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A black man says two Nevada police departments detained him for a week when they mixed him up with a white felon twice his age.
Shane Lee Brown, 25, is suing the Las Vegas PD and the police department of the city of Henderson for more than $500,000 in a federal civil rights case.
When Brown was pulled over by Henderson cops while driving Jan. 8, 2020, he didn’t have his license on him but gave the police his full name, Social Security number and Social Security card, according to a complaint filed in US District Court of Nevada on Jan. 7 this year.
But cops still apparently confused him with Shane Neal Brown, who was then a 49-year-old white felon with an outstanding warrant for ownership or possession of a firearm by a “prohibited person.” The older Brown had been convicted of a felony in 1994 — before the younger Brown was even born.
“During his unlawful detention, Shane Lee Brown repeatedly explained to numerous unknown Henderson police officers and supervisors that he was not the 49-year-old white ‘Shane Brown’ who was the subject of the felony warrant,” Shane Lee Brown’s lawyer wrote.
On Jan. 10, Shane Lee Brown was still being detained and transferred to the Clark County Detention Center by the Las Vegas Police Department, which continued to confuse him with the older, white Brown.
Shane Lee Brown says he again explained to multiple officers they had made a mistake but is alleging that no department “bothered to review its own records.
“Had any of the LVMPD police or corrections officers performed any due diligence … they would have easily determined that Shane Lee Brown has been misidentified as the subject of the warrant,” the complaint says, which also names the sheriffs of the Henderson and Las Vegas departments as defendants.
It wasn’t until public defender Shannon L. Phenix informed the court that the cops had made a mistake that Lee Brown was released Jan. 14, according to the complaint.
The Henderson PD told The Post in a statement that its officers appropriately arrested Shane Lee Brown.
“During a routine traffic stop for driving an unregistered vehicle, Shane [Lee] Brown was correctly arrested by Henderson Police for driving with a suspended license and for a contempt of court, failure to pay warrant issued by Henderson Municipal Court,” said the department’s Office of Public Information.
“Mr. Brown admitted to the arresting officers that he knew his driver license was suspended and that he had traffic warrants in Henderson. The plaintiff in this lawsuit has not presented all the facts and circumstances behind his lawful and proper arrest by Henderson Police, which will be further addressed in the City Attorney’s response to the court.”
The Las Vegas PD told The Post that it “does not provide comment on pending litigation.”
Shane Lee Brown’s lawyer, E. Brent Bryson, could not be reached Tuesday.
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