Charles Rhoads biography: 13 things about Palm Beach County, Florida deputy

Charles Jeffery Rhoads of West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Florida, United States is a U.S. Army veteran, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner and a deputy at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBSO). Between 2008 and 2020, he was named in at least 36 incidents involving use of force or the drawing of a weapon.

On August 15, 2020, Rhoads encountered Kevin Wygant, then 19, outside a Tijuana Flats fast food restaurant in Wellington, Florida. At around 9 p.m. that day, Rhoads was one of the officers who responded to the restaurant after getting a call about unwanted guests including Wygant and Numa Jean-Bernard, then 18, of Royal Palm Beach, Florida.

PBSO sergeant James Benedict asked Wygant to leave but the latter kept coming back so he was arrested. While handcuffed, the arrestee argued with Rhoads saying, “Yes, I do have the freedom of speech.”

“Not to us,” Rhoads responded. “You don’t.”

“Oh, I don’t have the freedom of speech to you?” Wygant asked. He was pushed face first into a wall by Rhoads.

“F–k no,” Rhoads answered after leaning in close to Wygant’s ear. “I’m gonna show you what f–king freedom of speech is.”

The encounter was recorded by a bystander in a cellphone video. Here are 13 more things about Rhoads:

1. Aside from West Palm Beach, Florida, he has lived in other parts of Florida namely Haverhill, Riviera Beach and Wellington.
2. He previously lived in Killeen, Texas, USA, in Livermore, California, USA and in Fort Rucker, Alabama, USA.
3. He has two sons.
4. In 2008, he became a PBSO deputy.
5. In 2010, he pushed a handcuffed man he arrested and took the man to the ground. He accused the man of confronting him.
6. In 2011, he used a stun gun on people who were drunk or otherwise intoxicated.
7. In 2014, he used his knee to strike an arrestee in the head twice and used a stun gun on the arrestee four to five times.
8. On May 3, 2017, he received his purple belt from professor Wally Holem at Gracie Barra in West Palm Beach.
9. On May 9, 2017, he was engaged to a woman he met in 2014. They are both fans of Jason Aldean.
10. On August 25, 2017, he attended the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF) 2017 World Master Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
11. On August 30, 2019, he placed Kellen Means, then 18, in a chokehold outside a Whole Foods in Wellington and told Mean’s girlfriend, who was recording the encounter, that he was “going to f–k him up in 2 seconds”. Means was arrested and charged with battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest.
12. On August 17, 2020, the PBSO placed him on administrative leave.
13. He was 45 years old when CBS12 reported on March 8, 2021 that PBSO gave him an eight-hour suspension after investigating what he did to Wygant on August 15, 2020.