A Nevada man spent six days in jail after law enforcement stopped and arrested him on a warrant two years ago in what turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.
Black man spends days in jail after being mistaken for white man
Shane Lee Brown, a black man, is now suing police and the city of Henderson for misidentifying him as Shane Neal Brown, an older white man for whom the warrant was actually for, according to a lawsuit.
Shane Lee Brown was stopped by Henderson police on Jan.
8, 2020, but did not have his ID on him, KLAS-TV reported. The lawsuit says he gave police his name, Social Security number and card, but when police ran a background check on “Shane Brown,” they discovered a felony warrant for his arrest.
Shane Neal Brown, who was 49 at the time, had been charged with ownership or possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, according to the lawsuit. Officers confused the two men and arrested Shane Lee Brown, who was held at the Henderson Detention Center for two days, according to the lawsuit.
“During his unlawful detention, Shane Lee Brown repeatedly explained to numerous unknown Henderson police officers and supervisors that he was not the 49-year-old white ‘Shane Brown’ who was subject to the felony warrant,” the lawsuit says.
Shane Lee Brown, who was 23 at the time, was transferred to the Clark County Detention Center and remained there for the remaining days, according to the lawsuit. While there, his correct date of birth, race and height were recorded and he was assigned an identification number that was different from the one given to the other Shane Brown.
Court records filed by a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer ordered Shane Lee Brown to appear before a judge regarding the warrant, according to the lawsuit. There, his public defender presented the judge with booking photos of Shane Lee Brown and Shane Neal Brown, and the judge ordered Shane Lee Brown released.
