Glamorous cruise ship passenger says life was ruined by horrific mistake after she stepped off vessel in Florida

A glamorous cruise vessel rider says her beingness was ruined aft authorities made a horrific mistake erstwhile she stepped disconnected a vas successful Florida.

Jennifer Heath Box, present 50, had conscionable returned to Port Everglades from a weeklong voyage onboard Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas connected Christmas Eve 2022 erstwhile she was swarmed by information guards and Broward County sheriff's deputies.

They told her she was being arrested connected kid endangerment charges successful Harris County, Texas, and Box was handcuffed and taken disconnected the ship.

She went connected to walk 3 days down bars, enduring horrendous conditions including a antheral inmate who routinely tried to participate her compartment portion she was alone, officers blasting decease metallic implicit the speakers and freezing temperatures that forced her to slumber back-to-back with different inmate conscionable to support warm, the mother-of-three claimed astatine a quality league connected Thursday, according to NBC Miami.

But cops successful Texas were really searching for different pistillate with a akin name, Jennifer Del Carmen Heath.

Box is present suing Broward County and Sheriff's Deputy Peter Peraza, whom her lawyers accidental violated her law rights to beryllium escaped from unreasonable searches and seizures, arsenic good arsenic her close to owed process.

They said Box repeatedly tried to archer Peraza that helium had the incorrect person, and erstwhile a booking serviceman ran Box's driver's licence number, helium too, told the lawman that she had nary outstanding warrants.

The attorneys besides said that a fig of different details from the warrant should person alerted Peraza and the different deputies that Box was not the fishy Harris County authorities were looking for - including the sanction quality and the quality successful ages betwixt Box and Heath, which is 23 years.

Heath was besides 5 inches shorter than Box, had antithetic colour eyes, hairsbreadth and tegument tone, had a antithetic location address, driver's licence number, Social Security fig and Harris County System Person Number.

Additionally, Heath had 5 young children, whereas Box had 3 big children and nary grandchildren.

'They had astatine slightest 10 to 12 antithetic pieces of accusation attached to the warrant that screamed to them, this was not their suspect,' lawyer Jared McClain argued, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

But still, helium said, Peraza - who was reinstated astatine the deapartment aft being acquitted of manslaughter successful the shooting a antheral who had an aerial firearm successful 2013 - continued to importune she was the fishy based connected the photograph attached to the warrant retired of Texas, and forced Box to portion hunt earlier booking her successful jail.

She says she past missed Christmas with her big children, and was not capable to accidental goodbye to her son, a US Marine who was conscionable 3 days distant from being deployed to Japan for 3 years.

'Having to telephone my kids and archer them I wasn't going to beryllium determination for Christmas, and to perceive that I wounded them due to the fact that I wasn't there, that's the archetypal happening that tears astatine you,' Box said.

The conditions astatine the Broward County Jail conscionable made it worse.

'You consciousness wholly breached erstwhile you're arrested due to the fact that you're humiliated, you're degraded, it breaks you arsenic a person,' Box said. 

'I'm aggravated astir it. I've ne'er been successful occupation with the instrumentality before,' she added. 

Eventually, Box's member - a constabulary serviceman himself, urged some Broward County and Harris County officials to comparison her fingerprints to Del Carmen Heath's.

The Broward County Sheriff's Office said they asked authorities successful Harris County connected December 26 for fingerprints to corroborate they had the close person, but received a effect hours aboriginal that the region had nary prints connected grounds due to the fact that Box had ne'er been arrested before, Local 10 News reported past year. 

But Box's member was aboriginal capable to find that a Harris County worker accidentally attached Box's driver's licence photograph to the warrant alternatively of Del Carmen Heath's.

By December 27, Broward County officials said, they received a connection from their partners successful Texas saying 'Release our clasp connected the supra named taxable arsenic soon arsenic possible' without immoderate further explanation, and Box was released from custody.

As she was released, Box said, a lawman told her simply, 'It happens.'

'Broward County should person systems successful spot to guarantee that the idiosyncratic they're putting successful jailhouse is the idiosyncratic that they're intending to enactment successful jail, peculiarly erstwhile they're enforcing out-of-jurisdiction warrants, which they bash regularly astatine Port Everglades,' McClain argued arsenic helium announced the suit connected Thursday.

'They cognize this occupation exists and they person done thing to hole it.' 

The Broward County Sheriff's Office present says it 'sympathizes with the hard concern Ms. Jennifer Heath Box was in.'

But officials said they reviewed Peraza's actions and 'no worker misconduct was found.

'On December 24, 2022, US Customs and Border Patrol alerted a BSO lawman that a rider exiting a cruise vessel astatine Port Everglades had an outstanding warrant for her apprehension connected a complaint of felony kid endangerment,' a spokesperson for the section said.

'The BSO lawman followed the due protocols successful handling this matter, and aft receiving confirmation of the Harris County warrant, arrested Ms. Box.

'Had it not been for the apprehension warrant filed by the Harris County Sheriff's Office, Customs and Border Patrol would not person been notified and she would not person been arrested.'

No suit has been filed against Harris County, and the lawsuit against Del Carmen Heath was dismissed 2 days aft Box was released from jail, the Tampa Bay Times reports.