‘I wasn’t guilty of anything’: Westmoreland County man wrongfully arrested, held for hours at jail
GREENSBURG, Pa. —
Larry Miller, of Jeannette, went to the Westmoreland County Courthouse last Friday to take part in a domestic hearing. When the hearing was done, sheriff’s deputies were waiting for him.
“It was scary,” Miller said. “When the hearing was over, they notified me that they were notified before I got [to the hearing] that there was a warrant out for my arrest. They came over, they searched me, took my belt, took everything off me and proceeded to put me in a cell with county prisoners. At first, I felt humiliated. It was intimidating, to say the least.”
Miller was told there was a warrant for his arrest out of Schuylkill County, which is in eastern Pennsylvania.
The man said he spent three hours at the courthouse before being taken to the jail.
“I had no idea what was going on at that point in time,” he said. “They put the chains around your waist, they cuff you and they put the shackles on you, put me on a bus and took me to the county jail. Nobody showed me anything, nobody said anything other than that there was a warrant for my arrest. I knew, in my mind, that I wasn’t guilty of anything.”
He said he spent another three hours inside jail.
It took photographing his mugshot for deputies to realize what had happened.
“As the guard was taking my picture, I said I don’t know what I’m doing here,” Miller said. “So they took me to look at my sheet. I look over his shoulder, and there’s a little 2×2 black-and-white picture of a man the warrant was for. I’m like, ‘That’s not me.'”
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The office of Westmoreland County Sheriff James Albert confirmed the mistake.
“On Friday, our Office was notified by the Westmoreland County Prison that an individual was in custody who shared the same name as a man wanted on an active warrant, and may have been misidentified. An immediate verification was conducted, and the individual was released from custody. An internal review is underway, and the matter will be thoroughly examined.”
Miller told Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 that his belongings were temporarily taken from him.
“My whole family has my location as Westmoreland County Courthouse at 9:30 in the morning,” he said. “They were looking for me all day long.”
Miller was given his belongings and escorted to his vehicle after nearly eight hours in custody.
It’s an experience the Army veteran would like to forget, but wants the sheriff’s office to learn from.
“I already struggle with some anxiety issues. That was tough,” he said. “Somebody needs to be accountable for this. Hopefully this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
Miller said he is looking for a lawyer to determine exactly what his next steps are.
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