Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri has fired a detention deputy who investigators said delivered a forearm smash to the neck and head of a belligerent inmate.

Gualtieri announced Monday that deputy Richard Stotts, a 48-year-old 12-year veteran of the sheriff's office, has been fired for "a sustained charge of using excessive force on an inmate."

“You don't hit people who are handcuffed, who don't pose a threat to you and when you lose your temper and you lose your cool, then you're not going to work here anymore. You're not going to be a deputy sheriff because that shows you're not suited for the position,” said Sheriff Gualtieri.

The incident happened on May 8, when 39-year-old David Alan Koons of New Port Richey was being escorted into the intake and receiving area of the jail.

Koons, who faced charges of battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer with violence, was handcuffed and secured in a "belly band," with his hands immobilized, an internal investigation found.

While he was being instructed to stand on the facial recognition mat, investigators said, Koons began yelling racial slurs and other profanities toward the detention staff.

At that point, investigators said, Stotts approached the handcuffed Koons and, "without provocation or legal justification," struck him in the lower neck and head area with his right forearm.

Investigators said that Stott, with his arm placed around Koons' head, then took him to the floor and got on top of him.

“Koons was coming in and he was obnoxious, he was running the mouth, but under no circumstances does that justify or make it right for a deputy to smack him up on the head the way that he did. I'm not going to tolerate it,” said Sheriff Gualtieri.

The investigation found that Koons "did not threaten any staff member of pose a physical threat to the staff," a news release said. Investigators said Stotts admitted that the use of force "didn't meet the criteria."

Stotts also admitted to over-reacting and losing his temper, investigators said. His termination was effective Monday.