False Arrest

Tampa, FL: (Sep-19-07) Mary Beth Mazar, a Valrico woman, brought a lawsuit against former Deputy Daniel Brock, a Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy, alleging that he violated her civil rights while arresting her son. Mazar's lawsuit predated Brock's firing and was not directly related to the internal affairs investigation into his DUI arrests. But her accusations echoed those of the federal investigation, which found that Brock arrested 43 drivers who had demonstrated no visible signs of impairment. Of those drivers, 19 also had blood alcohol levels below the amount at which the law presumes a driver is impaired. In her suit, Mazar alleged that Brock arrested her on August 31, 2002, on a charge of DUI even though a blood alcohol test showed she wasn't intoxicated. She had been summoned to the scene to pick up the car of her minor son, who was under arrest. She stated that deputies also detained her 12-year-old daughter, who had demanded her mother's release, for 12 hours before charging her with obstruction.

As part of a settlement agreement, the Hillsborough Sheriff's Office agreed to pay Mazar and her daughter $100,000, resolving the civil lawsuit. Mazar also reached a settlement with Daniel Brock, thought details of the agreement are confidential. [ST. PETERSBURG TIMES: CIVIL RIGHTS ARREST]

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Published on Sep-20-07