License plate cameras used to falsely arrest Phoenix City Council Candidate????SourcePhoenix City Council candidate mistakenly detained Christina Leonard is the Phoenix community editor. By Eugene Scott PHX Beat Tue Jul 23, 2013 9:51 PM Phoenix police briefly detained a Phoenix City Council candidate Tuesday afternoon after an officer’s computer incorrectly indicated a warrant out for the candidate’s arrest. Police let Jeffrey Brown go when it became apparent they had the wrong person. “They took my tie off and belt off and arrested me, saying I owed 600 and something dollars for a parking ticket,” said Brown. “Do they normally do that?” Brown, who works as a mental-health advocate, appeared a little shaken after police handcuffed him. And he’s not completely in the clear. He’ll have to clean up some other infractions, but at least he wouldn’t have to spend Tuesday night in jail. The police detained Brown, who is running for City Council in District 4, as he was leaving the Republic Media building in downtown Phoenix. Brown had just attended an Arizona Republic editorial board meeting with other candidates in the central Phoenix district. Officer Arnie Cuellar said his police vehicle has an automatic license plate reader, which hit on Brown’s Mitsubishi Spider. Cuellar said he called to verify Brown’s information, and he discovered the warrant was for a different Jeffrey Brown. Cuellar said a mistake in the system caused the confusion. “I apologized again (to Brown). That really ticks me off. We’re just trying to do our job,” he said. But it doesn’t mean Brown is completely off the hook. The search revealed Brown does have about $70 in unpaid parking tickets on his Mitsubishi, Cuellar said. (Police records also showed Brown owes $675 in unpaid parking tickets on a GMC Yukon. Brown said he sold the Yukon at least a year ago, but it appears the new owner has not changed the vehicle registration.) Police also wouldn’t let Brown drive away, saying his driver’s license was suspended following a June implied-consent DUI arrest. “Implied consent tells me he refused some tests,” Cuellar said. According to Arizona’s implied consent law, refusing to provide a blood sample subjects a DUI suspect to an automatic driver's-license suspension. Not allowed to drive his car, Brown walked to the Arizona Department of Transportation’s downtown Phoenix offices to work out the details. Phoenix municipal court records show several cases against a Jeffrey Brown with the same birth month and year, including a recent DUI case. Cuellar said Brown told him he was going to court Wednesday to address the DUI. In an e-mail, Brown said Tuesday's incident wasn't the first time authorities had confused him with someone else. "I should not have been arrested and detained and I would think the courts and Phoenix PD could do a better job of communicating before arresting or deatining someone," he wrote. Brown noted that the incident happened with "cameras rolling," adding "I think I might need an attorney." |