Defamation or wrongful arrest? Need advice!!
criminal defense attorney Florida Jul 23, 2026
Location: Florida In October 2024, three deputy sheriffs showed up at our house to arrest my bf on five felonies that he had no involvement in or knowledge of. He was held with no bond for a total of 71 days before the charges were finally dropped due to no evidence. What happened: Someone used my bf’s ID (or just his name) to turn in thousands of dollars of stolen copper wire they stole off of city work trucks they burglarized the night before. See, when you turn in this much copper, scrap yards require a receipt from where it came from to prove it’s yours to sell, your signature and thumb print to verify your identity and video surveillance of the transaction (per Florida statute 538.18, Fla. Stat. 539.19(2)(h)(1-5) and Fla. Stat. 538.19(2)(j), these records must be kept in order for the scrap yard to legally operate their business) Long story short, the cops found the copper at the scrap yard the same day it was turned in, and the only documentation the manager had for the transaction was my bf’s name. No copy of his ID, no thumb print, no signature, and no video surveillance. They said the video had expired already and they couldn’t retrieve it. But they have to send this video to the FDAC to be in compliance with industry regulations and Florida statute and it’s stored there for 3 years. The crazy thing is, my bf used to go to that scrap yard all the time, the staff knew him personally. So for someone else to use his ID or name, they would’ve known it wasn’t him. During the “investigation”, the cops of course ran my bf’s name, saw that he had a prior felony from almost 15 years ago, and called him a career criminal and a transient because the address on his ID is an old one (that’s actually in the police report). They never once called or came to our house to ask him any questions and give him a chance to prove his innocence or anything (he was at work when the copper was being turned in at the scrap yard and at home in bed when the robbery occurred). They never spoke with him at ALL before his arrest. But they damn sure showed up at our house when the warrant was issued! Ultimately, the charges were dropped of course, after a year of absolute hell. He now has PTSD from the whole ordeal and we have talked to so many PI lawyers, but they won’t take the case. So what TYPE of lawyer do we call? Is this a wrongful arrest because of the negligence during the investigation? Was there proper due process? Is the scrap yard liable too since they’re obviously operating their business illegally? What kind of lawyer can help us get justice for this, both against the sheriffs office and the scrap yard? Please help! Any advice is greatly appreciated!
