Friday
Feb252005
Friday, February 25, 2005 at 02:13PM
- Police were looking for a 5-foot-7 170 pound Black man with a short haircut.
- Donovan Lightbourn stands 6 feet tall, weighs 230 pounds and wears dreadlocks.
Deputies in Fort Lauderdale were
looking for suspected kidnapper when they received what they thought
was a valid tip -- the man would be at a family funeral. But after
handcuffing the man after his grandmother's funeral, deputies found he
wasn't their suspect. Relatives and witnesses said they had just buried
Brenda Lightbourn, 65, when at least 10 deputies stormed the gravesite,
grabbed 20-year-old Donovan Lightbourn, slammed him against a car and
handcuffed him. Detectives were looking for Kareem Lightbourne, 26, of
Lauderhill, who is wanted in a fatal December 2002 shooting and a
kidnapping. Kareem Lightbourne is 5-foot-7, weighs about 170 pounds and
has a short haircut, according to a sheriff's press release issued in
2002. Donovan Lightbourn stands 6 feet tall, weighs 230 pounds and
wears dreadlocks. He says he doesn't know Kareem Lightbourne. A home
video of the incident shows Donovan Lightbourn arguing with deputies at
the gravesite. Lightbourn said when he saw the suspect's photo, he told
deputies that he was a different person. When they realized the
mistake, they released him. Broward County sheriff deputies admitted
the mistake, but said when officers looked at Donovan Lightbourn they
thought he looked like the suspect in the picture. "We had good
information -- what we thought was good information -- from a reliable
source that our suspect, this murder suspect, this armed kidnapper, was
going to be at the funeral," BSO spokesman Hugh Graf said. Donovan
Lightbourn, who was honorably discharged from the Navy, said the
deputies injured his shoulder during the arrest and the incident itself
is disturbing. "They basically were trying to say that all black men
look alike," Lightbourn said. "That's the only way that I can really
explain their justification for comparing me to this murder suspect. [
more]
- Pictured above: Relatives
and witnesses said at least 10 deputies stormed the gravesite, grabbed
20-year-old Donovan Lightbourn, slammed him against a car and
handcuffed him.
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