal Affairs ask Deputy Hiss to explain this discrepancy with the video evidence? How did Internal Affairs reconcile this major conflict in the evidence?
Exonerated
Lieutenant Nolan’s Internal Affairs’ report concludes:
“Excessive force refers to force in excess of what an officer reasonably believes is necessary and serves no lawful objective. Deputy Hiss’ response to the complainant’s physical resistance was lawful to obtain the lawful objective of defending himself against the complainant’s active physical resistance. The action of pushing the complainant away from him to defend himself from being hit was reasonable and necessary. The response to the complainant’s physical resistance was not excessive based on legal and agency standards. After review of all available information, there is no evidence that would substantiate a violation of the above listed policy, as such, the deputy is EXONERATED.” (emphasis in the report)
Deputy Hiss was notified by email on April 12, 2024 that he had been exonerated and the case was closed. A subsequent letter was sent to Ms. Zawistowski dated April 26, 2024 signed by Lieutenant Nolan on behalf of Sheriff Eric Flowers. It explained the case had been closed and that “investigation determined that there was no evidence to conclude that Deputy Jeffrey Hiss violated any agency departmental rules, regulations, policies or procedures.”
Upon her release, Ms. Zawistowski missed almost a month of work due to severe headaches and neck pain. The bruising evident in her mug shot only worsened and both eyes were blackened.
Questions of police culture at IRCSO
Ms. Zawistowski was so mentally stricken by the incident that she waited nearly 15 months to file her complaint. She will be in court in a couple weeks facing a felony battery charge.
The General Order on Page 8 of "4020.00 Response to Resistance" acknowledges the reasoning of the Lieutenant Nolan’s internal affairs report stating, “Members of the Sheriff's Office shall use only the reasonable force necessary to effect lawful objectives and shall not strike or use physical response against any person except, when necessary, in self-defense, in defense of another, to overcome physical resistance to a lawful arrest, performing official duties…”
In Ms. Zawistowski’s defense, there are matters to consider regarding other general rules of procedure for deputies. Deputy Hiss did not act alone. He had three additional supporting deputies in the room. There was a TCCH nurse standing by for medical assessment. On page 6 of the General Order it states under Duty to Intervene, “Any sworn member who observes another Law Enforcement Officer/Deputy use any prohibited, inappropriate, unreasonable or excessive force, shall immediately intervene by verbal and physical means.”
No other deputies intervened when Deputy Hiss shoved Ms. Zawistowski.
The General Order also mandates, “All members of the Indian River County Sheriff's Office have the responsibility to immediately report any act (i.e., any violation of agency policy, state/provincial or federal law, or local ordinance) which they believe involves the use of excessive force, to the members immediate supervisor.”
Furthermore, procedure also requires on page 12 under the section titled, Reporting Use of Less-than-Lethal Response / Resulting in Injury, “Whenever physical response or less-than-lethal response applied through the use of less than lethal weapons is taken, or an action is taken resulting in (or is alleged to have resulted in) injury or serious physical injury to another person, the deputy shall immediately inform their supervisor of each incident.”
No other deputies reported Deputy Hiss for shoving Ms. Zawistowski into the concrete wall which resulted in a head injury.
According to video, Ms. Zawistowski was escorted by 4 deputies during the incident. Where are the reports of Ms. Zawistowski’s injury by the other deputies? What attempts did any of them take to de-escalate the incident? The Internal Affairs’ report did not ask these basic questions. As noted earlier, “If safe under the totality of circumstances, and time permits, deputies shall attempt the use of de-escalation tactics in order to reduce the need for force.”
There was plenty of time. The intake room is a safe and law enforcement controlled environment. There was one unidentified person in the waiting area, resting on the chairs. Did the deputies believe that the response to Ms. Zawistowski’s defensive protest was a normal way to restrain or discipline an inmate surrounded by 4 team members? The question remains whether 4 trained professionals could have found a better way to assist one another for their protection and Ms. Zawistowski’s safety too.
Unfortunately the IRCSO has a history of covering for their own.