- Police Brutality Watch

The Sheriff's Office is accused of negligence, civil-rights violations and improper discipline.

The family of a black motorist shot and killed by an Orange County sheriff's sergeant in a case of mistaken identity has filed a civil suit in Orlando's federal court, seeking unspecified damages. Marvin Williams, a felon who was unarmed and feared returning to jail, was shot by Sgt. Richard Mankewich after leading police in a chase Jan. 14, 2004. Members of a local, state and federal task force watching a motel parking lot erroneously identified Williams, 26, as a murder suspect and incorrectly thought his passenger was an attempted-murder suspect. After a chase that reached speeds of up to 100 mph, Williams left his white Pontiac, and Mankewich shot him as he ran in and out of homes on Kaley Street near Parramore Avenue. Mankewich, a white 13-year veteran of the Sheriff's Office, was cleared of wrongdoing by his agency's professional-standards unit and the Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office last year. He told shooting investigators he feared for his life when Williams turned toward him and reached into his waistband during the foot chase. "The whole thing snowballed into an unfortunate situation," family attorney Vincent D'Assaro said. D'Assaro said, based on witness accounts, Williams simply was pulling up his baggy pants. "Mankewich interpreted that as him going for a gun." The federal suit against Mankewich and his agency says Williams' civil rights were violated and deputies were negligent in their handling of the call. Specifically, the suit says deputies should have ruled out Williams as a wanted murder suspect through a check of license-plate records. "Orange County sheriff deputies made no apparent attempt to run the tag number of the white Pontiac," the suit says. [more]