A corrections officer working at the Osceola County Jail was arrested Wednesday about a month after a woman said he attacked her and tried to trap her inside a Polk County home.
Joshua Díaz, 35, is currently in the Polk County Jail facing charges of domestic battery and false imprisonment.
A press release by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said Díaz and the victim were arguing Dec. 12 when he allegedly grabbed her arm, pulled her to the ground and held her down against her will. After she broke free, Díaz then followed her into a bedroom, threw her on the bed and blocked the door, deputies say.
Díaz fled the residence after the woman pointed a gun at him, the press release said. The victim told deputies she waited to come forward to keep Díaz from losing his job.
It’s not clear how the two know each other, and no other details were released.
“People who work in a position of public trust are held to a higher standard, as they should be,” Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement. “Díaz violated this trust through his violent actions. He will be held accountable.”
Díaz has worked at the Osceola County Jail since 2020, and will be put on administrative leave when he is released on bond, Osceola Corrections spokesperson Hope Martínez said in an email.
“We hold our staff the highest standards and have zero tolerance for behavior inconsistent with those standards,” she said.
