Deputies: Osceola County corrections officer arrested at daughter's soccer practice

POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A 27-year-old Osceola County Department of Corrections deputy was arrested Tuesday evening after witnesses said he behaved belligerently at his daughter's soccer practice, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said.

Deputies were called at about 7:30 p.m. to Hunt Fountain Park near Lakeland, where they found Joseph Hicks acting belligerently toward players, coaches and other parents, Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Michele Cash said.

Hicks, of Lakeland, smelled of alcohol, had slurred speech and was unsteady, and had been asked to leave the park several times, Cash said.

Investigators said his wife, Rebecca Hicks, begged her husband to get into her vehicle so that they could leave.

"While deputies were trying to calm him down, Hicks displayed his corrections badge from (the) Osceola County Department of Corrections," Cash said. "Mr. Hicks was told by deputies several times that he needed to calm down and leave."

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Deputies said Hicks tried to approach one of the deputies in an aggressive manner but was warned not to touch the deputy. They said he grabbed the arm of one of the deputies and was arrested.

Hicks continued to shout at the deputies and was uncooperative, investigators said.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd called Hicks' conduct embarrassing.

"He was publicly drunk, disrespectful of others, including the deputies who were just trying to get him to leave," Judd said. "He ruined what should have been a fun and healthy family experience for others."

Judd said Hicks will be trespassed from the park.

Hicks, who has been employed by the department since 2014, was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation, Osceola County Jail spokeswoman Hope Hicka said.

"The Corrections Department holds (its) officers to the utmost standards," Hicka said in a statement. "We have zero tolerance for conduct (that) goes against those standards."

Hicks was booked into the Polk County Jail on charges of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer without violence.

He'll face a judge Wednesday afternoon.

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