Posted on 08/04/2010 4:51:50 PM PDT by mdittmar
TAVARES, Fla. -- A Lake County mother was arrested at a children’s splash park after her white t-shirt got wet. Now, she's suing the city of Tavares over her arrest. She told WFTV police took an embarrassing situation and turned it into discrimination.
A hot day in April at the Tavares splash park turned into Janet Lovett's own personal nightmare. She took her 7-year-old son to cool off, but before the day was done she found herself behind bars, facing an arrest record for obstruction of justice and resisting arrest without violence.
“I started shaking. I feel nervous. My son was inside park with husband. I was alone,” she said.
A park employee asked Lovett to leave, because the white t-shirt she was wearing had become wet and her padded bra was showing. She says she left, but outside the park gate a police officer approached her and asked her for ID and her name.
“Very scared,” she said. “I've never been arrested before."
The police report indicates Lovett didn't give her name fast enough. The mom says she was scared and wanted to know why she was getting arrested.
Lovett’s attorney, Howard Marks, is demanding those same answers from the city. He says the police had no legal right to ask Lovett for ID, because no crime had been committed.
‘If they were wearing a bra, it's not illegal in the state of Florida. It's not indecent exposure. It's not a crime,” Marks said.
Marks intends to sue the city for violation of civil rights, false arrest and malicious prosecution. He thinks there was more to her arrest that day than the outfit that was deemed inappropriate.
“Either the police were so lacking in training and so incompetent to the law or trying to ID someone who was a potential illegal alien,” Marks said.
Lovett is a U.S. citizen.
The city of Tavares said it does not comment on pending litigation. The police chief told WFTV his officers operated within policy that day
I’m beginning to hate cops again. What the heck is this arrest AFTER a person has complied and cooperated with lawful requests?
Deliverance was in Georgia, thanks Yankee country around here.
I know an ‘autistic’ PhD in mathematics.
.
Photo’s available at the link. Average
You make the implication that this woman's wearing of a padded bra and t-shirt to a kiddie pool was somehow one of the "little things" that needs to be cleaned up to set a greater moral tone for society.
To bolster your argument, you then cite the crime fighting efforts and leadership of a man who apparently couldn't even set the moral tone for his own daughter.
I may be simply entertained, but it sure beats being just plain simple.
Damn!
You guys moved Georgia north of the Mason-Dixon line?
“obstruction of justice and resisting arrest without violence.”
All for failing to give you’re name fast enough. We get more and more like a police state every day.
Bra under t-shirt, gets wet, and employee tells her to leave....at a water park? Aren’t you SUPPOSED to get wet there? What about the teenagers wearing barely there bikinis?
Something is missing.
Georgia is really more a corrupt version of Jersey.
They are the modern day equivalent of Medieval knights who ride herd over us lowly serfs. They have privileges and perks that the common rabble do not.
Want to get through traffic in a hurry? No problem.
Want to carry a sidearm without an LTC? No problem.
Want to be given special consideration after breaking the law? No problem.
Want access to cash flow opprotunities that would make the head spin? No problem.
The list goes on and on.
True. The real question is just how slow was she in presenting her ID? So slow as to be an arrestable offense (how slow is that?). Maybe she didn't even have it on her. Lot of people don't carry them into water parks.
Says that she was arrested for obstruction of justice and resisting arrest without violence. Is the former referring to not showing the ID? And the latter because she was asking WTF is going on?
And how about this, Bolten says that the cops can't ask for ID after you jump off a pickup with 20 other Mexicans as you cruise over the border into AZ. Seems like that pretty much negates IDs in water parks for wet T shirts. Even though that is pretty suspicious behavior.......
There has to be more to the story.
Ok. Ill ask it. Please don’t flag me.
Were her nipples visible and if so, was someone offended and call the cops?
I live in Fl and have been to enough wet tshirt contests where they were (Club La Vela in Panama City Beach). I have never seen an arrest. Perhaps the audience?
This ought to be good. Let’s see the badge-lappers explain this one.
There's video; --and definitely not guilty.
Yeah! That cop should have shot her for giving him sass!
Again, she wasn't arrested for "not giving her name fast enough". She was asked to leave by the park employee. The park is private property. As such, you are there by invitation of the property owner, and that invitation can be rescinded at any time. If she thinks she's being discriminated against, then perhaps she has grounds for a civil action against the park owner, but she has to leave just the same.
I'm sure this is how it went down -
Employee tells woman to leaveThis could have been handled better by all parties. And, they just could have handcuffed her and escorted her to the park exit, and been done with it. BUT, I'm not entirely unsympathetic to the police, either. It's private property, and if the owner doesn't want you there - for whatever reason - the police are going to remove you. They're not their to litigate a private property or civil rights dispute.Woman refuses to leave
Employee calls police, and employee tells police woman won't leave
Police ask woman for ID, which is their right because they're investigating a trespassing call.
Woman refuses to give ID
Police say, give us you're name, or we're going to arrest you
She asks, "Why?"
Police arrest her for "obstruction of justice and resisting arrest without violence"
As you say, they have more important things to worry about. If the woman would have left when she was asked to leave, she wouldn't have been arrested.
Her T-shirt became wet and her padded bra became visible...WOW, what a crime!!!!!!!!Sue the cops!!!
Unless the lady told the cops, how would they know that the bra was padded?
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