A Boynton Beach police officer fired after a 2021 pursuit that ended in the death of a 13-year-old boy is getting his badge back, after an appeals court upheld a ruling that overturned his termination. Mark Sohn, fired by the Boynton Beach Police Department in August 2022, will return to the department, though city officials say the timing of his reinstatement and his eventual assignment have not yet been finalized.
The pursuit that led to Sohn's firing began on December 26, 2021, when Stanley Davis III left a gas station on a dirt bike and fled after Sohn attempted to pull him over, according to CBS12. Davis was killed in a pursuit-related crash on Federal Highway in Boynton Beach. The Florida Highway Patrol determined Davis was traveling at approximately 85 mph while driving recklessly to escape the attempted traffic stop, according to the station's report, and found there was no physical contact between Sohn's patrol vehicle and the dirt bike — a finding that led the state agency to clear Sohn of wrongdoing.
Even though state investigators cleared him criminally, the department's own internal affairs investigation concluded that Sohn had committed misconduct during the pursuit, finding he violated several department policies. Boynton Beach's written pursuit policy explicitly bars officers from initiating high-speed chases over minor traffic infractions or non-forcible felonies, according to WPEC. A Florida Highway Patrol homicide crash report released in March 2022 further detailed that Sohn had followed Davis at approximately 80 mph.
An Officer With a Troubled Pursuit History
Sohn had served nearly 20 years with the Boynton Beach Police Department before his firing and had been disciplined multiple times previously for violating vehicular pursuit and apprehension policies, the same report notes. Davis's family and supporters cited that disciplinary history, along with Sohn's involvement in a 2016 pursuit, as reasons he should have been fired and criminally charged. In that earlier case, a driver fleeing Sohn lost control and struck and killed 5-year-old Jayden Readon as the boy walked with his family along a Boynton Beach sidewalk, according to Orlando Personal Injury Lawyers.
The Davis case set off months of public protests in Boynton Beach. Police Chief Michael Gregory resigned unexpectedly in April 2022 amid the outcry over the department's handling of the fatal chase, as reported by The Coastal Star. That same month, residents and city leaders publicly debated disbanding the municipal police force altogether and transferring law enforcement duties to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
Arbitration Overrides the City's Firing Decision
Despite the internal findings and public pressure, an arbitrator ruled in May 2024 that the city lacked just cause to fire Sohn, even while acknowledging he had violated pursuit policy during the chase. Arbitrator James W. Mastriani ordered Sohn reinstated without back pay, benefits, or seniority, and stipulated that any future pursuit policy violation would result in immediate termination.
City leaders did not accept that outcome quietly. In July 2024, Boynton Beach city commissioners voted to authorize the city attorney to challenge the arbitrator's decision in court, extending what had already become a years-long legal fight to keep Sohn off the force. The city attorney's stated plan at the time was to try to prevent Sohn from returning to the department. That effort has now failed: an appeals court upheld the ruling overturning Sohn's firing on June 23, meaning Sohn will return as a police officer with the Boynton Beach Police Department, which has confirmed the move.
Federal Lawsuit and Unresolved Questions Remain
The courtroom fight over Sohn's job is separate from a federal wrongful death lawsuit filed in November 2022 by civil rights attorneys Benjamin Crump and Jasmine Rand on behalf of Davis's parents. That suit alleges Sohn and the City of Boynton Beach violated the teenager's Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights and engaged in a pattern of unlawful pursuits against Black residents. Appellate proceedings tied to wrongful death litigation connected to Sohn were also reviewed before Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal in June 2024, according to Justia Law, underscoring how many separate court tracks have followed this case.
Davis's family and community members continue to oppose Sohn's reinstatement. The Boynton Beach Police Department has said specifics of his return, including his eventual assignment, still have not been finalized, leaving open exactly when — and in what role — the reinstated officer will be back on the city's streets.
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