A Florida man is suing the Brevard County Sheriff’s Department after being arrested on suspicion of driving impaired, even though he says he hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol.
“There was absolutely no reason for this to happen to me,”Jon Schoonmaker shared his thoughts with Inside Edition.
After the arrest, Schoonmaker took a urine test, which revealed what he knew to be a fact — he was stone cold sober.
And he’s not alone.
Harris Elias, 50 years old, was in a similar situation in Loveland Colorado. Elias, who was driving home one night, was stopped for failing to signal and found himself in a terrible situation.
“Obviously, I can smell an overwhelming odor of alcohol — don’t fall over there — coming from your vehicle,”The officer responding to Elias told Elias.
Elias was puzzled. Like Schoonmaker, he says he hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol, and was shocked when the officer arrested him.
Elias was taken to the station for a breathalyzer. It showed no evidence that he had consumed alcohol. Instead of being released, Elias remained under police arrest.
“I understand you blew triple zeros, so that leads me to believe that there’s something else going on,”He was told by the officer.
Elias says, “I was dealing with an officer who was absolutely, in my mind, untrustworthy.”
A blood test taken that night later confirmed that there was no booze in Elias’ system.
Elias has filed a lawsuit claiming that the officer responsible for arresting him allegedly had at least four other motorists arrested for DUIs. However, they later proved to have been sober.
“There appears to be zero consequence for destroying somebody’s life, an innocent citizen’s life, with a bad arrest,” attorney Sarah Schielke said.
Inside Edition interviewed Robert Ticer of Loveland Police.
“I believe that when this officer or any officer in this department makes an arrest, it’s based on solid probable cause,”Ticer said.
Both of the men we spoke to were freed from charges.
The Brevard County Sheriff’s Department denies Schoonmaker was wrongfully arrested.