Hillsborough Sheriff's Office offers $100,000 to settle suit

By Times Staff Writer
Published July 21, 2007

TAMPA - The Sheriff's Office has offered a Valrico woman $100,000 to settle a lawsuit she filed against it claiming a sheriff's deputy violated her civil rights while arresting her son.

Mary Beth Mazar's case involved Deputy Daniel Brock, 38, who lost his job May 24 after an internal affairs investigation into his handling of driving-under-the-influence cases.

The Sheriff's Office report said that Brock arrested 43 drivers who had demonstrated no visible signs of impairment at the wheel, 19 of whom also had blood alcohol levels below 0.08.

Mazar's suit alleged Brock arrested her in 2002 on DUI charges even though a blood alcohol test showed she wasn't intoxicated.

According to her lawsuit, Mazar drove to where her son, a minor, was being arrested. She'd been told that the vehicle he was driving would be impounded if she didn't come get it.

When Mazar expressed frustration, Brock threatened to arrest her, followed her home, forced his way into her house, shoved her and sprayed pepper spray in her face twice, the suit said.

[Last modified July 20, 2007, 23:35:52]