An Ocala man who was strip searched and detained for over 24 hours after he was mistaken for another individual has filed a wrongful arrest lawsuit against the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, saying he and his family were never reimbursed for attorney’s fees and towing expenses he incurred when his vehicle was impounded.
Attorneys representing Mateo Lopez filed the lawsuit against the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and Billy Woods in the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court of Marion County in late February.
According to the original complaint, Lopez was driving in Marion County on October 3, 2023, when he was stopped by an MCSO deputy for “an alleged traffic violation.”
After Lopez provided his driver’s license to the deputy, he was handcuffed and told he was being arrested for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and domestic battery with strangulation.
“Although Mr. Lopez told Deputy McMurray that he was arresting the wrong person and begged him to check again, Mr. Lopez was transported to the Marion County Jail,” reads a statement from the complaint.
Lopez says he was “booked, strip searched and placed into the general population at the Marion County Jail” while his “wife and family scrambled to hire a lawyer” to defend him. The complaint says his family paid “a significant amount of money to retain counsel.”
During his arraignment the following day on October 4, 2023, Lopez’s attorney argued that he had been wrongfully arrested and that he was not the person who committed the offense in question. The judge in the case directed the Assistant State Attorney to contact the victim.
According to the complaint, the victim indicated that she did not know Lopez and that the wrong individual had been arrested. After the victim made her statement, the judge allegedly ordered that the charges against Lopez be dismissed and that he be released with “high priority.”
Despite the judge’s order, Lopez claims he was placed back into the general population, where he was not released until “approximately 11:30 p.m. [on October 4, 2023], more than twenty-four hours after his wrongful arrest.”
“Mr. Lopez is married and had never been arrested or charged with a crime prior to his wrongful arrest on October 3, 2023. His mug shot was published online…friends and co-workers saw the published mug shot and contacted Mr. Lopez. The wrongful arrest obviously caused Mr. Lopez significant embarrassment and mental anguish. The mug shot remains posted on Facebook,” reads a statement from the complaint.
Although the specific social media page is not named, a website that maintains mug shots of past inmates of the Marion County Jail originally posted Lopez’s mug shot in 2023.
“MCSO had no probable cause to arrest Mr. Lopez. MCSO’s wrongful arrest caused Mr. Lopez, physical, psychological and economic harm. Mr. Lopez also had to pay a fee to retrieve his vehicle after it was wrongfully towed at the direction of MCSO,” reads the complaint.
Ocala-News.com found no record of Lopez’s mug shot in the Marion County Jail and no record of the alleged traffic violation in the Marion County Clerk of Courts.
In a response and affirmative defense filing in March, Woods’ office says the deputy’s actions were “in good faith and without malice,” and were based on “facts and circumstances as to give them actual or arguable probable cause to believe” that Lopez was the suspect in question.
“The Sheriff and its employees and agents reasonably believed that the actions they took with respect to [Lopez] were based on reasonable, actual, or arguable probable cause and were constitutional,” reads a statement from the Sheriff’s filing. “The Sheriff’s liability, if any, which is expressly denied, to pay a judgment against it is strictly limited in accordance with the provisions of the Florida Tort Claims Act, §768.28, Florida Statutes.”
Last month, MCSO filed a request for production for 28 “documents and things to be produced” from Lopez, including “photographs, drawings, videos, and audio recordings which depict, document, or capture the incident or events in the action,” containers for prescription and non-prescription drugs or medications “consumed by Lopez within the 24-hours prior to the incident alleged,” and all documents that “demonstrate or support the claim that Lopez was wrongfully and/or falsely arrested,” among others.
MCSO is being represented by Coppins Monroe, a Tallahassee-based law firm, while Lopez is being represented by Collins Law Firm of The Villages.