When one man's word is enough to make an arrest

ERIN MCWHORTER/FLORIDA WEEKLY From the left; Tearah Williams; Willie Green, president of the SCLC; William Wilcox and Jeremy Wilcox. When a young man came to the Fort Myers Police Department in March and told authorities he was being harassed at gunpoint, his word and little else was considered enough probable cause to land four Fort Myers residents — three siblings and their friend — in jail.

Joshua Neal, 21, agreed to give police a sworn statement on the morning of March 19 after they encouraged him to do so, according to police reports. Since first coming to police on March 3, he changed the details of his story, records show, but the allegations were consistent: the four had harassed him on at least two occasions, including threatening him with handguns that same day, and firing at him from a car

on March 2.

His sworn statement was followed immediately by the arrest of the four, on March 19, which came at a time of high tension between Mr. Neal and the family. During an exchange of gunfire in September, Mr. Neal shot and killed the siblings' brother, Malcolm Williams. The state dropped charges against Mr. Neal because the shooting was determined to be self-defense, according to Mr. Neal's former attorney, David Brener.

"He was fired upon and he fired back," Mr. Brener said.

Tearah Williams — one of the family members arrested — said she ran into Mr. Neal a few times since the deadly shootout where he made threatening gestures. That included showing up to a school bus stop where she was waiting with her three children and at a nightclub where he cocked his fingers like a gun and pointed it at her.

Ms. Williams reported her side of things to police and sought a protective order against Mr. Neal. On March 2, a hearing notice was delivered to Mr. Neal for the injunction, records show. The following day, Mr. Neal made his original claim against the family. A judge ordered Mr. Neal to keep him away from Ms. Williams' family on March 11.

"Quite obviously there was animosity between both parties and it was going to continue until action was taken," said Fort Myers Police Detective Emily DeStefanis.

Charged with assault

On the evening of March 19, Tearah Williams, 29, Jeremy Wilcox, 22, and William Wilcox, 29, were all arrested at Ms. William's apartment after Mr. Neal's statement.

Their friend Devin Gilmore, 24, was arrested separately and all four were charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without the intent to kill.

But according to the State Attorney's Office, there was no evidence besides Mr. Neal's word that the four had committed this crime.

"The victim (Joshua Neal) alleged that Wilcox and Gilmore shot at him," said Samantha Syoen, communications director for the State Attorney's Office, after speaking with the attorney who handled the case. "But there was no evidence submitted to our office to substantiate this except the victim's statement. In this case, there was no evidence that happened except the victim's statement. Also, no other witnesses spoke to law enforcement about it."

Even if there is no evidence, Ms. Syoen made clear, a police department — which must act quickly in potentially explosive situations — and a state attorney's office each must be viewed in two separate lights.

"We have the luxury of sitting down and spreading it all out and looking at the case," Ms. Syoen said. "It's a totally different thing."

Fort Myers Police Chief Doug Baker said not arresting those four accused would have been irresponsible.

"As far as we're concerned, the probable cause existed," Chief Baker said. "The judge agreed and corroborated that. So I'm very comfortable as far as the actions of the detectives involved in the case and the position that we have.

"This is a very volatile situation. From a legal standpoint, we fulfilled our requirement. Let's say my detective failed to act and I had the victim of a shooting that died. You would be on the phone with me 'saying probable cause existed, why didn't you make the arrest?'"

Even though all charges were dropped, being accused of a third-degree felony resulted in plenty of grief for all four.

"Because it's a violent charge, (Ms. Williams) has been unemployable as a nurse since it happened," said Willie Green, president of a faith-based civil rights group, The Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Local activist Anthony Thomas have been following the family's struggles.

"This whole family, as they are going through the process of grieving, they go and arrest the whole family," Mr. Thomas said. "Just because you think I'm going to kill someone who killed my brother doesn't give you the right to take away my freedom."

Mr. Thomas has asked the American Civil Liberties Union to look into the matter.

As for the decision to arrest Ms. Williams, her brothers and Mr. Gilmore, there is no question in Chief Baker's mind that it was the right thing to do.

"Our detective acted and I stand behind her 100 percent," he said. "I'll even go so far to say we probably ended up saving a couple of people's lives in the process."

Questions that remain

Dennis Fahey, a professor in the criminal justice department at Edison State College, said claims like the one the three siblings say Mr. Neal made should be investigated.

"To walk in and say somebody pointed a gun at me or tried to rob me, that's reasonable," Professor Fahey said. "But you would conduct an investigation. Right away you want to say, 'wait a minute I want to take a closer look at this.'"

Handguns were found at the scene when Ms. Williams and her brothers were arrested, but outside of Mr. Neal's statement, it is unclear whether they were used to threaten him. And Mr. Neal's girlfriend also confirmed the incident to police, but she wasn't an eyewitness.

Professor Fahey said police usually get a warrant through the State Attorney's Office before making an arrest. When police take you in to custody based on probable cause with no warrant, it generally happens because there are witnesses and a developing situation.

"In most arrests, a request is made to the State Attorney's Office for a warrant," Professor Fahey said. "They will review the probable cause and then make a decision whether or not they will issue a warrant. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to make an arrest when the state attorney's not going to prosecute it."

Meanwhile, Mr. Neal is now being held in the Lee County jail while awaiting judgment on charges unrelated to this story. If his statements alleging aggravated assault do turn out to be false, he could face criminal as well as civil charges, including perjury, said Professor Pamela Seay, chair of the criminal justice department at Florida Gulf Coast University.

As for the police, Professor Seay described a similar, hypothetical situation in which an arrest like this is logical and correct.

"What if the police had done nothing?" she asked. "The man walks into the police department having just been assaulted and filled out the forms and they said, 'eh we'll think about it.' And those same four people walk up to — we'll call him Fred — and laugh in his face and proceed to beat him soundly. If the police had done nothing, there'd be an investigation with internal affairs and so on because there was a history."