MERRITT ISLAND, Fla. – A Brevard County real estate investor has filed a lawsuit against the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office after he and his brother were arrested for burglary while surveying a house.
Dash camera footage from April 26, 2022, showed deputies arriving in a Merritt Island neighborhood responding to a neighbor’s complaint.
According to court documents, the neighbor and a witness told deputies they saw Letrevis Nathan and another man on the property putting construction materials inside their car.
The dash camera footage showed one of the deputies asking them what they were doing.
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“I am a real estate investor,” Nathan was heard saying on the video. “It is a foreclosure going up for auction tomorrow in Titusville at 11 a.m. Me and my brother came out to check out the house before we bid on it.”
Nathan said they had looked at several properties that evening.
The dash cameras rolled for nearly three hours as deputies searched their car, took pictures of sandy footprints outside the home and built their case.
[INSIDER EXTRA: See Brevard deputies question real estate investor who claims he was falsely arrested]
According to Nathan’s arrest report, deputies claimed he and his brother had used a screwdriver to bust open a door to the home. Deputies also said the suspects stole two cinderblocks valued at $2 each.
“You guys are being arrested for burglary of a construction site, possession of burglary tools and petty theft,” the deputy was heard saying in the dash camera footage.
Nathan and his brother were booked in the Brevard County Jail, where they were held for nearly 24 hours on two felony charges and one misdemeanor charge, including armed burglary.
Both men had concealed carry permits and Nathan said the guns were stored in the car.
Prosecutors later dropped all of the charges.
“My rights were violated,” Nathan told News 6. “I didn’t commit a crime. I had every right to be there.”
News 6 sat down with Nathan and his attorney Dan Faherty, who both recounted what happened.
“I really feel like maybe there was some type of profiling at hand that led to my arrest, other than the circumstances,” Nathan said.
Nathan and his brother are Black.
He said he showed the deputies his real estate license and the website showing the auction scheduled for the next day.
“Once I presented all of the facts and as much information as they asked for, I was still deemed... criminal, and... lying about what I was doing,” he said.
Nathan filed a lawsuit against the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, Sheriff Wayne Ivey and Deputy Aaron Radcliff, who arrested them, in federal court.
According to the lawsuit, Nathan claims he was unlawfully stopped and detained, falsely arrested and maliciously prosecuted.
“Just a night in jail, when you don’t have a reason to be there, is a violation of your Fourth Amendment rights as a U.S. citizen and a citizen of Florida,” Flaherty said.
News 6 pulled Radcliff’s personnel file and it showed no disciplinary issues.
A spokesman for the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office said they do not make comments on active lawsuits.
This lawsuit comes just weeks after News 6 reported a settlement in another false arrest case.
Jon Schoonmaker claimed he was visiting Brevard County to watch a rocket launch when he was pulled over and arrested for driving under the influence.
Blood tests later showed no alcohol or drugs in his system.
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