Barbershop sues sheriff's office over raids
From CFNews13.com
Quote:
ORLANDO --
A local barbershop, one of several targeted in last year's joint operation to capture illegal barbers, is now suing the Orange County Sheriff's office and the state agency behind them.
Strictly Skillz said the Pine Hills barbershop has lost business since the raids and is suing for damages.
They also want to stop the sheriff's office from partnering with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
But the sheriff's office internal review found they didn't violate any policies.
"The Orange County Sheriff's Office holds itself to the highest standards and certainly did not target Black or Hispanic barbershops," Sheriff Jerry Demings said.
He went on to say they looked forward to their day in court.
The barbershop's attorney Natalie Jackson countered saying, "The sheriff's office role is to defend the laws of this country, so they lose some integrity when they stand by something that is so obviously wrong."
Strictly Skillz barbers say their business was packed with children getting back-to-school haircuts, when deputies with battering rams, handguns and bullet proof vests stormed in on August 24, 2010.
The sheriff's office and that state agency partnered on a number of similar operations, many in the Pine Hills area, netting 39 arrests, 35 of them for barbering without a license, a misdemeanor offense.
The defendants in the lawsuit now have 20 days to file a response.
