A Spotsylvania County woman who was erroneously arrested by a Caroline County Sheriff’s Office deputy earlier this month — and ultimately spent three days in jail — is planning to hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit against the agency.
Danielle Brown, 37, was traveling on Partlow Road to her job in Caroline when she struck a deer and totaled her vehicle.
She called the sheriff’s office to tell them she was coming to file a police report for insurance purposes but when she arrived she was informed by Deputy Matthew Wilcox that there was a warrant for her arrest in Chesterfield County on a felony probation charge.
“When I gave him my ID, he ran it and that’s when he asked me to get out of my car and said, ‘I have a warrant for your arrest,’” Brown recalled. “I was just shocked. He put me in handcuffs right away and sat me in the car. That’s when he started bringing up the name Julia Bickford. I was like, ‘I’ve never heard of that name.’ He said, ‘That’s your alias, and we have to take you in on that.’”
Brown said Wilcox showed Sgt. Fonda Justice the mugshot of Bickford, and Justice responded that the photo “could’ve been me at some point.”
Wilcox transported Brown to Pamunkey Regional Jail in Hanover County. She said the magistrate at Pamunkey was “definitely confused,” and did not believe that she was Bickford.
The magistrate informed Brown that she had to go in front of a judge the next day, but the next day came and she never saw a judge. The following day, Chesterfield authorities picked her up from Pamunkey, and a conversation about jewelry led to the discovery of the mistaken identity.
“I wear a bunch of rings and Pamunkey brought Chesterfield my property and all my rings and they were like, ‘We can’t take those,’” Brown said. “She said I had to sign a property release for somebody to pick it up for me. So, I asked her, ‘What name do you want me to sign, my name or her name? She was like, ‘write both.’ That’s when Chesterfield [authorities] were like, ‘Hold on, what do you mean her name or your name?’”
Brown informed them that she’s not Bickford. She said that she consistently told Pamunkey officials that her name is Brown and wasn’t taken seriously.
“Chesterfield started working toward getting me out,” Brown said. “I have nothing bad to say about Chesterfield at all. From the start, they worked toward getting me out as fast as they could.”
Brown described her three days and two nights in Pamunkey as “horrible.” She spent 23 hours a day in lockdown because she refused to remove her piercings. She said before Chesterfield authorities arrived to pick her up, she was on lockdown for more than 24 hours.
Brown requested that Wilcox face disciplinary action such as suspension or termination but was informed that an investigation is underway.
She noted that Caroline Sheriff’s Office personnel acknowledged the error in the arrest and referred her to its Risk Management Office to work out a financial settlement. But she’s declining to settle, preferring to hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit.
Sheriff Scott Moser told the Free Press that the office provided Brown information on how to follow up with Risk Management to pursue a settlement.
“We’re really sorry that this happened, and it’s very unfortunate,” Moser said. “I don’t know what to say. A mistake was made, so we’re going to try to rectify it the best we can.”
The sheriff’s office also released a statement on Facebook noting that “we recognize that this situation did not unfold as it should have, and we understand how difficult this experience must have been for Ms. Brown.”
The statement went on to note that the incident involved multiple steps, including a warrant, magistrate review, and coordination between agencies.
“That said, we are not satisfied with the outcome and are conducting a thorough review of the entire process to determine what occurred and where improvements can be made,” the statement read. “As soon as the Chesterfield Sheriff’s Office informed us they believed Danielle Brown was not the person they intended to take into custody, our office worked quickly with the Chesterfield County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office to have her brought before a judge that same day. The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office was thankfully able to facilitate that hearing, and Ms. Brown was released from custody.”
CCSO’s statement ended by saying the office “remains committed to transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement,” and officials will use this as a learning experience to strengthen their review processes.
“I feel like they’re just scared,” Brown said. “They admitted fault 100% of the way. I am thankful for that, but at the same time they know they’re wrong and so they’re scared.”
Brown said she doesn’t know Bickford but believes the mix-up occurred because Bickford allegedly used her name and birthday on multiple instances.
Brown said she’s concerned that if the Caroline Sheriff’s Office doesn’t pay more attention to detail, this can happen to someone else in the future. She also wonders how many others had similar experiences in the past.
She said she’s still traumatized by the events and doesn’t understand how a law enforcement agency could be so “careless,” especially considering they ran fingerprints and had a mugshot of Bickford and the two individuals’ social security numbers.
“I don’t know what they could’ve done differently because everything that should’ve stood out — my fingerprints, the pictures, all the tools that they have that should’ve proved it wasn’t me, they didn’t use or they ignored,” Brown said. “It really doesn’t make sense to me.”
