Identity Theft Victim Says She Spent Days In Jail After Wrongful Arrest

A Georgia girl is suing police in Florida after she was arrested, extradited and jailed for days in reference to a criminal offense that was truly dedicated by somebody who’d used her stolen driver’s license, a brand new lawsuit says.

Within the go well with, Karen Maloof, 54, mentioned {that a} Palm Bay Police Division officer who wrote a possible trigger assertion missed “apparent purple flags” and failed to fulfill primary investigative requirements earlier than she was arrested in reference to a U-Haul van that was rented — after which stolen — by somebody utilizing her ID. Maloof filed the lawsuit final week towards the officer and the division in america District Court docket for the Center District of Florida, accusing them of falsely arresting her.

Maloof first reported her Georgia driver’s license stolen in 2017 and obtained a substitute quickly after, in response to the lawsuit. She didn’t run into any points with the license till 2023, when federal regulation enforcement officers arrested her at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Worldwide Airport and knowledgeable her that she had a warrant for her arrest in Palm Bay, Florida, a spot she had by no means been to, the go well with says.

However somebody had fraudulently used Maloof’s stolen driver’s license in addition to a false cellphone quantity and e mail deal with to lease the transferring truck on-line from a Palm Bay U-Haul retailer, in response to the lawsuit. They by no means returned the van, and the shop determined to press fees after sending a requirement letter to an deal with that the thief had supplied — which, the go well with says, was not the deal with on Maloof’s license.

The lawsuit then alleges that Palm Seaside police officer Cody Spaulding didn’t make any try and contact Maloof at her Georgia deal with and that he additionally didn’t confirm the picture supplied to U-Haul in the course of the reserving course of was truly of Maloof. His sworn assertion led to the problem of the warrant for Maloof’s arrest.

“No fairly well-trained police officer in Spaulding’s place would have accomplished the Possible Trigger Affidavit towards Maloof with out extra investigation as a result of discrepancies within the images supplied, the a number of addresses supplied, and the unrelated e mail deal with supplied,” the go well with reads.

A spokesperson for the Palm Bay Police Division advised JHB they might not touch upon allegations in an open courtroom case.

Maloof remained unaware of the warrant till she was arrested on Might 19, 2023, when she had been set to fly to Europe for a visit together with her husband. She was forcibly separated from him when federal officers on the airport detained her.

She was then knowledgeable that she was charged with grand theft auto, larceny and fleeing from justice in Florida, in response to the lawsuit. She remained handcuffed in a detention room for hours and ultimately was taken to Georgia’s Clayton County Jail.

“Maloof was denied the possibility to present a proof and advised to ‘shut up’ any time she spoke to the arresting officers,” the go well with reads.

Within the days that adopted, Maloof remained in jail and was then extradited to Florida, the lawsuit says. She was launched on Might 22 after her husband was allowed to submit her bail, however her fees remained pending for months.

“All this concern, bother, and authorized expenditure might have been averted however for the shortage of care on behalf of Defendant Spaulding, the Metropolis of Palm Bay, and the Metropolis of Palm Bay Police Division,” the go well with reads.

Court docket information reviewed by JHB confirmed that prosecutors disposed of the fees.