Sun Sentinel
MIAMI — The Florida Highway Patrol trooper who pulled over a speeding cop at gunpoint has settled her lawsuit with the city of Hollywood for $5,000, after claiming two of its officers illegally obtained her personal information.
Trooper Donna “Jane” Watts made national news in October 2011 when she pulled over off-duty Miami Police Officer Fausto Lopez for speeding through Broward County in his marked patrol car at speeds exceeding 120 mph.
In the days and months afterward, officers from around Florida looked up private information about Watts from the state’s database, such as her home address, picture, Social Security number, date of birth, and detailed vehicle description.
Watts said she was then ridiculed and threatened; vehicles would stop in front of her driveway or linger on her street for no reason. She said she became afraid for her life – and fled her house in Coral Springs for the Florida Panhandle. Watts still works for the FHP.
She alleged in a lawsuit that 88 law enforcement officers from 25 jurisdictions illegally accessed her personal information more than 200 times, violating her privacy. She is seeking more than $1 million in damages.
Hollywood officials have confirmed that on Feb. 29 they mailed the $5,000 settlement to Watts, who accused police officers Robert Gianino and Keith Wadsworth of accessing her driver’s license information three times for non-police-related reasons.
City officials said a “Negative Observed Behavior” was issued to Wadsworth on April 4, 2012. Wadsworth told the agency that his computer was left on his desk, unlocked. But his supervisors said he “neither admitted or denied” his actions and his user ID was identified on his computer. Gianino received a written reprimand on January 12, 2012. He told supervisors he wanted to see what Watts looked like, according to records released Tuesday.
Some other cities reached settlements with Watts before she filed suit. They included Margate, which settled for $10,000 after two of its police officers looked up her private information.
Others cities settled afterward, including Lauderhill, which paid her $7,500 after one of its detectives improperly used official records to obtain personal information about her.
Watts’ attorney Mark Tietig said pending cases include the Broward Sheriff’s Office, the cities of Miami, Orlando, Port St. Lucie, and 14 employees of the FHP.
Video of the incident, which Watts filmed on her dash cam, went viral, and prompted the Sun Sentinel to examine how often off-duty South Florida law enforcement officers exceeded the speed limit. The resulting investigative series, “Above the Law: Speeding Cops,” won the Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for Public Service, the highest honor in American journalism, in 2013.
“She’s always glad to resolve these things,” Tietig said of Watts’ settlement with Hollywood. “But she’s saddened officers would look up her information. Law enforcement is subject to the same laws... as non law enforcement officers.”
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