Innocent man spends 4 days in jail after police confuse him with wanted burgler

[davidn3600]

An 18-year-old college freshman claims he was traumatized after police arrested him and put him in jail for four days in the belief he had a federal warrant, CBS Baltimore reports.

Jawon Johnson, a freshman at West Virginia University who also plays wide receiver on the school's football team, was pulled over Saturday by Havre de Grace police for making an illegal U-turn. The infraction would usually result in a ticket, but Johnson got handcuffed and transported to the Harford County Detention Center instead on a federal warrant for burglary.

"They arrested me and took me back to the station and showed me a picture of who the guy actually was,"Johnson told The Baltimore Sun. "It wasn't me, but they said they still had to hold me until the marshals came and got me."

From CBS Baltimore:

Jawon, with an “o”, was accused of being another Jawan Johnson involved in a burglary case in D.C. The man wanted by the federal government spells his name with an “a”. It took police four days to realize their mistake. All the while, Johnson sat behind bars innocent.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/innocent-college-student-spends-4-045352998.html

[struggle4progress]

1. Wow! I think if that had ever happened to me, I think I'd have called my Mom and

chewed her out for naming me after a known criminal

[MADem]

2. I hope he gets a payday for false arrest. Maybe he can get his tuition covered. nt

[napi21]

3. I too hope someone advises him to sue the police dept. It's one thing to take him into the station,

but quite another thing to detain him for four days because they were too lazy or dumb to get the true story! The police are ALL taught to be very careful about similar names and the major mistakes that can easily be made!