[PHOTO CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 06/06/20]
TAVARES, Florida — A Longwood woman was charged with filing a false report Wednesday after she accused a Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputy of inappropriately touching her, but video footage showed she was lying, according to an arrest affidavit.
On Monday, two detectives responded to the Lake County Jail to meet with Shannon Leigh Johnson, 40, who said the deputy who arrested her on May 28 fondled her breasts and put his hand down her pants and touched her vagina and anus, the affidavit states.
Detectives obtained the video footage from the traffic stop that occurred shortly after 8:30 p.m. May 28 in Sorrento. According to the affidavit, the video shows the arresting deputy making contact with Johnson and her exiting the vehicle. The deputy secures Johnson and sits her in front of the passenger side headlight of the patrol vehicle. The deputy resumes his investigation and eventually makes contact with Johnson again. Johnson is out of sight, but the deputy’s hands are visible in the video footage, and “at no time did I view any lewd act at the time,” the detective notes in the affidavit.
As described in the affidavit, nine minutes after the initial traffic stop, a backup unit arrives and one minute later the arresting deputy comes back into view and picks up Johnson and positions her in front of the driver’s side headlight of the patrol vehicle. About 15 minutes later, the arresting deputy helps Johnson up and walks her to the rear of the patrol vehicle and places her inside the vehicle.
Once Johnson is in the patrol vehicle, she allegedly removes an unknown vial from her buttocks area and places the vial in her mouth. She then tilts her head back and swallows the unknown substance in the vial and places the vial in her bra. Johnson then starts moving around and acting hyper, the detective notes in the affidavit.
Just before 9:30 p.m., the arresting deputy again makes contact with Johnson for about one minute and stays outside the vehicle, five minutes later he makes contact again without touching her and finally just before 10:30 p.m. he departs for the Lake County Jail with Johnson in full view and they arrive at the jail just over 20 minutes later.
“After concluding my investigation, I could not find anything to suggest any wrongdoing on behalf of the Deputy. The accounts given by the defendant were not consistent with the video footage,” the detective states in the affidavit. In a follow up interview, Johnson was “adamant” she had been touched inappropriately by the deputy, despite the video evidence, according to the affidavit. Johnson, who was already facing numerous drug and traffic charges, was also charged with filing a false report. She has since been released from the Lake County Jail.
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Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
