A man, mistaken for a murder suspect, was bum-rushed by a group of Fort Lauderdale officers after he got off a county bus nearly a year ago. He’s now suing the officers involved — two of whom were also named in another lawsuit accusing them of excessive use of force during a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020.
Errol Leath, 34, is alleging that the City of Fort Lauderdale and police officers Eliezer Ramos, Steven Smith, Eduardo Requejo, Michael Lopinot, Todd Hill and Matthew Emala were negligent when they ambushed him for no reason on July 19, 2023, according to a lawsuit filed May 30 in Broward Circuit Court
Ramos and Smith were included in a federal lawsuit filed last week that accused the police department of deploying tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators who gathered on May 31, 2020 to demand justice for George Floyd, a Black man killed days before by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Floyd’s murder sparked the largest racial justice protests in the United States since the Civil Rights Movement — as it spearheaded thousands of Black Lives Matter demonstrations around the country.
In the filing, attorney Robert Rogers said Leath “has been brought into public scandal, and with great humiliation, mental suffering and damaged reputation” after he was tackled at a bus stop by officers with the department’s fugitive unit. The lawsuit also claimed that the city wasn’t training officers properly, particularly how to implement a tactical plan, identify a correct suspect and use only the minimum amount of force necessary.
Similar allegations regarding the department’s training protocols have come to light in the lawsuit brought forth by protesters.
“[Fort Lauderdale] knew of the dangerous conditions, or they existed long enough that [the city] should have discovered them in exercising due care, or [the city] created the dangerous conditions,” Rogers says in the filing.
Officers started tailing Leath, who can’t drive due to epilepsy, when he got on the bus near Northwest 24th Street in Lauderdale Lakes, according to the suit. They suspected that Leath was Daenon Malik King, a man wanted in connection to a murder.
They followed the bus in unmarked cars, parking the vehicles around the bus when it stopped near 2912 N State Road 7, the filing states. That’s when they hopped out of the cars, armed and wearing tactical gear. The officers then pointed their weapons at Leath and other people getting off the bus.
This embedded content is not available in your region.
‘You look just like him’
The officers didn’t identify themselves and, with guns drawn, shouted “Hey! You right there” at the crowd, according to the lawsuit.
At that point, Leath, who attorneys say had no reason to believe that the police were looking for him, “began to run away from the sights of the officers’ guns as he believed he was in danger from some other individual in the area,” according to the filing.
One of the officers tackled Leath, slamming his head into the ground and placing their hands around his neck while handcuffing him, the document reveals. Body camera footage published by the Miami New Times shows Leath repeatedly asking “What did I do?”
Leath, who appeared perplexed in the footage, told the officers that he had epilepsy. They informed him that there was a warrant out for his arrest before asking for his name.
“Murder?” a perplexed Leath said, according to the footage. “I never killed no one in my life.”
Officers proceed to look through Leath’s fanny pack, which contained his ID, epilepsy medication and a Bible. Realizing they had mistook his identity, they uncuffed Leath, the footage shows.
“These things happen,” one of the officers said in the video. “You look just like him.”
Leath, however, doesn’t resemble King, Rogers says in the lawsuit. Leath is in his early 30s and doesn’t have tattoos while King, who is in his 40s, does.
“I’m getting off the bus thinking they’re going after someone else. I’m trying to get out of the way,” Leath told WSVN shortly after the incident. “I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy to go through that.”
A spokesperson for the Fort Lauderdale Police Department told the Miami Herald on Thursday that it “does not comment on pending litigation.”
At the time of WSVN’s report, the department apologized to Leath, adding that officers “observed a man with several identifying features that were similar to the suspect” in “an area known to be frequented by the suspect.” They “had their firearms drawn because the suspect was known to be armed and dangerous,” according to the statement.
“We recognize the impact this mistake can have on an innocent individual,” the department said. “We will continue to be committed to upholding the highest standards of accountability, transparency, and fairness in our policing efforts as we serve our community.”
King was arrested less than five minutes away from that bus stop in August after the Marshals Service staked out his location. He remains behind bars awaiting trial.
Signup bonus from
