BOYNTON BEACH — An arbitrator has ruled that the City of Boynton Beach should rehire a police officer who it fired following the December 2021 death of a 13-year-old boy.

The arbitrator, James W. Mastriani, ruled that the city established that Mark Sohn violated the police department’s pursuit policy, but did not prove it had just cause to dismiss him following the death of Stanley “SJ” Davis III, according to a written decision issued in May.

Mastriani recommended that Sohn be reinstated “within a reasonable amount time” but without back pay, benefits or seniority.

A city spokesperson said Wednesday, June 5 that the city is still weighing its legal options. The city has 90 days to respond to the arbiter’s ruling.

From 2022: ‘Justice and change’: 1000+ Boynton bikers, family close US 1 during march to honor late teen

Boynton Beach fired Sohn in August 2022 after an internal-affairs investigation found that he violated multiple department policies, including one governing vehicle pursuits.

Sohn was reported to be involved in a high-speed pursuit of Davis on the afternoon of Dec. 26, 2021, when the teen’s dirt bike sideswiped a median on North Federal Highway and crashed. Davis III was catapulted into a street sign and died at the scene.

The teen was reported to be traveling at speeds up to 85 mph in the moments before the crash.

In his ruling, Mastriani wrote “There is simply no credible evidence that the operator was pushed into his excessive rate of speed, especially given the evidence that Officer Sohn was 608 feet or more than two football fields away from the operator when the crash occurred.”

More: Uber driver’s death in February crash leads to DUI manslaughter charge for West Palm man

Attorneys for fired officer Mark Sohn disputed whether pursuit was continuous

An internal-affairs investigation found that in addition to violating rules about vehicle pursuits, Sohn engaged in conduct unbecoming a police officer, failed to perform required duties and violated the officer’s code of ethics. Sohn was cleared of criminal charges after a Florida Highway Patrol investigation found that Davis drove recklessly while unlawfully fleeing an attempted traffic stop.

Attorneys for the police union representing Sohn argued during an April 2023 arbitration hearing that Sohn was not engaged in a continuous pursuit, but instead had made two attempts to conduct a traffic stop of Davis’ vehicle. They argued that Sohn attempted one traffic stop, broke it off and then reengaged after he saw Davis run a red light on North Federal Highway.

They noted that at the time Sohn was on duty, he was working under a grant obtained by the city titled the “Boynton Beach Motorcycle Initiative.” The program was intended to provide high-visibility enforcement to deter violations by motorcycle operators.

The city argued that Sohn engaged in a continuous pursuit of of Davis. It argued that while Davis’ actions were unlawful, they were not a forcible felony, a prerequisite for a vehicle pursuit.

Boynton Beach police policy restricts the start of a vehicle pursuit to instances where an officer “reasonably” believes a fleeing driver has committed a forcible felony, such as murder, sexual assault or armed robbery.

Palm Beach County schools: They need to start later by 2026. Here are 3 plans to make it happen

Boynton Beach noted in its argument before the arbitrator that the incident was Sohn’s fourth documented violation of the city’s pursuit policy over a 20-year career.

Sohn’s record, according to an 81-page internal-affairs file, includes 10 written reprimands and three suspensions, including two for violating department pursuit policies. Including Davis III, Sohn has been involved in three high-speed chases that led to the death of Black victims.

In 2012, Sohn was suspended for one day after his pursuit of 38-year-old Cyrus Deal led to a fatal crash. Sohn told investigators he believed that Deal’s vehicle was stolen when he began the chase, which ended on Interstate 95. It was later determined that the vehicle was not stolen.

In 2016, Sohn pursued a speeding 2008 Buick Enclave and began a chase that ended with the speeding driver striking and killing 5-year-old Jayden Readon, a Miramar boy in Boynton Beach to visit his grandparents. Sohn was not sanctioned in that case.

Arbitrator: City didn’t train officer how to handle motorcycle crackdown program

In rendering his decision, Mastriani determined that the city did not give sufficient weight to the mandates of the motorcycle grant initiative and said there was no evidence of training regarding the limits of high-visibility enforcement.

“In this instance, Officer Sohn was working on a grant specifically designed to be High Visibility Enforcement which, among other things, ‘provide enforcement activities over and above what normally takes place,’ ” Mastriani wrote.

He also ruled that inadequate penalties were issued against Sohn for past violations, placing him with “insufficient notice of the importance of compliance.”

“This is not to say that an egregious violation could not trigger a termination but the Agreement does reflect the existence of progressive discipline,” he wrote.

Sign up for our Post on Boynton Beach weekly newsletter, delivered every Thursday!

Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Boynton ordered to rehire officer fired in teen’s 2021 dirt bike death