Broward sheriff's deputy suspended, arrested after being charged with hitting, threatening husband
FORT LAUDERDALE -- A Broward County Sheriff's Office deputy has been suspended from duty after she was arrested and accused of hitting her husband and sending him threatening messages, authorities said Thursday.
Deputy Ashley Richardson, 39, was taken into custody Wednesday by the sheriff's Public Corruption Unit after the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office issued a warrant for her, Broward officials said in a written statement.
Richardson was held on a $15,000 bond after being charged with battery and intimidation by written or electronic threat, according to court documents. It was not immediately clear Thursday afternoon if she had posted bond or was still in custody.
According to the arrest form, Richardson's husband called investigators with the Palm Beach sheriff's office on Nov. 22 to report that her wife had sent him several threatening messages that included statements that said "U will die" and "Ur gonna (expletive) die I don't care who I hire or what I do (expletive)."
During a meeting with the victim, he told investigators that his wife was stressed because she was the subject of an internal affairs investigation "and her mental health is rapidly deteriorating."
Officials have not confirmed or revealed the nature of the internal affairs probe.
The woman's husband said the text message continued in recent weeks in which the woman threatened to harm herself and that she was going to die.
In November, deputies found video from the couple's cell phone which allegedly showed the woman striking her husband in June.
According to the police report, deputies were called to the couple's Palm Beach County home in October to confiscate the woman's firearms because she was under a risk protection order.