Donna Jane Watts, a former Miami, Florida Highway Trooper, filed a lawsuit Friday accusing 88 South Florida officers of illegally accessing her personal information to threaten and intimidate her after she pulled over a Miami officer in October, news sources indicate. The lawsuit comes after Watts pulled over and arrested Miami officer Fausto Lopez in October for allegedly speeding along the Florida Turnpike; the arrest was highly publicized after a video of the arrest was released to the public. Following the incident, Watts alleges that officers used their positions to access her personal information and intimidate her. She is now seeking over $1 million in damages from 25 jurisdictions for the alleged injustice.
Reports say the whole ordeal stems from the October 11 arrest. On that day, Watts pulled over a vehicle traveling nearly 120 miles per hour along the Florida Turnpike, sources say. Watts reportedly followed the car for several minutes before it pulled over. Her dash cam footage, which was released to the public, shows her approaching the vehicle with her handgun at the ready. The driver was later identified as Fausto Lopez, an officer with the city of Miami.
Following the incident, Watts's lawsuit claims that officers from agencies including the Lauderhill Police Department, Hollywood Police Department, and the Broward Sheriff's Office accessed her personal information with the intent to intimidate and threaten her. The offending parties allegedly looked up Watt's home address, picture, date of birth, and social security number - all from police databases. The lawsuit claims the information had been accessed over 200 times since the incident. Watt's attorney released a statement saying, "This is an invasion of privacy. Law enforcement does have access to information most residents don't, and with that level of access there should come a certain amount of care... This is something that is not supposed to be done."
Following the alleged threats, Watts's lawsuit says she has experienced a number of negative symptoms, including "dry heaves and nausea when performing basic activities such as opening her mailbox, starting her ignition, or when being followed by a law enforcement vehicle for no apparent reason." Watts claims she is now constantly afraid and often gets odd and sometimes threatening phones calls or unknown cars parked in front of her home. She say she can no longer check her mail normally because she is afraid someone might rig the box to explode when opened.