Two police departments in Las Vegas are currently facing a law suit after a 23-year-old man spent several days in jail because officers failed to correctly read a warrant.
According to the suit, 23-year-old Shane Lee Brown was pulled over by Henderson City Police Officers on Jan. 8, 2020. Brown reportedly did not have his drivers license on him at the time but gave authorities his name, social security number, and social security card.
The officer then ran the name and found that a warrant had been issued for a Shane Brown.
Officers then arrest Shane Lee Brown.
He was first placed in Henderson Detention Center from Jan. 8 to Jan. 10, and then transferred to the Clark County Detention Center until the 14th of January.
Though Shane Lee Brown pleaded with staff at the detention centers to review their paper work, authorities refused and continued to hold Brown.
“Despite being informed of this mistaken identity, none of the unknown LVMPD or LVMPD corrections officers bothered to review its own records to determine whether that Shane Lee Brown was the subject of the warrant.”
The lawsuit states that the officers failed to correctly read the warrant which resulted in the wrong person being held for six days.
The warrant was for a 49-year-old man named Shane Neil Brown. The description identified him as a white male who stands 5 feet 11 with a “bushy white beard” and blue eyes. Shane Lee Brown on the other hand is a 5 feet 7, and black male.
“Had any of the LVMPD police or corrections officers performed any due diligence, such as comparing Shane Lee Brown’s booking photo against the existing mug shot belonging to the older, white ‘Shane Brown’ named in the warrant, comparing his fingerprints, birth date, ID No., or physical description, they could have easily determined that Shane Lee Brown was misidentified as the subject of the warrant,” attorney Brent Bryson said.
Shane Lee Brown was finally released from jail when he appeared in court and his public defender showed the judge the two men’s booking photos. The judge then ordered Brown to be released from jail.
Brown is asking for compensatory damages of $500,000 under federal law, as well as at least $50,000 under state law, in addition to punitive damages.