An American was mistakenly kept in prison for 3 days: a 48-year-old woman was confused with a 26-year-old criminal

A tourist from Texas was detained at the exit of a cruise ship in the port of the Everglades. She was charged with a felony of endangering children. She spent three nights in the Broward County jail, but it turned out that law enforcement officers detained the wrong person, reports Local10.

Photo: IStock

“I just don’t understand how this could happen,” said 48-year-old Jennifer Heath Box from Houston.

She had never had problems with the police before.

“All this time I thought that this couldn’t happen,” Hit Box shared her emotion. “Strip search, humiliation, handcuffs, prison uniform, provision of blankets.”

She said she was unable to say goodbye to her eldest son, who went on a three-year military mission while his mother was behind bars for a crime she never committed.

Heath Box and her entire family spent a week aboard the Harmony of the Seas cruise ship.

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It was her first cruise, and she was celebrating the recovery of her brother, who was cured of cancer. The ship docked at Port Everglades, and Hit Box scanned her ID as she walked down the ship's ladder.

“At that moment, security surrounded me along with the police, asked if I was Jennifer Heath, and asked me to take off my jewelry,” Heath Box recalls.

She was told that there was a valid warrant in Houston for her arrest.

“I asked why I was being arrested,” Heath said. - As they told me, “a threat to children.” They took me off the ship in front of everyone."

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According to Heath Box, there were many signs that the authorities had detained the wrong person. She said that the description of the appearance in the warrant did not match her appearance, and this should have alerted. The detainee asked the arresting officer, Deputy Broward Sheriff Peter Peraz, to investigate.

Peraz is a police officer who was reinstated after being acquitted of manslaughter for shooting a man who was carrying an air rifle in 2013. Now he works at the port.

The warrant clearly states that the charge of endangering children concerned a one-year-old and three-year-old child, and the real suspect Jennifer Heath in the warrant has a date of birth of April 7, 1997, that is, she is 26 years old.

“I’m 49 years old - there’s a huge age difference,” stated Hit Box. — My eldest son is 30 years old, and the person for whom the warrant was issued was born in 1997. This is physically impossible."

“I don’t have children under 5 years old,” she argued.

Heath Box claims that the police officers did not listen to her.

“One of the employees came out and told Peraz, ‘We checked her, and we don’t have anything on her in the system,’” Heat Box reported her words. “But Peraz said, ‘No. That's her. I can prove to you that it's her. Let me just show you the photograph.” Again, that was all he was focused on."

Hit Box was arrested and she was in jail on December 24, 25 and 26 last year.

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“On the twenty-sixth, a policeman came to my cell and said: “I’m sorry. We know you are not Jennifer Heath and we know you were sent to prison by mistake.” I asked: “Does this mean that I will be released?” They answered me “no,” Box relayed their dialogue.

The BSO stated that they are sympathetic to the situation.

They said they contacted authorities in Houston, who confirmed the warrant, and on Dec. 26, the BSO requested fingerprints from Harris County, Texas authorities to confirm it was the right person.

Hours later, they were told there were no prints because Hit Box had never been in trouble with the law before.

The sheriff's office says Peraz followed proper protocols and his actions were checked by the internal affairs department, so no violations were found on the part of employees.

Case is closed.

“When I was released, they told me: “We are sorry that this happened,” Heath Box concluded her story. “Now I’m trying to clear my name by spending my money on it.” So far it has taken $10 of my savings.”

“I’m afraid that this may happen again,” Heath Box shared her experiences.

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