Lee County sheriff claims deputies acted in ‘good faith’ in false arrest lawsuit

Reporter: Sara Girard
Published: Updated:
Carlos Javier Lobos, 44, was arrested in 2018 and accused of child molestation due to a typo on an arrest warrant. His lawyer says shortly after the false arrest, the sheriff’s office administratively expunged all records of it. Lobos is suing. (CREDIT: WINK News)

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office claims it acted in “good faith” in response to a lawsuit accusing deputies of arresting an innocent man for a crime against a child.

The arrest was the result of a misspelling. The real guy deputies were looking for is named Carlos Lobo, but the guy they arrested was Carlos Lobos. Lobos filed a lawsuit and on Monday the sheriff’s office responded.

In 2018, a U.S. Marshals Task Force arrested Lobos in front of his family at his Cape Coral home.

MORE: Cape Coral man suing Lee County Sheriff’s Office after typo leads to wrongful arrest

After he filed suit this year, WINK News revealed now expunged public records that showed Lobos had been mixed up with the other man and had no connection to the alleged crime.

Still, deputies took him in, and after questioning, Lobos says he sat in a jail cell for hours while the detectives showed his photo to the family of the victim, who told them he had the wrong guy.

Lobos says the whole ordeal ruined his good name, and he’s suing for at least $30,000 in damages for false arrest.

In their answer to the lawsuit filed this week, LCSO says deputies “acted in good faith and in an objectively reasonable manner and without knowledge that their conduct violated” Lobos’ rights.

LCSO also claims there was probable cause to arrest Lobos, but doesn’t explain how that could be considering deputies arrested the wrong guy.

The response also says Sheriff Marceno is protected by sovereign immunity, which in Florida – apart from a few exceptions – generally waives liability of state agencies up to a certain amount in damages.

WINK News Investigative Reporter Sara Girard spoke with Lobos’ attorney Tuesday, he said they’ll keep moving forward with the suit.

LCSO told WINK News they won’t comment on pending litigation.

Carlos Lobo, who was arrested for Lewd or Lascivious Molestation a month after the mix-up with Lobos, is due again in court this Thursday. His attorney did not respond to our request for comment.

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