Boone addresses 2018 use-of-force incident during Winter Haven police service

By Lane Tongate | March 4, 2026 |

Constable District 2 candidate Brandon Boone is speaking publicly about a 2018
incident from his time as a police officer with the Winter Haven Police Department that
resulted in an excessive force felony charge following an internal investigation.
Boone said the incident occurred while he was assigned to a crime suppression
initiative focused on proactive patrols in high-crime areas.
“I was working a crime suppression initiative at the time. We were doing traffic stops,
knock and talks, just getting out and talking to people, whatever we could do to work
high crime areas,” Boone said.
According to Boone, the encounter began with a traffic stop that led to the discovery of
marijuana, a large sum of cash, and multiple cell phones inside the vehicle. A K-9 officer
conducted an open-air search, which also indicated the possible presence of narcotics.
Boone said the driver, Ronal Augustin, was taken into custody and had a lengthy
criminal history.
“He said he wasn’t going to go to jail,” Boone said. “So I told him, yeah, you are.”
Boone explained that after initially starting to transport the detainee to the county
detention center, he was instructed by a supervisor to return to the department’s holding
cell so another officer could complete the transport while Boone returned to patrol.
When they arrived back at the station, Boone said the detainee became verbally
aggressive and refused to exit the vehicle.
“He said he wasn’t getting out of the car. He wasn’t going back in the holding cell. He
wanted me to just bring him to the jail and get it over with,” Boone said, adding that
threats and profanity followed.
According to an Aug. 28, 2018 report by CBS 17 News, Augustin directed profanity at
Boone and told him he hoped his children would die.
Inside the holding area, Boone said the detainee continued yelling at officers and
refused to comply with commands.
“I delivered what we call a pain compliance technique, which was a knee strike to the
upper medial portion of his thigh and forced him into the cell,” Boone said.
During that movement, Boone said the detainee planted his foot and twisted.
“He ended up with a spiral fracture in his femur,” Boone said.
Following the incident, the police department and the state attorney’s office conducted
an investigation and determined that the force used was excessive. Investigators concluded the knee strike contributed to the injury, a rationale Boone said was
explained using what officials referred to as a “broken egg theory.”
“They said had I not delivered the knee strike and forced him into the cell, he would not
have ended up with a broken leg,” Boone said. “Like if you tap someone holding eggs
and they drop them, you’re responsible for the eggs breaking.”
Boone said he believes the injury occurred because of the detainee’s movement rather
than the strike itself.
“The break happened whenever he planted his foot and twisted,” Boone said. “That had
nothing to do with the knee strike.”
Boone also addressed video footage of the incident that circulated publicly at the time,
saying only a short portion of a much longer recording was released.
“They show you 58 seconds of more than six and a half minutes of video,” Boone said.
He added that the knee strike used was a technique taught in police training.
“It’s a dead leg. It’s something we’re taught in the academy,” Boone said.
Boone said he was later charged with felony battery under Florida law, defined as an
unwanted strike or touch resulting in serious bodily injury.
“The serious physical injury was the spiral fracture of the femur,” Boone said. “The
unwanted strike or touch was the knee strike.”
Boone took the case to a jury trial, which resulted in a hung jury. Afterward, prosecutors
offered a plea agreement.
Under the agreement, Boone entered a no contest plea and received adjudication
withheld, meaning no formal conviction was entered on his record. He was sentenced to
six months of incarceration in a county facility followed by probation.
“I served six months in jail and then probation after that,” Boone said. “But it was
adjudicated withheld, which means I was not convicted of a felony. It does not affect my
rights.”
Boone noted the original charge carried a potential sentence of up to five years in
prison, and that prosecutors initially sought a multi-year sentence before the hung jury.
As Boone continues his campaign for Constable District 2 in Hancock County, he said
he wanted to directly address the incident rather than avoid it.
“I know people have questions about it, and I’m willing to talk about it,” Boone said. “I
stand by that I was doing my job and trying to keep control of a situation that was
escalating.”