Police arrest wrong man, court orders compensation

A Princes Town man will receive $111,000 in compensation from the State for false imprisonment after police arrested him in 2019 on an alleged maintenance warrant that had nothing to do with him.

On February 23, Keon Simmons’ attorneys received Justice Carol Gobin’s order to pay damages and $17,850 in costs after she ruled in his favour.

In his lawsuit, filed by his attorney Abdel Mohammed, Simmons said when he was arrested on December 19, 2019, the police never showed him a warrant or verified his identity.

He was taken to the Princes Town police station, kept overnight and taken to the Rio Claro magistrates court the next day.

However, the matter had nothing to do with him, since the warrant was issued for someone named Adrian Simmons.

At that hearing, Simmons told the magistrate he was not Adrian Simmons. It was determined that Keon Simmons was the wrong person and he was discharged.
However, he was not immediately released from custody, but instead, taken back to the Princes Town police station and only released at 6 pm, after being made to sit in a room for hours.

In his lawsuit, Simmons’ attorney maintained the police failed to properly investigate to ensure they arrested the correct person or verify his client's identity after they arrested him.

When the matter came up before Gobin, the State accepted liability for wrongful arrest and the judge ordered the payment of compensation and costs.