LEE COUNTY, Fla., - A Lee County woman claims she was wrongfully arrested and charged in connection with a crime that happened while she was at work.
Deputies say Ja’kee Leaphart, 19, went into a business at Coconut Point Mall, stole credit cards and spent nearly $1,500 at a nearby Target and Best Buy store on January 5th.
According to the arrest report, purchases were made around 3 o clock in the afternoon.
“There’s no way that could have been me,” Leaphart said because she was working at Zaxby’s at Gulf Coast Town Center at the time. According to her time sheet, she worked from 9am to 5pm that day.
According to the report, a former school resource officer at East Lee County High School gave a sworn statement identifying Ja’kee in a surveillance video saying they had, ‘numerous face to face contacts’ while she was a student there. A former assistant principal also identified her.
Lee County NAACP President James Muwakill is calling on the Lee County Sheriff’s Office to release the video in hopes that it helps to clear her name.
“We believe that those detectives had a duty. Just as they had a duty to find the right person, they also have a duty to clear the wrong person,” Muwakill said.
Leaphart is currently charged with 4 felonies including burglary, larceny and fraud.
The State Attorney’s Office would not comment on the case with 4 In Your Corner because it is still active.
