Trooper sues Juno cops, cites harassment
WEST PALM BEACH — A Florida Highway Patrol trooper, who claims she was harassed by police throughout the state after she cited an off-duty Miami cop for reckless driving, is suing t wo current Juno Beach police officers and one former officer for allegedly misusing a law enforcement computer database to discover personal information about her.
The lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court is part of a second round of lawsuits trooper Donna Jane Watts is filing against police agencies
throughout the state.
Watts snared national headlines three years ago when she filed a massive lawsuit, claiming she was harassed by police for violating an unwritten code that law enforcement officers treat their own differently.
In the lawsuit, she claimed angry officers got her unlisted phone numbers and address from the state’s Driver and Vehicle Information Database and used it to make harassing phone calls and to stalk her. By law, the so-called DAVID system can only be used for legitimate law enforcement purposes.
Juno Beach and Palm Beach Gardens were among the roughly 22 agencies and 100 officers Watts sued in 2012 for illegally accessing her personal information. U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks dismissed the lawsuit last year, rul- ing she had to sue each agency individually.
This time, instead of suing Juno Beach, Watts is only suing officers Paul Fertig, Thomas Nicholson and John Shaver.
Juno Beach Police Chief Brian Smith said he believes the agency paid damages to settle Watts’ claims after it discovered Nicholson had looked her up on the database. Nicholson, he said, was suspended without pay for 24 hours and later resigned.
But, Smith said, the t wo other officers did nothing wrong. Fertig and Shaver were investigating Nicholson, he said. “They ran her name to see what he was up to,” Smith said. “They ran it as part of their investigation.”
Palm Beach Gardens won’t be sued in the latest lawsuit, said attorney Mark Tietig, who is representing Watts. New to the case, he said some of the agencies reached out-ofcourt settlements, but he was unsure which did.
From court papers, it appears Palm Beach Gardens was among those that settled. In her original lawsuit, Watts wrote that Palm Beach Gardens had determined officer Kenneth Jenkins had improperly used the DAVID system to get information about her and was reprimanded. She later dismissed her claims against the cit y, which often means that a settlement was reached.
In addition to the lawsuit against the Juno officers, Watts has filed suits against Port St. Lucie, Hollywood, Miami Beach, Miami, Biscayne Park and the Broward Count y Sheriff ’s Office. Additional suits will be filed, Tietig said.
Despite Watts’ claims, Smith said he doesn’t think most officers looked up Watts’ information with ill intent. “Nobody thought too highly of her,” he said. “But, in my mind, it was pure curiosit y.”