Volusia Sheriff angry over 45-day sentence for parent accused of attacking school resource deputy: 'Asinine'

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. - A Volusia County judge sentenced a man to 45 days in jail on Wednesday after he allegedly attacked a school resource officer during a heated meeting at the school. 

Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood was in court to support his deputy and sharply criticized the judge's sentence, referring to it as "asinine" and "bulls--t."

What we know:

Nearly a year ago, Jorge Rivera and his wife, Dagmarie Aponte, were at Deltona Middle School for a meeting about their son. Their son was reportedly accused of shoving a girl at the school, which prompted the meeting, officials said. 

During that meeting, Rivera allegedly became irate with the school official and was asked to leave. From there, the incident escalated.

According to the sheriff's office, Rivera pushed the deputy against the wall, punched her in the head, and knocked her to the ground before grabbing her stun gun. The school resource officer pulled out her gun and ordered Rivera to drop the stun gun and to get on the ground. 

The incident was captured on the deputy's body-worn camera, as well as the school's surveillance cameras.

Both Rivera and his wife were arrested and booked into jail.

What they're saying:

The judge spent several minutes going through the timeline of the school incident before delivering her sentence against Rivera. Ultimately, she sentenced him to 45 days in the county jail.

Rivera shook his head slightly after the sentence and appeared to put his hands to his face.

The Volusia Sheriff's Office has also asked for $7,000 in restitution for the investigative costs. The defense asked the judge to delay a decision on that so they could verify the amount and the records. The judge granted that request.

 Sheriff Mike Chitwood was furious over the judge's ruling, feeling that it was too light and sent the wrong message to Volusia County residents and his deputies.

"This is an absolute smack in our face," said Chitwood. "It's a smack, and we're all here to support Deputy Curtain…and to blame her for what happened? It's bull**** and I think it sucks."

Chitwood said he respects the ruling, but that he does not have to like it.

"Every officer in Volusia County is going to pay the price for that, because now, if it's not open season on us normally, now it's even more to the point. As soon as the deputy does something that you don't like, or the deputy does something – it's open season, you can attack them," he said. 

In court, Rivera appeared to apologize for the way the incident went down.

"I feel ashamed. I feel remorseful," he said on the stand. 

Rivera's attorney told the judge that he was a decorated military veteran with PTSD. She argued that Rivera should be sentenced to probation.

Sheriff Chitwood disagreed.

"Good conduct? Medals? He should turn them back in," Chitwood said. "He's a piece of ****; he's a scumbag. And he went out of his way, attacked our deputy."

Rivera's wife's trial is scheduled to begin in December.