- Police Brutality Watch

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.