Detention officer hits teen, gets arrested

LAND O' LAKES - A security officer under contract with the Pasco County Sheriff's Office was arrested after video showed him hitting a teen on the head.

The incident happened at the Juvenile Detention Center in the Land O' Lakes Jail early this morning.

According to the sheriff's office, 55-year-old Russell G. Cummings was booking a 13-year-old male who had been arrested for possession of marijuana.

They say the teen started laughing while Cummings was searching him, and Cummings hit him on the back left side of his head.

Watch the video below:

"This was done in an aggressive manner and was an unnecessary use of force," said Pasco Sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin in a media release.

The teen wasn't injured, and was booked into the jail.

Cummings is charged with felony child abuse. He was employed with Wackenhut Security Services. Sheriff Bob White is now firing Wackenhut, and replacing the positions with Pasco deputies.