CBS News
An Arizona man who was detained and later released during the investigation into Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance plans to sue the Pima County Sheriff’s Department for $3.25 million, alleging authorities wrongfully targeted him and refused to publicly clear his name.
A notice of claim was filed seeking damages on behalf of Carlos Palazuelos and two family members following a Feb. 10 operation tied to the investigation into Guthrie’s disappearance.
Palazuelos is seeking $2.5 million, while Daniel Maddox is seeking $500,000 and homeowner Josefina Maddox is seeking $250,000 for alleged property damage during the execution of a search warrant at the family’s Rio Rico home.
News of the notice of claim was first reported by ABC15.
The claim says deputies drew their guns on Palazuelos, took him into custody and kept him for seven to eight hours before releasing him without charges.
It also alleges they confiscated his cellphone and driver’s license during the search of the Rio Rico residence.
Daniel Maddox alleges he was handcuffed and held under armed guard outside the home during the search, while homeowner Josefina Maddox claims deputies damaged her property while executing the warrant.
The notice contends investigators secured the warrant through a sealed application relying on “false or baseless evidence” and maintains deputies lacked probable cause to believe Palazuelos had committed a crime.
It also contends Sheriff Chris Nanos and the Pima County Sheriff’s Department portrayed Palazuelos as a suspect by publicly announcing that deputies had detained a subject in connection with the Guthrie investigation and, according to the claim, describing him to reporters as a “person of interest.”
The filing says authorities have since refused to retract those statements or publicly clear Palazuelos’s name.
Attorney Jesse Showalter said the family is seeking accountability.
“And now they’re living day-to-day, they’re living in fear, and so the first thing that I’d like to see is Sheriff Nanos and the Pima County Sheriff’s Office come forward and say, ‘Carlos, this was a mistake. Carlos is not a person of interest. He is not an investigative lead. We messed up. We need to see some accountability obviously,’” Showalter said.
The claim says Palazuelos and his family have been followed and photographed by members of the public since his detention.
Palazuelos previously told ABC15 that the attention has frightened his family.
“People taking pictures of us or following us. Like yesterday, we went out dashing and we got home and there was this red truck following us. This morning it was there too, so it’s been kind of scary for me and for my wife, my kids and everybody,” he said.
The claim describes Palazuelos’s detention as leaving him feeling “as though he himself had been kidnapped.”
Under Arizona law, the county has 60 days to accept or reject the settlement demand before the claimants can move forward with a lawsuit.
The notice of claim comes as the investigation into Guthrie’s disappearance entered its sixth month with no arrests and no publicly identified suspect.
