Black Man Suing Police After Being Arrested, Mistaken for White Felon Twice His Age

A 25-year-old black man wants his vengeance after being arrested and misidentified as a white felon twice his age. He is suing two police agencies in Las Vegas because he was in prison for six days. 

AP News reports that Shane Lee Brown is claiming civil rights violations, false imprisonment, negligence, and other wrongful conduct by Las Vegas and Henderson police. He is seeking at least $50,000 in damages. 

Police were after Shane Neal Brown, who is 51 and a white man with a bushy beard and is taller than Shane Lee Brown.

In January 2020, during a traffic stop, Shane Lee Brown was pulled over and arrested to be booked into Henderson’s jail. He was then transferred to custody two days later to Las Vegas jail. He remained in prison until a judge ordered him free. The person Henderson police were looking for, Shane Neal Brown, was already in jail in San Bernardino, California. 

Shane Neal Brown was convicted of a felony in 1994 and had a warrant for his arrest in Las Vegas for possession of a firearm. In February 2020, he accepted a plea deal to six years in prison. After the strangely massive mixup, Shane Lee Brown’s attorney released a statement. 

“They would have easily determined that Shane Lee Brown had been misidentified as the person sought in the warrant.” The attorney accuses the police officers of failing to do “any due diligence” like acquiring fingerprints, dates of birth, and complying with basic physical descriptions. 

Shane Lee Brown repeatedly told Las Vegas and Henderson police that he was not the older white male they were searching for. Shane Lee Brown wasn’t charged with the crime.