FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Texas woman who was mistakenly arrested and jailed for three days over Christmas in 2022 has won a key victory in her federal lawsuit against the Broward Sheriff’s Office and several of its deputies.
A U.S. District Court judge denied BSO’s motion to dismiss the case, ruling that the deputies’ actions were not reasonable and that the lawsuit against Sheriff Gregory Tony can proceed.
As first reported by WPLG Local 10 News in June 2023, Jennifer Heath Box, of Richmond, Texas, was returning from a cruise at Port Everglades on Christmas Eve 2022 with her family when she was arrested on a Texas warrant for a different woman, Jennifer Delcarmen Heath, of Houston. The cruise was a celebration for her brother, who had recently become cancer-free.
Original story:
“I just don’t understand how something like this can happen,” Heath Box said in an interview with Local 10 News. She claims she was strip-searched and spent three nights, including Christmas Day, in the Broward County Jail. “The strip search, the humiliation, the shackles... I was like this is not happening.”
She missed saying goodbye to her eldest son, who was deploying on a three-year military mission.
According to the news report and lawsuit, the warrant was for a 26-year-old woman, while Heath Box was 49. The suspect was also described as having black hair and brown eyes, while Heath Box has red hair and blue-gray eyes.
Heath Box told reporters, “My oldest is 30 and the person the warrant was for was born in 1997. Physically impossible.”
Heath Box said that at the Broward County Jail, a detention deputy ran her driver’s license and found no active warrants.
However, the arresting deputy allegedly insisted, “It is her. Let me show you, I can prove to you it is her. I will show you the picture.” The issue, as it was later revealed, was that a photo of Heath Box’s driver’s license was mistakenly attached to the other woman’s warrant.
In her recent ruling, Judge Melissa Damian stated that the deputies were not protected by qualified immunity because their conduct was not a “reasonable” mistake, especially given the “mountain of evidence” indicating they had the wrong person.
Read the court order:
Box by Chris Gothner
The judge also found that the lawsuit had a plausible claim against Tony, citing previous similar incidents.
The court did, however, dismiss Box’s claims for “arbitrary deprivation of liberty,” citing a legal precedent that a three-day mistaken detention does not qualify for this claim.
Heath Box told Local 10 News that she has spent $10,000 of her savings trying to clear her name and is “terrified” this could happen again.
The Broward Sheriff’s Office issued a statement to Local 10 News saying they “sympathize with the situation” but that their deputy followed appropriate protocols and an internal affairs investigation found no employee misconduct.
Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.
