Boynton Beach Votes To Appeal Arbitrator's Decision To Rehire Fired Officer

The City of Boynton Beach will appeal a decision by an arbitrator that a police officer should get his job back.

The vote came down Tuesday night after commissioners heard from angry members of the community, who don't want Mark Sohn patrolling their streets again.

"We are not anti-police, we are anti-police brutality!"

Members of the city's Black community have been up in arms since that arbitrator's recommendation in May that Sohn be rehired without back pay.

Sohn was fired eight months after 13-year old Stanley Davis III fatally crashed his dirt bike while fleeing from the officer in December of 2021.

FHP ruled that Sohn did nothing wrong and that Davis was recklessly and illegally driving the bike on city streets at excessive speeds.

The teen's father told city commissioners that he's ready for a fight if the officer is rehired.

"So whatever happens to me the day I come in contact with that guy I'm totally fine with that. Whether it's Hell or jail, I'm totally fine with that and I want y'all to understand how I feel."

While the Commission voted to file an appeal to the arbitrator's decision, the arbitrator will have an opportunity to deny that appeal.

A statement from a city spokeswoman says that the city "intends to exhaust all means in this case to ensure a fair and equitable process for the community and the city of Boynton Beach."