Woman misidentified, arrested for crime she didn't commit
Venice, Florida -- A Venice woman got the scare of her life last September when deputies swarmed into the floral shop where she works.
30-year-old Angela Silva tells 10 News she was working in arrangements for a funeral when she was approached by the deputies with very confusing news for her.
They told her they had a warrant for her arrest for allegedly selling a controlled substance to undercover detectives in July.
"I was very confused and scared. I had no idea what was going on," she said.
She knew she didn't do it and even had an alibi, because she was at work at the time of the alleged undercover sale. She says she has the time card to prove it.
Still, detectives carted her off to the Sarasota County jail anyway, and booked her on the charges.
Four months later, the charges were dropped and the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office was issuing their apologies.
Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Wendy Rose could not comment on the case because it is now part of an Internal Affairs investigation, however, she said they are taking what happened very seriously.
Rose confirmed this is a case of human error and misidentification.
Turns out, Silva has a similar name and appearance as a woman seen in the video taken during the sting. The video was provided to 10 News by Silva's attorney, Jordan Tawil.
When Silva saw the video for herself, she says it made her angry and still does to this day.
"Astonished, first of all," she said of her first reaction to the video, "How they could get two different people so mixed up and very angry actually that I had to go through something like this for no reason at all."
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http://archive.wtsp.com/news/local/crime/article/183957/82/Woman-arrested-for-crime-she-didnt-commit
