OKEECHOBEE- Last week NFL Hall of Famer Warren Sapp announced he would file suit against the Okeechobee County Sheriff’s Office, alleging he was wrongfully arrested in Okeechobee in February 2024. 

In the notice of intent to sue sent to the Okeechobee County Sherrif’s Office, Sapp’s lawyer claims his client was illegally detained by Okeechobee County Sheriff's Department because of "his race, the officers overinflated ego and the sheriffs' lack of knowledge of the law, constitution and their civic duty”. 

The letter goes on to say that there was no lawful means for the arrest and detainment of Sapp and that he suffered multiple violations of his constitutional and civil rights. 

The arrest report of the incident provided by OCSO states that deputies were in the process of completing a traffic stop on a vehicle clocked going 63 miles per hour in a posted 35 mile per hour zone. 

The report states that due to a car meet/event traveling through Okeechobee County, there was a large amount of high-end luxury vehicles pulled into the parking lot as the traffic stop was being performed. And that an estimated 50-100 on lookers from the car meet had crowded around and were watching the incident. 

Then, the report says, unidentified black male emerged from the crowd and began to verbally argue with deputies about the stop. 

In a video taken on the day of the arrest, Sapp is seen asking deputies about the exact speed the car was claimed to be doing. 

The report says the deputies interjected and ordered Sapp to stop and informed him that he was obstructing. Sapp responded by brushing off the obstructing claim and replied that obstruction was a physical thing, then asked the deputies for their badge numbers. 

The report by OCSO describes the asking of badge numbers as Sapp becoming “verbally aggressive”. The report states that deputies then asked Sapp for his name and that he responded with "he does not answer questions."  Sapp was then asked to place his hands behind and was placed in handcuffs. 

In the letter of intent to sue, Sapp’s legal representative says he was placed in the back of an OCSO car and removed from a charitable event he has been a participant of for twelve years. He was transported to Okeechobee County jail and booked for resisting without violence, imprisoned and forced to pay a cash bond. 

The intent to sue letter says that if deputies would’ve simply frisked Sapp they would have discovered his wallet and there would have been no need to transport and book him into jail, at least not to identify. The letter states that “Okeechobee County Sheriffs advanced that Claimant (Sapp) would not identify himself yet Sheriffs would not allow Claimant to go into his pocket to retrieve his identification, nor did law enforcement look in Claimant's pockets once they put wrist restraints on him and instead abruptly falsely arrested and illegally detained Claimant without a warrant”.