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Family of teen who died after attempted traffic stop renew call for Boynton Beach police officer to be fired

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The family of Stanley Davis III is renewing their call for the Boynton Beach Police Department to fire one of their own, immediately.

The 13-year-old died after his dirt bike crashed during an attempted traffic stop by Officer Mark Sohn. Sohn has previous violations on his record, in 2004, the department suspended Sohn for 57 hours for violating at least 12 different rules and policies in a vehicle pursuit.

Attorneys, family, friends and community activists rallied outside police headquarters Friday.

“We picked this day specifically, March 11, because we understand that it was 20 years ago that this police officer was hired here as a police officer and for 20 years, based on a lot of evidence from this community, has terrorized Black people,” family attorney Ben Crump said.

Sohn was also disciplined two other times for unsatisfactory performance in a vehicle pursuit after the incident with Davis.

Despite the violations, Sohn was also nominated for officer of the month and in 2016 was given a police duty medal.

His actions on the day of Davis’ December crash near Federal Highway and Boynton Beach Boulevard remain under investigation by the Florida Highway Patrol.