Tag Archives: mistaken identity

Cops See a Guy Who Looks Similar to the Actual Suspect (so they just grab him and call it a day)

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In Las Vegas, a police officer saw a man with a gun. It wasn’t actually a real gun – just a “finger gun” – a harmless hand gesture. Though harmless, the officer was not happy about it, and decided to get his buddies and go teach the guy a lesson. The officer noticed that the suspect was a black male driving a black Dodge Durango, and saw him turn into a nearby parking garage.

The suspect parked, took the garage elevator to the ground floor and when the elevator opened, there were no cops waiting for him. He walked off and probably had a good time that night. But, when another black male, who had entered the parking garage in a different car, after the black Durango also subsequently took the same elevator to the ground floor, cops were waiting for him – the wrong guy, ready to teach him a lesson….

The lawsuit:

Las Vegas ComplaintDownload

Man Buys His Dream Truck, Then Gets Arrested For Driving a Stolen Truck

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Coast Guard officer, Shane Sprague, bought a 2024 GMC Sierra 1500 AT4X on June 21 from Doral Volkswagen in South Florida. For many years, Shane had wanted this specific truck: a GMC 1500 AT4X. He worked hard, and made sacrifices, to be able to save money for the down payment. He put down a $15,000 deposit, traded in a 2012 Ford Focus for $1,500, and financed the rest of the $61,230 purchase price through the dealer. A dealership employee even snapped a photo of Shane looking happy with his purchase, and later texted him, thanking him for the sale and wishing him well. But, 10 days later, on July 1, an unmarked F-150 rammed his rear bumper, and he was arrested at gunpoint by Broward County deputies…

The lawsuit:

3d9d4834-debd-471a-af6d-ff70046d63b7Download

Grandmother Arrested on 25 Year-Old Warrant for Someone Else | Lawsuit Filed!

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In the blink of an eye, a peaceful day of yardwork for Penny McCarthy turned into a nightmare. She was on her driveway in Phoenix, Arizona, in a sleeveless shirt, shorts, and slippers, when a team of United States Marshals pulled up in unmarked vehicles and aimed firearms at her.

Penny—who is a 67-year-old grandmother—was clearly at their mercy. And yet, the officers threatened to “hit” her, frisked her, placed her in handcuffs and ankle shackles, and drove her away from home. The officers did not so much as check Penny’s driver’s license or run any other basic checks on her identity before violently arresting her.

The whole time, Penny calmly but persistently insisted that there must be a mistake. The officers claimed that she was Carole Rozak, for whom they had an arrest warrant. But Penny was not Rozak, and Penny had no connection to Rozak. The officers had made a huge, inexcusable error.

Here are more details from the Institute for Justice.

You can DONATE to the Institute for Justice here.

The complaint that was filed by the Institute for Justice:

AZ-Mistaken-ID-Stamped-ComplaintDownload