A Broward Sheriff's deputy, accused of using excessive force in a February 2014 incident in Deerfield Beach, turned himself in Monday.
Deputy Justin Lambert was booked into the main jail after the State Attorney's Office issued a warrant for his arrest.
Lambert and another deputy were seen on surveillance video roughing up 50-year-old David Gonzalez outside a gas station. They claimed Gonzalez resisted them.
Deputy Lambert is seen in the video slamming Gonzalez face-first onto the pavement, leaving him with a broken eye socket. Lambert claimed he was justified in using force against Gonzalez.
After seeing the video, prosecutors in April charged Lambert with misdemeanor battery and both deputies with filing false police reports -- both crimes are misdemeanors.
The courts have since ruled that Gonzalez's injuries were serious enough to charge someone with felony battery. And, after some attorneys questioned why the deputy was facing only a misdemeanor charge, prosecutor Michael Satz changed his mind and charged Lambert with felony battery.
When Lambert was charged with a misdemeanor, Sheriff Scott Israel suspended him with pay. Now that he faces a felony charge, Sheriff Israel has suspended Lambert without pay.
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Lambert was released on bond.
