Broward Sheriff's Office detention deputy Gladys Dauphin is accused of attacking inmate Darryl Cunningham with a radio and then falsifying jail records to cover up the incident.

For the second time in less than a week, a Broward Sheriff's Office deputy has been arrested and charged with criminal misconduct while on-duty. (Is this a trend?)

Detention deputy Gladys Dauphin was charged Wednesday with aggravated battery and official misconduct after an internal investigation found that she attacked an inmate with her portable radio and then tried to cover up the incident.

BSO announced the charges Thursday, one day after Dauphin was arrested by Internal Affairs investigators.

The incident occurred at approximately 2:30 a.m. on Friday, February 20 at BSO’s Main Jail. BSO Aggravated Felonies detectives said that while on duty, Dep. Dauphin entered Darryl Cunningham’s cell to counsel him. While in the cell, she hit him several times on his head with her department-issued radio. Dep. Dauphin told another deputy she hit Cunningham with her radio because he "disrespected" her.

After the encounter, Cunningham was taken to the infirmary where he received five staples for his wound. During the investigation that followed, Dep. Dauphin was placed on suspension with pay. Statements were taken from inmates as well as other deputies. One of the deputies said he saw Dauphin “whack” Cunningham in the head with her radio.

The affidavit states that Dauphin,
37, entered Cunningham's cell to talk to him because he had disrespected her.

She had Cunningham sit on his bed and then struck him several times toward the back of his head with her police radio, he told investigators.

``The injuries resulted in permanent scarring and disfigurement,'' Kessling wrote in the report.

Cunningham, 25, received five staples in the jail infirmary after the incident to close a laceration.

``I got him,'' Dauphin allegedly said to Sgt. Edward Pierce after the incident.

Dauphin then tried to cover up the attack, using another deputy's identity to falsify jail records to show that Cunningham refused treatment after falling, according to the affidavit.

The investigation culminated with Wednesday’s (8/5/09) arrest at BSO’s Internal Affairs Division. In addition to the charge of aggravated battery causing bodily harm, Dep. Dauphin also faces a charge of official misconduct and filing false reports. BSO investigators said that after the incident Dep. Dauphin falsified information that was entered electronically into the Jail Management System on Cunningham’s contact log.

Cunningham was released to the custody of the U.S. Marshals on March 6, 2009.

Dauphin was released on a $6,100 bond Wednesday evening and suspended without pay.

BSO Case Number: BS09-2-4746
Date: February 20, 2009
Place of Occurrence: BSO’s Main Jail, 555 SE 1 Avenue, Fort Lauderdale
Victim(s): Darryl Cunningham, 25, 3/19/84, male, Fort Lauderdale
Suspect(s): BSO Detention Deputy Gladys Dauphin, 37, female, date of hire 12/13/04