Florida mom to sue for wet t-shirt waterpark arrest

A Florida woman says she plans to sue Tavares, Florida after the city arrested her for refusing to provide her name to law enforcement officers for a “database,” even though the woman was not under arrest at the time of the refusal.

36-year-old Janet Lovett was visiting Splash Park with her son in April when the incident occurred. Lovett’s t-shirt became wet while she was playing with her seven-year-old son, and other parents complained that her attire was offensive. Lovett covered her soaked t-shirt with a towel, but a local police officer demanded her full name as she left the park. According to both police and Lovett, the information was required for a database. But her lawyer questions:

“What kind of database would they put her in? A database for wet T-shirt wearers?” Marks asked. “She wasn’t there to cause trouble…They’re either absolutely incompetent or they don’t know the law.”

Lovett refused to supply her name to Cpl. Tammy Bozadjian, and was arrested:

“The defendant [Lovett] became upset and would not provide her information,” Bozadjian wrote in the incident report. “I again explained that the information was only for the data base. She again refused to provide the information, stating that she needed to speak with her husband first. I then informed the defendant that if she refused to provide her information that she would be placed under arrest.”

Lovett’s lawyer also openly speculated that his client was targeted because she is a (legal) immigrant. She plans to sue the city in which she was arrested and held for five hours for “malicious prosecution, false arrest, battery and violation of her civil rights.”

[Orlando Sentinel via Fark]