The sheriff of Florida is being sued on social media “Wheel of Fugitive” posters.
00:37 The sheriff of Florida is being sued over “Wheel of Fugitive” posts on social media.
A man has filed a slander lawsuit against a Florida sheriff who uploads weekly “Wheel of Fugitive” videos on social media, claiming that he was not a fugitive in 2021 when his name and image appeared many times in the sheriff’s posts inspired by the long-running TV game show “Wheel of Fortune.”
David Gay lost his employment and suffered emotional distress due to the sheriff’s posts, according to the lawsuit seeking more than $50,000 in damages. The complaint was filed in Brevard County state court along Florida’s Space Coast last week.
According to the lawsuit, Gay’s potential employer called him while he was heading to his first day of work and urged him not to bother showing up because he had seen Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey’s “Wheel of Fugitive” recordings.
In the footage released to social media, Ivey spins a wheel with photographs of the ten most wanted fugitives in the county.
Wheel Of Fugitive is a work by Rebecca Heaslewood.
Who will it be this week on “WHEEL OF FUGITIVES®” tonight? #brevardsheriff #sheriffwayneivey
Tuesday, January 24, 2023, by Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, Florida (Official).
Ivey says in a video uploaded last week, “You know how it works: All 10 people up here have warrants for their arrest,” “We want to get them off the street and safely behind bears where they can’t victimize anyone else”
The one who spins the wheel and explains the charges against the accused fugitive who “wins.” the game.
Ivey then addresses the presumed fugitive and asks him or her to “do the right thing” and surrender.
During the video, the disclaimer “The suspects may have since been arrested or their alleged charges otherwise resolved or dismissed.” scrolls across the bottom of the screen.
A sheriff’s office spokesperson did not respond to an email seeking comment on the complaint on Monday, but Ivey told the Associated Press that “everybody watches it.”
“Even the fugitives watch it” to determine who will be the “fugitive of the week,” he claimed.
According to the lawsuit, Gay was involved in the court system for an unidentified offense and was sentenced to three years of probation for a withhold of adjudication in November 2020. A withhold of adjudication is a particular penalty in which a person is not legally convicted of an infraction.
Gay was brought into custody for violating his probation in January 2021, few weeks after being booked for minor domestic assault. According to him, his father engaged in a violent conflict with his mother, and the case was subsequently dismissed.
However, when Gay was in jail for violation of probation, Ivey stated in a “Wheel of Fugitive” video that Gay was a fugitive, despite the fact that he was already in Brevard County Jail, according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Gay was featured in three additional episodes of “Wheel of Fugitive,” including the day after he was sentenced to probation under the same terms as before and freed from custody.
»Sheriff of Florida sues over “Wheel of Fugitive” online videos«