Falsely Imprisoned Victim Files Lawsuit in a Case of Mistaken Identity

KISSIMMEE, Fla., March 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Two Kissimmee attorneys, Linda Littlefield and Jason A. Shepelrich have served the city with a lawsuit against the Kissimmee Police Department, the Osceola County Department of Corrections, and the Osceola County Sheriff's Office on behalf of Hector Omy Collazo claiming false arrest and imprisonment. Collazo was wrongfully imprisoned December 2004 for a total of 54 days in a case of mistaken identity.

The Complaint alleges that the defendants falsely imprisoned Collazo in what began for him as a short stroll outside his grandmother's Kissimmee home for a cigarette break. Collazo was his grandmother's home health caregiver and source of financial support at the time of his arrest.

Collazo was not violating any law, ordinance or statute, nor was he acting suspiciously when a Kissimmee Police Officer approached him to ask if his name was "Louis." Collazo, with no fear of consequence, responded that his name was "Hector," and was placed under arrest. A computer search indicated that an individual with the same name was wanted in Texas on an outstanding warrant stemming from forgery charges. Aside from a name check, no further identity matching was accomplished at the time of the arrest.

Despite Collazo's protestation of having never set foot in Texas, the arresting officer attempted no other method of confirming or denying Collazo's claim. Although Collazo offered evidence of his participation in a 24 hour residential rehabilitation program during the time that the purported crime was committed, the defendants never confirmed his alibi.

Once jailed, Collazo continued to assert his innocence, requested fingerprints, DNA evidence or even a picture of himself to be sent to Texas law enforcement to confirm his position. Both the police and Sheriff's department failed to follow through on any of Collazo's requests.

Collazo was held in custody a total of 54 days while awaiting extradition to Texas for a crime he didn't committed.

It took Collazo one desperate final plea to the Harris County, Texas officials who appeared in Florida to extradite him. Once handcuffed, shackled and about to be placed on an airplane bound for Texas, Collazo begged the Harris County, TX officials to verify his identity.

In the few minutes it took the officials to request and receive a faxed photograph of the suspect, the Harris County officials determined that Collazo was not the individual they were looking for.

The suspect wanted in Texas was a heavy set, dark-skinned African- American. Collazo is a small-framed light skinned Hispanic-American who clearly did not resemble the suspect. Evidently, it turns out that Florida authorities had been provided with a photocopy of the suspect's photograph well before the extradition process began, yet no one at the police station or sheriff's office followed through in confirming Collazo's identity.

Collazo was released from custody at the airport after being paraded through the terminal in handcuffs and shackles, was handed $40 dollars, and was asked to take a cab home. No one from the Kissimmee Police Department or the Osceola County Sheriff's Department has since contacted Collazo to offer an apology or an explanation as to why he was kept in jail for so long.

For further information regarding this press release, please contact Jessica Larsen at (407) 933-4100.