A Texas woman whose similar name as a wanted suspect landed her behind bars in Broward on Christmas Eve two years ago is now suing the county and the deputy who busted her for the mistaken arrest.
Jennifer Heath Box had just returned to Port Everglades following a weeklong cruise with family that ended on Christmas Eve 2022 when she scanned her ID to get off the ship.
But her attorneys say that instead of walking off the ship, she was surrounded by authorities who told her there was a warrant for her arrest for child endangerment in Harris County, Texas.
The problem is Jennifer Heath Box is not Jennifer Delcarmen Heath, the woman authorities were really searching for.
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Box was handcuffed and taken off the ship, even as she tried to explain to the Broward Sheriff's Deputy Peter Peraza that they had the wrong person.
Peraza, however, wasn't buying it, and took Jennifer Heath Box to be booked into jail.
Box's attorneys claim the booking officer ran her driver’s license number and told Peraza she had no outstanding warrants.
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The attorneys said a number of other details should have tipped off Peraza and the other deputies, including the name difference and the difference in age between Box and Heath, which is 23 years.
Heath was also five inches shorter than Box, had different color eyes, hair, and skin tone, had a different home address, driver’s license number, social security number, and Harris County System Person Number, and had five young children, compared to Box's three adult children, the attorneys said.
But Peraza insisted Box was the right person based on the photo attached to the warrant, and she was strip searched and booked into jail.
"Having to call my kids and tell them that I wasn't going to be there for Christmas and to hear that I hurt them because I wasn't there, as a mom that's the first thing that tears at you," Box said.
Box spent three days in jail enduring horrible conditions, including a male inmate who routinely tried to enter her cell while she was alone, officers blasting death metal over the speakers, and freezing air being pumped into the cell, making it so cold that she had to sleep back-to-back with another inmate just to keep warm, the attorneys said.
"Being arrested, it was humiliating, degrading, the jail cells were unbelievable cold," Box said. "I've never been in trouble with the law before."
Box's brother, who happens to be a police officer, urged both Broward County and Harris County officials to compare her fingerprints to Heath's, but both agencies refused, her attorneys said.
Thanks to the brother's contacts, the family was able to figure out that a Harris County employee had accidentally attached Box' driver’s license photo to the warrant, instead of the suspect’s photo, the attorneys said.
On Dec. 27, Jennifer was released from custody. Her attorneys said Broward County officials told her “It happens."
"Broward County should have systems in place to ensure that the person that they're putting in jail is the person that they're intending to put in jail, particularly when they're enforcing out of jurisdiction warrants, which they do regularly at Port Everglades," attorney Jared McClain said. "They know this problem exists and they have done nothing to fix it."
Box and her attorneys announced the lawsuit on Thursday against Broward County and Peraza, who they say violated Box's violated her constitutional right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures, as well as her right to due process.
"You feel completely broken when you're arrested because you're humiliated, you're degraded, it break you as a person," Box said. "I'm angry about it."
In a statement, the Broward Sheriff's Office said it "sympathizes with the difficult situation Ms. Jennifer Heath Box was in" and said Peraza's actions were reviewed by BSO and "no employee misconduct was found."
"On December 24, 2022, U. S. Customs and Border Patrol alerted a BSO deputy that a passenger exiting a cruise ship at Port Everglades had an outstanding warrant for her arrest on a charge of felony child endangerment. The BSO deputy followed the appropriate protocols in handling this matter, and after receiving confirmation of the Harris County warrant, arrested Ms. Box," BSO's statement read. "Had it not been for the arrest warrant filed by the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, Customs and Border Patrol would not have flagged Ms. Box, BSO would not have been notified and she would not have been arrested."
