MIAMI — A U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement agent pulled over in the Florida Keys for driving under the influence questioned a Monroe County deputy’s U.S. citizenship and asked whether he was Haitian, according to recently released body camera footage.

As he was being taken to jail on the DUI charge, the intoxicated agent not only asked the deputy if he was Haitian, but told another deputy he was going to check the deputy’s immigration status after he was released, the camera footage shows.

Scott Deiseroth, 42, was driving south on U.S. 1 around mile marker 40 around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 13, when Col. Chad Scibilia, the sheriff’s office’s second in command, in plain clothes responded to reports of a Chevrolet pickup truck driving recklessly over the Seven Mile Bridge.

Scibilia saw the pickup straddling the line between northbound and southbound traffic on U.S. 1 and driving all over the road, including the shoulder, according to Deiseroth’s arrest report. He radioed other deputies, who pulled Deiseroth over on the Bahia Honda bridge, four miles south.

Deputy Jonathan Lane walked up to Deiseroth’s window asked him where he was going and where he thought he was. Deiseroth said he was on the 18-Mile Stretch driving back to Miami after spending the day in Islamorada, according to the deputy’s body camera footage. He was actually at least 70 miles south of the Stretch and driving the opposite way from Miami.

Deiseroth, who had his 7- and 9-year-old sons in the truck, reluctantly agreed to exit the pickup, but tried to appeal to Lane and other deputies on the scene to let him go because he, too, works in law enforcement. He also told Lane he was going through a divorce and said he’d lose his kids if he was arrested, the footage shows.

“Lane, talk to me, man,” Deiseroth said. “We are both law enforcement. I am going through a divorce. Don’t take my kids.”

The footage shows Deiseroth’s demeanor teetering between sad and angry. After repeatedly failing a field sobriety test that included trying to walk a straight line without stumbling, he questioned one of Lane’s colleagues, Deputy Markens Dorestant, about his citizenship. Dorestant has a Caribbean accent.

Deiseroth, the footage shows, responded, “Are you Haitian?”

Dorestant replied: “It’s got nothing to do with race, buddy.”

Lane also told Deiseroth that it didn’t matter where Dorestant was from.

Deiseroth retorted, “It does.”

After it became clear Deiseroth could not pass the field sobriety test, Lane handcuffed him. He resisted as Lane and Dorestant struggled to seat him in the back of a patrol car, the footage shows.

“(Expletive) you, Lane,” Deiseroth said when he was finally in the car. “You really (expletive)ed me.”

Lane responded: “I didn’t (expletive) you. I’m not the one who drank and drove,” the footage shows.

Deiseroth continued to yell and bang his head in the back of the car while Lane, Dorestant and Scibilia arranged for Deiseroth’s estranged wife to come down from Miami-Dade County to pick up the couple’s children, according to the footage and his arrest report.

Drinking in Islamorada

The children told Lane that their father took them to a resort in Islamorada, the video shows, where they said he was drinking. Deiseroth told Lane he did not remember the name of the resort, and that a bartender made him several mixed drinks, according to the footage. He initially said he had four drinks, but when it became clear the deputies were not going to release him, he dropped the number to three drinks, the video shows.

Questions about citizenship

During the approximately 40-minute drive to the county jail on Stock Island, Deiseroth repeatedly asked Lane to let him go. He also brought up Dorestant’s ethnicity again, according to the footage.

“Your boy, he’s Haitian, right?” Deiseroth asked.

“He’s an American citizen as far as I’m aware,” Lane responded.

Deiseroth told Lane he was going to verify Dorestant’s citizenship, according to the video.

“I’m gonna run some checks when I get back,” Deiseroth said. He also said that he’d have Dorestant removed from the country if he didn’t check out, according to the footage

“Well, that would be sad. He’s a nice guy,” Lane responded.

Twice the legal alcohol limit, test shows

When they arrived at the jail, Deiseroth agreed to take a blood alcohol breath test. The results were a blood alcohol content of 0.174, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08, according to his arrest report.

Deiseroth has pleaded not guilty to driving under the influence and resisting arrest without violence. Monroe County State Attorney Dennis Ward said his office is also considering charging him with felony child neglect because his sons were in the pickup when he was driving drunk.

Deiseroth’s attorney, Michael Catalano, told the Herald that his client is sorry for what happened and that he is trying to get his life in order after the arrest and through his divorce proceedings.

“He is very sad and very remorseful. He’s been doing a voluntary breath test for the past three months and hasn’t failed one. He has been going to counseling and therapy to try to show the world that he is a better person than what the video shows that day,” Catalano said.

Deiseroth still works for ICE, but is on administrative duty, Catalano said.

ICE released a statement when Deiseroth was arrested, saying it wouldn’t comment until its investigation is complete.

“As the matter is currently under investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment on the arrest. However, as public servants working for a law enforcement agency, every employee at ICE is held to the highest standard of conduct. Should an investigation determine they have not adhered to those standards it will be addressed appropriately.”

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