A mother from Detroit is suing the city after she says she was falsely arrested due to facial recognition errors. Porcha Woodruff, 32, claims she was getting her two children ready for school on February 16 when six police officers came to her home with an arrest warrant.
Woodruff, who was pregnant at the time, didn't understand what was happening. She thought the officers were joking when they said she was being arrested for an alleged armed robbery and carjacking. She soon found out it wasn't a joke at all. Now, she is suing the city.
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Woodruff was reportedly part of a photo lineup.
Woodruff found out after her arrest that she became a suspect when the victim saw her photo a lineup based upon an "unreliable facial recognition match," according to court documents, NBC News reported.
According to the documents, the victim said he met a woman for sexual relations during the day. At one point, they ended up at a BP gas station, where the woman interacted with several individuals. When they left, the victim claimed he was assaulted and carjacked by a male that the female interacted with at the gas station. The man also allegedly stole his phone.
The victim's phone reportedly wound up at the gas station two days later.
It was allegedly dropped off by a woman who was later identified by facial recognition as Woodruff, court documents state, per NBC News.
"Detective Oliver stated in detail in her report what she observed in the video footage, and there was no mention of the female suspect being pregnant," the lawsuit noted.
Detective LaShauntia Oliver has been named as a defendant in Woodruff's case.
Woodruff claimed that she was visibly pregnant at the time of the reported crime.
Oliver did not show Woodruff's photo to the victim when his car was found on February 2 driven by a male, according to the court documents. Police then showed the victim a lineup that Oliver submitted, which included an eight-year-old photo from Woodruff's arrest in 2015, according to NBC News. The victim identified Woodruff as the suspect.
Woodruff claims police wouldn't check to see if the suspect was pregnant.
Instead, court documents state that police refused to examine the warrant to see if the woman was pregnant.
Woodruff was taken to the Detroit Detention Center and released on a $100,000 personal bond. Her fiancé took her to the hospital, where she was reportedly diagnosed with a low heart rate from dehydration and was experiencing contractions, according to NBC News.
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A judge dropped the case.
Court documents state that a judge threw out the carjacking case March 6 because of a lack of evidence. This was reportedly because of the victim failing to appear at a preliminary hearing set to ensure sufficient evidence. The judge claimed the decision was final.
"We are taking this matter very seriously, but we cannot comment further at this time due to the need for additional investigation," Detroit Police Chief James White explained in a statement obtained by NBC News. "We will provide further information once additional facts are obtained and we have a better understanding of the circumstances."
