Man files suit against sheriff, claims false imprisonment

By Matthew Penix
St. Tammany News
Published on Monday, December 8, 2008 9:18 AM CST

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An East Baton Rouge man has sued Sheriff Jack Strain, claiming he was falsely arrested and imprisoned for at least three days due to a clerical mistake.

Allison Suggs Sr. filed the suit last month in Covington’s 22nd Judicial District Court. He claims Strain mistakenly filed an arrest warrant for him for issuing a worthless check, according to the suit. The problem, according to the suit, is the warrant was issued for the wrong man.

Suggs was arrested by courthouse bailiffs, following through on the warrant, on or about Nov. 15, 2007, while pursuing legal matters in a Lafayette courthouse, according to the suit. He was jailed in Lafayette Parish for 48 hours until he was transferred to St. Tammany Parish Jail, where he stayed several days, his lawyer, Alice Estill, alleges.

On Dec. 20, more than a month after his arrest, the 22nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office “refused” the charges against him, Estill wrote. The DA “discovered that the worthless check issued to the St. Tammany resident was not issued by the plaintiff,” according to the suit.

Suggs sued Strain and his insurance provider, claiming the arrest was a violation of civil rights, which amounted to illegal detention. Suggs is seeking an undisclosed amount of compensation for what he calls “malicious prosecution” and a failure to ascertain the correct identity of the true perpetrator.

Sheriff’s Office spokesman George Bonnett declined to comment while litigation is pending.

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