Lawsuit: Police Battered Epileptic Bus Rider After Mistaking Him for Murder Suspect (2024)

One morning last July, Errol Leath was getting off a county bus in Lauderdale Lakes when he was suddenly swarmed by a heavily armed police unit.

"You right there! Don't f*cking move!" an officer shouted at him.

Video shows a group of Fort Lauderdale police officers and U.S. Marshals pouncing onto the 33-year-old man on the grass at the bus stop and forcing his head into the groundbefore handcuffing him. Leath finds himself surrounded by cops, several of whom are pointing large rifles at him, as he lies face-down with officers restraining him.

It was a dramatic scene fit for, say, a murder suspect.

The only problem? Leath wasn't suspected of murder— or any crime, for that matter.

In a lawsuit filed May 30 against the City of Fort Lauderdale and six of its officers, Leath accuses police of violently detaining and battering himafter mistaking him for a Broward County murder suspect.

He says the startling encounter left him with "severe physical and mental trauma."

"The only similarities between Mr. Leath and the suspect are that they are both Black men with similar hairstyles and height; that’s where the similarities end," his attorney, Brett Rogers, wrote in a statement to New Times. "Thisincident should never have occurred. Members of the fugitive unit made abundant mistakes in this poorly executed, reckless, and haphazard operation."

Leath, who has epilepsy and can't drive, was riding a county bus on July 19, 2023, as police searched the area for amurder suspect: a man named Daenon Malik King.

The lawsuit (attached below) says that police targeted Leath even though he and King looked far from alike—for instance, they have "completely different" facial features, and Leath, unlike King, has no tattoos.

"I'm getting off the bus thinking they’re going after someone else.I’m trying to get out the way." Leath said in an interview with WSVN following the incident. "I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy to go through that."

Body-worn camera video shows the police unit, with their weapons drawn and wearing tactical vests, running up on Leath and other people who are exiting the Broward County bus. One startled passenger is seen falling to his knees and throwing his hands above his head.

Just feet away, a frightened Leath begins to flee. When police order him to stop, Leath lies down on the grass, at which point an officer wraps an arm around his neck and smothers him into the ground, pressing a knee against his back.

"What did I do?" Leath asks.

"Don't f*cking move man," an officer tells him.

"What did I do?" he asks again. "I got epilepsy, bro."

The video shows officers searching through Leath's fanny pack and finding his ID,epilepsy medication, and a Bible.

After an officer asks Leath his name, and he confirms it, the cops quickly uncuff him and explain there was a misunderstanding –– they claim he "looked identical" toKing, whowas arrested weeks later on second-degree murder charges in the shooting of an elderly man.

"Listen, it's unfortunate, but you have...it's almost like your twin brother," an officer tells Leath.

"I thought I was going to get killed," Leath says at one point. "This is embarrassing."

The Fort Lauderdale Police Department issued a statement shortly after the incident apologizing for the error.

"On July 19, 2023, FLPD’s Career Criminal Unit, working in conjunction with the US Marshals Task Force, observed a man with several identifying features that were similar to the suspect being sought for the murder. This man, identified later as Errol Leath, was observed in an area known to be frequented by the suspect," the statement reads. "We recognize the impact this mistake can have on an innocent individual. 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."

Notably, one of the officers named in the suit is Eliezer Ramos, the Fort Lauderdale policeman who made headlines years ago after shooting peaceful protester LaToya Ratlieff in the face with a tear-gas bullet and smashing her eye socket in 2020 during protests that followed the murder of George Floyd. (Ramos was cleared of wrongdoing in an internal affairs probe. Ratlieff's civil case against him and the City of Fort Lauderdale over the incident remains pending in Florida federal court.)

Leath'slawsuit notes that although police never called emergency services to check his vitals or conduct a wellness check following the bus-stop takedown, he went to the hospital later that day because he feared the stress from the encounter had triggered a seizure.

In addition to physical pain from the incident, Leath "suffered grievously" from being brought into public scandal "with great humiliation, mental suffering, and damaged reputation," the lawsuit reads.

"Mr. Leath suffers from epilepsy, and this horrific event has aggravated his seizures and been incredibly mentally traumatic," Leath's attorney says. "The City of Fort Lauderdale should be held responsible for this appalling event, which has resulted in lasting physical and mental trauma for Mr. Leath.”

The police department declined to comment on the pending litigation. The city didn't respond to a request for comment.