A South Florida cook's identity was recently mistaken by police for a fugitive with the same name, similar looks, and nearly the same birthday.
Leonardo Silva Oliveira, 26, was wanted for probation violation on charges out of Boca Raton. However, authorities arrested Leonardo Silva Oliveira, 26, on Jan. 20 outside a Broward county restaurant where he is a cook, the South Florida SunSentinel reported.
Oliveira, the cook, spent five days in the Broward County Jail.
He says that authorities should have realized they had the wrong person because he is 10 days younger than the fugitive and has no tattoos. According to the police report, Oliveira, the fugitive, has a building tattoo on the left arm and a clock on the right arm.
“They checked my arms. They didn’t see any. But they still took me in,” Oliveira, the cook, told the newspaper.
Authorities finally realized they had the wrong person, and he was released on Tuesday.
Oliveira, the cook, was identified through Florida's driver and vehicle information database, despite having a different birthday than the fugitive, according to Coconut Creek Police Department's arrest report.
Palm Beach County authorities asked for help to identify the cook as a fugitive, police spokesperson Sgt. Scotty Leamon told the newspaper.
When police arrested Oliveira, the cook, it was the first time he had been in trouble with the law.
“How could I be wanted on a probation violation when I’ve never been arrested for anything? It was a nightmare," Oliveira said.
Attorney Jose Castañeda was hired by Oliveira on Monday, and filed a motion to have his client released. He pointed out that his client weighs less than 150 pounds and has no tattoos, while the fugitive weighed 213 pounds when he was arrested on a burglary charge in 2017.
“I was on 24-hour lockdown,” Oliveira said. “I finally got out of the cell for an hour a day Saturday, Sunday and Monday. It was a little window, no TV. Nothing to do but just stare at the walls and try to stay warm.”
Broward County Sheriff's Office obtained fingerprints of the fugitive before a hearing could be held, and compared them to the fingerprints of the cook.
“When it was determined that the fingerprints did not match, Oliveira was immediately released from jail,” sheriff's spokesperson Carey Codd said.
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