Gabrielle Russon
Karen Maloof was on her way to Scotland for a vacation with her husband. “In 27 years of marriage, the couple had only been to Europe once before,” new court documents detailed.
They passed through security and reached the departure gate at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. Then, police dogs and federal law enforcement authorities appeared with assault-style guns.
Maloof’s 2023 trip was ruined and her life was upended as the 54-year-old Atlanta woman was detained in the world’s biggest airport. She then spent several days in jail for a crime she did not commit, according to a new federal lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court’s Orlando division.
Maloof says it was a stolen identity mix-up from hell.
Unbeknownst to Maloof, there had been a warrant out for her arrest for grand theft auto, larceny and fleeing from justice. The charges came after a U-Haul was stolen in a Florida coastal city she had never visited, 500 miles away from her home, her lawsuit said.
Now, Maloof, a soon-to-be empty nester who came from a prominent family and whose husband is a partner at an insurance company, is suing the city of Palm Bay, the Police Department and a local police officer.
Maloof’s nightmare first began in 2017, when her driver’s license was stolen.
She reported the theft and got a new one. But five years later, two women used her stolen license to rent a 2022 Ford Transit van from U-Haul in Brevard County’s Palm Bay, the lawsuit said
“U-Haul allowed the perpetrators to rent the truck remotely via text message and other electronic means with no verification of the renter’s actual identity,” the lawsuit said. “Other information and documents provided by the thieves include Maloof’s correct Atlanta address via the stolen license, a fraudulent Florida telephone number, an unverified email address, and a fake physical address for Maloof in Florida, that did not match the address on the stolen license.”
The complaint also said, “The perpetrators also provided a ‘selfie’ photograph intended to verify that the renter matched the identification card provided. It is clear when comparing the two photographs that they represent two distinct individuals.”
When the U-Haul van was stolen and not returned, the company mailed a demand letter to the fake Florida address the company had on file and contacted the Palm Bay Police Department to pursue criminal charges, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit added that U-Haul did not contact Maloof at the actual address listed on her driver’s license.
U-Haul did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile Palm Bay Office Cody Spaulding, who is named in the complaint, filed a Probable Cause Affidavit which led the State Attorney’s Office to issue criminal charges of grand theft motor vehicle and failure to return hired or leased property, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit accused Spaulding of conducting a bad police investigation and never trying to find the real Maloof. The suit said the police officer should have realized the red flags of a stolen identity because the thieves listed Maloof’s address in the middle of nowhere on a road that the officer mentioned in the police report.
“Defendant Spaulding acted with actual malice when he pursued the prosecution of Maloof, despite the fact there was never probable cause to believe Maloof had committed a crime,” the lawsuit said. “Defendant Spaulding’s investigation was grossly insufficient and failed to meet the most basic standards of investigative techniques.”
On May 19, 2023, Maloof spent hours handcuffed in an Atlanta airport detention room and then was taken to Clayton County Jail, the lawsuit said.
“Despite her pleas, Maloof was denied the chance to give an explanation and told to ‘shut up’ any time she spoke to the arresting officers,” the lawsuit added.
“Maloof was locked in a holding cell with a dozen other women, several of which were high on methamphetamines and heroin, screaming, passing out, and bleeding due to the drugs. Maloof was then processed and subjected to a full body cavity search in front of other prisoners and guards. Her shoes, clothes, and underwear were taken from her and replaced with ill-fitting prison scrubs.”
Maloof complained she took a group shower in cold water and her first meal 24 hours into her incarceration was “rancid lunch meat and wet white bread” that “was thrown at her through the prison bars,” the lawsuit.
Three days after she was first taken into custody, Maloof was released, the lawsuit said.
Maloof’s legal troubles ended May 31, 2023, when the State Attorney’s Office dropped the criminal charges, the lawsuit said.
“All this fear, trouble, and legal expenditure could have been avoided but for the lack of care on behalf of Defendant Spaulding, the City of Palm Bay, and the City of Palm Bay Police Department,” her lawsuit said.
Maloof’s attorneys declined to comment. The city of Palm Bay and its Police Department did not respond to a Florida Politics request for comment.
