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LAYTON — A man with autism wrongly spent four days in jail because police mistook him for a career criminal whose name is almost the same.
Lance James Whitaker, 43, says Layton police handcuffed him on his front porch last July and told him they had a warrant for his arrest for theft. No one interviewed him or tried to determine his identity, according to a federal lawsuit he filed Monday against the city of Layton.
At the Davis County Jail, Whitaker repeatedly told jailers he didn't understand what was happening but he was ignored, threatened and told to shut up, the complaint says. Whitaker called his elderly father, but he didn't have a credit card, didn't know what was going on and couldn't accept the charges.
"Because of the reprehensible treatment that Mr. Whitaker suffered while jailed, he began hitting himself in the head, banging his head on things and screaming in agony," attorney Ryan Stanger wrote in the lawsuit. Whitaker, who the lawsuit says "suffers from autism," had a panic attack and was moved to a medical cell.
After four days, a jailer allowed Whitaker to call his father from a desk phone. He posted bond and was released.
Because of the reprehensible treatment that Mr. Whitaker suffered while jailed, he began hitting himself in the head, banging his head on things and screaming in agony.
–Ryan Stanger, attorney
A week later, Layton prosecutor Marlesse Jones moved to dismiss charges against Whitaker for false information to a police officer, carrying a dangerous weapon and retail theft because the "city has determined the wrong defendant has been charged," court records show.
Deputy city attorney Steve Garside said the warrant for Whitaker resulted from a man named Lancer Lee Whitaker giving police a false name and date of birth.
"He's causing us headaches," he said. "He is the bad actor in this whole situation."
Court records show Lancer Whitaker, 42, has a criminal history going back to 1990 that includes attempted aggravated assault, forgery, drug possession, weapons violations and shoplifting. Some of the records list his first name as Lance.
Clinton police arrested him again Sunday on charges of retail theft, possession of a controlled substance and possession of a weapon by a restricted person. He was being held in the Davis County Jail Monday. He last spent time in prison in 2010 for theft, forgery, burglary and drug possession.
Garside said Lance Whitaker is "an innocent party in all of this." The city has not seen the lawsuit, but Garside said he's "not anticipating any liability on our part on this one."
Stanger said in the lawsuit that the police, prosecutors and judges involved in the case did not use safeguards to determine who Whitaker was in the context of the crime he was accused of committing.
The mistaken arrest hurt Whitaker physically and emotionally and cast him in a false light. His picture and name were used in publications showing his arrest. His neighbors and acquaintances in his area have treated him differently since the arrest, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount in compensatory and punitive damages.
