Man Jailed for Videotaping Cops Wins Lawsuit

An Orlando man jailed for filming a police officer got more than his phone back.

Alberto Troche, who sued Orlando police for wrongfully jailing him and taking his phone, received $15,000 in a settlement, the Orlando Sentinel reported this week.

According to the lawsuit, Troche saw police arresting a man late one night in December of last year. Based on cries of pain from the man being arrested, Troche thought police were using excessive force and pulled out his phone to record. Several others did the same.

Police arrested Troche for recording the officers. Troche claimed he stood 10-15 feet away from the arrest and never interfered. He spent 15 hours in custody and didn’t get his phone back for three weeks.

In a video of the incident, police can be heard yelling at an indignant crowd. Police threaten to take their cell phones because they were recording, and then appeared to confiscate cell phones. They claimed the phones were needed for evidence. (Read more about what happened after Mr. Troche was confronted for videotaping cops HERE)

Watch man get arrested for videotaping police HERE.