Sheriff's office arrests police officer 'without evidence,' takes her child, shares explicit photos from her phone: Lawsuit



An Ohio police officer has accused a sheriff’s office of arresting her "without evidence," taking her young child away from her, and circulating "explicit" photos obtained from her cell phone, according to a new lawsuit.

Deputies with the Portage County Sheriff’s Office pulled over Miranda Brothers — an officer with the Mantua Police Department — on Jan. 1, 2024.

'Despite knowing that the digital images were not relevant to any criminal charge, Detective John Doe shared and/or disseminated these digital images within the Portage County [Sheriff’s] Office and potentially further.'

WOIO-TV obtained police bodycam video of the traffic stop. Brothers is seen getting emotional when deputies remove her child from her vehicle.

Brothers is seen on bodycam video saying, "You’re gonna take custody of my kid? For what?”

The deputies accused Brothers of leaving her 5-year-old son alone with a registered sex offender. The deputies then took her child away from her, and Brothers was arrested.

The next day, sheriff's office Detective Kenneth Romo charged Brothers with one count of endangering the welfare of a child.

Bodycam video shows a deputy using a search warrant to seize Brothers' cell phone. Brothers allegedly gave officers her child's tablet voluntarily.

Brothers was transported to the sheriff’s office, where detectives questioned her. Her child was temporarily placed in foster care.

The Portage County Sheriff’s Office accused Brothers of allowing a registered sex offender "to spend extended periods of time alone with the then-5-year-old child.”

Mantua Mayor Tammy Meyer immediately placed Brothers on administrative leave after her arrest.

Detectives said multiple people tipped them off about the alleged crime.

According to the complaint, "at least" two detectives with the Portage County Sheriff’s Office were deployed to observe Brothers and her child on Dec. 7, 2023, at a restaurant in Mantua — a village about 40 miles southeast of Cleveland.

The Portager reported that sheriff's office Detective Mischell Weber oversaw the investigation but testified under oath that the complaints about child endangerment were “unfounded” and “not accurate.”

Sheriff's office Detective Eric Noall later testified that the child never had "any unsupervised contact with a registered sex offender," according to court documents.

The lawsuit claims that four detectives testified in December 2023, and none of them personally observed the child being supervised by a registered sex offender or that the child was in any danger.

On July 11, 2024, Portage County Municipal Court Judge Mark Fankhauser dismissed the case against Brothers.

Once the case was dropped, Brothers was reinstated at the Mantua Police Department.

Last week, Brothers filed her complaint against the Portage County Sheriff’s Office.

'As a result of the Portage County Sheriff’s Office’s conduct, Plaintiff Brothers suffered serious mental anguish of a nature no reasonable person could be expected to endure.'

The lawsuit states, "The criminal complaint directly contradicts the sworn testimony of the members of the Portage County Sheriff’s Office who personally observed Juvenile A on December 7, 2023."

The Portage County Sheriff’s Office reportedly performed a forensic investigation on Brothers' cell phone, which copied her phone's data to a computer database.

Sheriff's office Detective Michael Hanna allegedly testified that there was no incriminating evidence regarding the child endangerment allegations on Brothers' phone.

The suit also accuses an unnamed member of the sheriff's office of looking at “private digital images” from Brothers' phone and circulating them.

"Despite knowing that the digital images were not relevant to any criminal charge, Detective John Doe shared and/or disseminated these digital images within the Portage County [Sheriff’s] Office and potentially further,” the suit states. “The Portage County Sheriff’s Office’s conduct of observing, sharing and/or disseminating the private digital images of Plaintiff Brothers was so extreme and outrageous that it went beyond all possible bounds of decency and is intolerable in a civilized community.”

Brothers' attorney, Eric Fink, confirmed to WOIO that the photos were "explicit in nature."

Fink told the station, "She took her child to her babysitter who was at a restaurant in Mantua, she was scheduled to work in Mantua. Her babysitter is an off-duty police dispatcher, background checked. While she was there, the sheriff’s department set up a couple of detectives who were photographing and looking to determine apparently whether she left her child with a registered sex offender instead of the babysitter police dispatcher.”

The lawsuit names the defendants as the Portage County Board of Commissioners, the Portage County Sheriff's Department, Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowsky, Detective Kenneth Romo, and the unnamed detective.

The lawsuit states, "As a result of the Portage County Sheriff’s Office’s conduct, Plaintiff Brothers suffered serious mental anguish of a nature no reasonable person could be expected to endure."

The lawsuit claims Brothers was subjected to malicious prosecution, violations of her Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, and 14th Amendment rights, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and tortious interference because she was suspended from her police officer job.

The suit is asking for at least $25,000 in compensatory damages and punitive damages of $500,000 per defendant.

The Portage County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the New York Post and WOIO.

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Girl, 8, fights would-be kidnapper who entered her bedroom wearing clown mask in middle of the night, cops say



Police in Colorado said an 8-year-old girl fought a would-be kidnapper who entered her bedroom wearing a clown mask in the middle of the night last week.

Sterling Police were called around 2:30 a.m. Oct. 15 to a home on Walnut Street for a reported home invasion and kidnapping attempt, KUSA-TV reported, citing an arrest affidavit.

The victim's mother told police the suspect was in her home the previous weekend to help install a washer and dryer.

The suspect entered the home sometime between 1 and 2 a.m., the station said, adding that police said the suspect likely entered and exited through the back door, which may have been unlocked.

The victim told police the suspect came into her room, put a blindfold over her face, and grabbed her out of bed, KUSA reported. The affidavit says she started fighting back, after which the suspect hit her on the head, leaving her unconscious, the station said.

When the victim woke up, she ran into her mother's room to tell her what happened, KUSA said.

The suspect was wearing a cloth clown mask during the assault, the station said, citing the affidavit. The mask, along with a pair of gloves, were left in the child's room, KUSA noted.

Police said the suspect also took the victim's phone, the station reported. The affidavit says location data from the phone was used to help identify the suspect, according to KUSA.

The suspect — 56-year-old Thomas Gallegos — lives in the neighborhood, the station said, citing the affidavit. The victim's mother told police the suspect was in her home the previous weekend to help install a washer and dryer, KUSA reported.

Gallegos was taken into custody Saturday on suspicion of the following charges, police told the station: first-degree burglary, second-degree attempted kidnapping, second-degree assault, third-degree assault, and child abuse.

The next court appearance for Gallegos is set for Nov. 4, KUSA said.

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Woman instantly goes after crook who steals cellphone from another female's hand in NYC subway. Good Samaritan also pays a price; gets stabbed in leg.



A woman wasted no time intervening when she spotted a crook knocking a cellphone from another female's hand and trying to run off with it in a New York City subway Monday evening.

But the good Samaritan paid a price for trying to stop the robbery; the suspect stabbed her in the leg.

What are the details?

New York City police on Wednesday released video of the 6 p.m. incident on a platform of the West 34 Street-Herald Square Station.

WANTED for ROBBERY: On 4/18/22 at approx. 6PM, inside W 34 St Herald Sq Station @NYPDMTS Manhattan. The suspect knocked a phone out of a 33 year-old female victim's hand, & then stabbed a good Samaritan in the leg. Any info call us at 800-577-TIPS Reward up to $3,500pic.twitter.com/cHI4DAG9iR
— NYPD Crime Stoppers (@NYPD Crime Stoppers) 1650428208

The clip shows a man running by a bench where train passengers are sitting and knocking the phone free. As the suspect bent down to pick it up, the good Samaritan quickly tried to block the crook with her right foot.

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @NYPDTips

But even though the crook took hold of the phone, the 27-year-old good Samaritan's courage didn't run out; she then slammed into and ran after the suspect, the New York Daily News reported.

By this point, the 33-year-old cellphone owner also was running after the suspect who snatched it, the paper said. The good Samaritan did her best to grab the suspect, who managed to slip from her grasp and run off.

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @NYPDTips

However, the crook also jammed a sharp object into the good Samaritan's right thigh, the Daily News said. She is seen in the video hopping on one leg after the incident.

Image source: Twitter video screenshot via @NYPDTips

The video ends with the suspect running away. The paper said he fled the station with the cellphone and has not been caught.

Police added a photo of the suspect, noting there's a $3,500 reward for information about him.

Image source: NYPD Crime Stoppers

What happened to the good Samaritan?

Medics took the stabbed good Samaritan to Bellevue Hospital, where she was treated and released, the Daily News said.