A man is suing a Florida sheriff’s office after appearing on its “Wheel of Fugitive,” a weekly social media initiative seemingly inspired by “Wheel of Fortune.”
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00:00This Florida Sheriff's Office is being sued over a mock game they call Wheel of Fugitive.
00:04Welcome to Wheel of Fugitive. You know how it works. All 10 people up here have warrants for
00:09their arrest. We want to get them off the streets and safely behind bars where they
00:13can't victimize anybody else. Let's see who our fugitive of the week is.
00:17Once the spinning ends, the presenter reveals the full name and birthdate of the fugitive selected,
00:22as well as the reason for their warrant and their last known location.
00:25These videos are published weekly and garner thousands of views.
00:28Now, the Sheriff's Office is being sued by David Gay, who says he was already in jail when he
00:32appeared in an episode and therefore was not a fugitive. In the lawsuit, Gay claims it ruined
00:37his reputation, created anxiety and depression, and caused him to lose a job because a potential
00:42employer allegedly saw the video. In 2021, Florida Today analyzed the videos and found
00:46that nearly 33% of people featured in the videos were not fugitives and in most cases were already
00:52in jail. Despite those findings and the new lawsuit, the Brevard County Sheriff's Office
00:56continues to post weekly episodes.