S. Carolina sheriff ordered to pay $200K for wrongful arrest

LEXINGTON, S.C. – The sheriff’s department of Lexington County, South Carolina, has been ordered to pay $200,000 to a woman wrongfully arrested and charged with shoplifting from an area Walmart.

The State reports a jury ruled that former Deputy Darren Wiseman violated Sabrina Jackson’s civil rights in 2014 when he charged her with a crime she didn’t commit. Jackson sued over the arrest in 2016. Wiseman resigned this year.

Her lawsuit says a Walmart manager told authorities a black woman left the store without paying. Wiseman spoke with someone who claimed to know the shoplifter and said it was her friend “Sabrina Jackson.” The lawsuit says Wiseman looked up local black women with that name and charged the wrong woman.

Walmart settled with Jackson for an undisclosed amount prior to last week’s trial.

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Information from: The State, http://www.thestate.com