Shane Brown, a Black man who was arrested during a traffic stop in 2020 after officers mistook him for a white person with a similar name, has now prevailed in his lawsuit against the Las Vegas Police Department. According to 8 News Now, Brown will receive $90,000 as part of a settlement with two Las Vegas-area police agencies. Henderson police will pay Brown $25,000 while the Las Vegas Metro Police, which runs the Clark County Detention Center, has been ordered to pay $65,000.
Henderson police pulled Brown over on Jan. 8, 2020, for not having his headlights on, Fox 5 Vegas reports. Brown, who was 23 years old at the time, didn’t have his identification. However, video footage proved that the young man provided his name, social security number and social security card.
Police performed a records check during the traffic stop and found a felony warrant for Shane Neal Brown, a 49-year-old white man who had skipped court while facing charges for ownership or possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. The Black man told police that he had a court date the next day for several traffic violations but that he wasn’t a felon.
“I’m not a felon, I didn’t commit a felony… I was trying to plead to anyone that would listen, to let everyone know like ‘Hey can you double check,'” Brown told Fox 5.
Police proceeded to arrest the 23-year-old, who then spent two days in the Henderson Detention Center and then four days at Clark County Detention Center.
Six days after the traffic stop, a public defender told the court that the wrong Shane Brown was in custody.
“I didn’t know what was going to happen to me, because it seemed from my perspective that they were convinced that I was this guy, I was a felon,” Brown said in January, according to 8 News Now. “It seemed like they got their guy, and no one would listen to me.”
As Blavity previously reported, the Black man was originally seeking $500,000 in damages after accusing Las Vegas and Henderson police of violating his civil rights.
