ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 A Central Florida man spent eight days in jail after he claims an Orlando police officer wrongly identified him as a driver who fled a traffic stop.<\/p>\n
The state attorney\u2019s office later dropped its criminal case against Markest Thomas, in part because tattoos on Thomas\u2019s arms do not match video of the fleeing driver, which was captured by the police officer\u2019s body-worn camera. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was falsely arrested for a crime I didn\u2019t commit,\u201d Thomas told News 6. \u201cI would like to see accountability for what has happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Image of motorist captured by officer’s body-worn camera before he fled, left, and driver’s license photo of Markest Thomas. Thomas claims police misidentified him as the fleeing motorist. (WKMG-TV 2026)<\/p>\n
The Orlando Police Department has not indicated whether it still believes Thomas was the driver who sped away from the traffic stop. An agency spokesperson said the officer\u2019s investigation developed sufficient probable cause for a judge to sign an arrest warrant.<\/p>\n
Officer Andrew McKuhen, who swore under oath in an affidavit that he positively identified Thomas as the fleeing driver, was later involved in an unrelated vehicle crash that killed a 92-year-old woman<\/a>. Her family is suing the city for wrongful death.<\/p>\n \u201cThis wasn\u2019t a minor mistake,\u201d Thomas said about his arrest. \u201cMy life was uprooted. I was put in jail.\u201d<\/p>\n McKuhen, who had been working for OPD for less than two months, was patrolling the city\u2019s South Semoran neighborhood on Dec. 29 when he initiated a traffic stop on a BWM, police records show.<\/p>\n Video of the traffic stop captured by McKuhen\u2019s body-worn camera was provided to News 6 by Thomas, who obtained it from the state attorney\u2019s office as part of his criminal prosecution.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat am I getting pulled over for?\u201d the driver asked after rolling down his window.<\/p>\n \u201cThe taillights are tinted,\u201d McKuhen responded.<\/p>\n The driver told McKuhen he did not have his driver\u2019s license but claimed his name was Mark Thomas.<\/p>\n \u201cMark? M-A-R-K?\u201d asked McKuhen. <\/p>\n \u201cYes sir,\u201d said the driver, who also provided a social security number and claimed his birthday was in April 1995.<\/p>\n The officer informed the driver he wanted to search inside the car after smelling marijuana smoke, observing ash on the vehicle console, and noticing a green substance on the driver\u2019s shorts, the video shows.<\/p>\n As McKuhen began speaking with someone on his police radio, the driver turned on the car\u2019s ignition and drove off.<\/p>\n \u201cTurn it off! Turn it off!\u201d McKuhen yelled as the BWM sped away.<\/p>\n The officer did not attempt to chase after the fleeing motorist, the video shows.<\/p>\n McKuhen instead contacted OPD\u2019s communications center and shared the name \u201cMark Thomas\u201d with a birthdate in April 1995, according to notes from the officer\u2019s deposition with the state attorney\u2019s office.<\/p>\n \u201cThe coms center was able to find a name close to that based on (date of birth),\u201d the prosecutor\u2019s notes state.<\/p>\n That name was Markest Thomas, who was born in February 1995 instead of April 1995.<\/p>\n McKuhen then obtained a driver\u2019s license photo of Thomas, state attorney records indicate.<\/p>\n In a sworn affidavit, McKuhen wrote that he was able to \u201cpositivity identify Markest Tyrell Tomas as the driver of the vehicle\u201d.<\/p>\n The affidavit does not indicate whether the officer reviewed his body-worn camera footage and compared it to Thomas\u2019s photo before submitting it to a judge.<\/p>\n The officer\u2019s affidavit noted that the social security number provided by the driver was linked to a woman named Nancy. The affidavit does not indicate who may have owned the BMW, but records show McKuhen later told prosecutors the vehicle\u2019s license plate traced back to a woman. <\/p>\n Based on McKuhen\u2019s affidavit, Orange County Circuit Court Judge Greg A. Tynan issued an arrest warrant for Thomas, who lives in Lake County.<\/p>\n Thomas does not believe he looks like the fleeing motorist.<\/p>\n \u201cWe both have beards,\u201d Thomas told News 6. \u201cBut other than that, I don\u2019t think there are any similarities to us at all.\u201d<\/p>\n On Jan. 20, deputies with the Lake County Sheriff\u2019s Office arrived at Thomas\u2019s home in Mascotte to execute the arrest warrant.<\/p>\n Thomas said he originally thought the deputies were going to inform him that something bad had happened to a family member.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sitting over her playing video games when I hear a loud bang at the door,\u201d Thomas told News 6. \u201cThey ask me to step out, and the next thing I know, I\u2019m getting handcuffed.\u201d<\/p>\n Thomas was transported to the Lake County jail, where he was held without bond for seven nights before being transferred to the jail in Orange County for another night.<\/p>\n \u201cI just started breaking down and crying, because none of it made sense to me,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cI\u2019ve never been in trouble with the police ever. I don\u2019t have a criminal record. I\u2019ve never been locked up and never had handcuffs on my hands before.\u201d<\/p>\n An Orange County judge released Thomas from custody Jan. 28 to await trial. He was not required to post bond, but the judge issued a series of restrictions, including a prohibition against possessing alcohol or firearms.<\/p>\n After his arrest, Thomas said no one from OPD interviewed him or otherwise attempted to verify he was the driver who fled the traffic stop.<\/p>\n On July 16, the state attorney\u2019s office formally charged Thomas with fleeing from law enforcement, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison. <\/p>\n Prosecutors declined to pursue several drug-related charges recommended by the officer, records show.<\/p>\n After Thomas was charged, he said prosecutors gave his attorney a copy of the video captured by the police officer\u2019s body-worn camera.<\/p>\n Thomas immediately noticed the driver\u2019s arms.<\/p>\n \u201cI have all these tattoos on my arm,\u201d Thomas told News 6 as he pointed to the body art covering his right hand and forearm. \u201cI\u2019ve had this one since 2018. I\u2019ve had this one since 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n The driver has no visible tattoos on his right arm, the officer\u2019s video shows.<\/p>\n Assistant State Attorney Zachary Cole deposed McKuhen and reviewed the officer\u2019s body-worn camera video on August 3, records show.<\/p>\n \u201c(The driver) never gave the name Markest Tyrell Thomas,\u201d the prosecutor wrote in his case management notes.<\/p>\n Cole also highlighted the absence of tattoos on the driver\u2019s right arm.<\/p>\n \u201c(The) driver gave the name Mark Thomas, which is similar to Markest Thomas, and the (driver\u2019s license) photo looked like this person, but I think there are enough differences in their appearance to create reasonable doubt,\u201d the prosecutor wrote. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely possible and maybe even likely that this is the correct person, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s (beyond a reasonable doubt).\u201d<\/p>\n Later that day, the state attorney\u2019s office formally dropped the felony charge against Thomas.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I deserve an apology,\u201d Thomas told News 6. \u201cI don\u2019t think someone can be locked up for no reason when they haven\u2019t committed a crime, and after charges are dropped they just move on.\u201d<\/p>\n News 6 emailed OPD a side-by-side photograph of Thomas and the driver to inquire whether the agency still believed he was the motorist who fled the officer.<\/p>\n The agency did not respond to that question.<\/p>\n \u201cThe officer\u2019s investigation developed sufficient probable cause for a judge to sign an arrest warrant,\u201d OPD said in a statement. \u201cThe State Attorney\u2019s decision to not move forward with the case is an internal decision that they made, we have no comment on their decision.\u201d<\/p>\n Less than three weeks after the traffic stop that led to Thomas\u2019s arrest, records show McKuhen was involved in an unrelated vehicle crash<\/a> that killed 92-year-old Milagros \u201cMillie\u201d Ortiz.<\/p>\n [RELATED: Family announces $92M lawsuit against Orlando police in death of 92-year-old]<\/p>\n While stopped at a red light on January 18, McKuhen reportedly witnessed another driver making an illegal U-turn.<\/p>\n As the officer began entering intersection, video from a nearby traffic camera shows the emergency lights on his patrol vehicle were activated. But moments before colliding into the side of a passing Jeep carrying Ortiz, the police vehicle\u2019s red and blue lights went dark.<\/p>\n The office of State Attorney Monique Worrell declined to file criminal charges against McKuhen after finding no evidence that the officer was driving recklessly.<\/p>\n However, the state attorney\u2019s office noted in a memo that the officer\u2019s vehicle had a history of maintenance issues involving the operation of its emergency lights and siren that dated back years.<\/p>\n