(RepublicanPress.org) – Located about 37 miles north of Miami, Coconut Creek promotes itself as one of the best places to live in the United States. However, Leonardo Silva Oliveira may beg to differ after being held in the local jail for five days by mistake.
Coconut Creek police officers arrested the 26-year-old cook outside the restaurant where he works on January 20. Law enforcement officials from nearby Palm Beach County contacted the Coconut Creek Police Department CCPD about an outstanding fugitive warrant for Mr. Oliveira.
The warrant’s name, social security, and driver’s license all matched Oliveira’s information. CCPD spokesperson Scotty Leamon told reporters one of the department’s officers even took a photograph of Oliveira and forwarded it to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office for visual confirmation they had the right person.
Florida man with same name, age as fugitive mistakenly locked up for 5 days https://t.co/Wbc0jTsXAi pic.twitter.com/RioJ9HehYH
— New York Post (@nypost) January 27, 2022
However, Oliveira insisted they had the wrong man when they arrested him. His birth date was 10 days before that of the fugitive. Additionally, the wanted man had tattoos on each forearm, but when police officers asked to see his arms, he didn’t have any.
Nevertheless, they took him to the county jail. Finally, after holding Mr. Oliveira for five days, they compared his fingerprints to the ones from the fugitive’s initial arrest. When they didn’t match, they immediately released him.
Oliveira is now a free man once again, but the latest reports say the fugitive is still on the run.
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