HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — A Town ‘n’ Country senior citizen has filed a lawsuit alleging Hillsborough County sheriff’s deputies illegally entered her home, used excessive force, and wrongfully arrested her.
According to the lawsuit, the incident happened in 2020 when her ex-boyfriend came to get his belongings after their breakup and brought deputies with him.
Security camera footage from Diana Percival’s home shows Dave LeDuc walking to Percival’s front door on June 2, 2020.
There’s no audio, so exactly what’s said in the 12 minutes of footage that shows LeDuc, the deputies, and Percival interacting at the front door is unclear.
“Dave does not live here.”
According to a sheriff's office report, LeDuc came to the house to retrieve tools, documents, and other belongings he left at her home after their breakup.
“We were together for approximately two-and-a-half years as girlfriend/boyfriend,” Percival said.
But she said LeDuc never lived in her home.
The video shows Percival briefly allowing LeDuc and the deputy inside.
He wrote in his report, “She claimed LeDuc did not live at this location.”
LeDuc’s license, shown in a court document, confirms that.
Percival said the deputy never asked to see LeDuc’s license, mail, lease agreement, or any other proof that might show he resided at the home.
Percival ordered them out and can be seen shutting the door behind them on video.
“I keep asking them do you have a warrant? Has Dave shown you his driver’s license? Dave does not live here. Please, please, you guys leave,” Percival said.
“He never lived at the home. He never had a key for the home,” said Percival’s attorney Jeremy McLymont.
“Usually what happens is that if you call and want to get something out of someone’s house, the officer will tell you, well, that’s a civil issue. You have to go to court and get a court order,” McLymont said.
But that’s not what happened.
One deputy’s report said, “I advised Ms. Percival several times that it would be considered a battery if she touched LeDuc in any way to stop him from entering the home or collecting his property.”
A second deputy later arrived.
After another brief conversation with Percival, LeDuc goes to his truck and gets a drill.
“He pretends to drill my door; that’s when I opened the door, and they all came in,” Percival said.
The video ends there, but Percival said things turned ugly inside.
Percival calls 911
Percival said officers prevented her from seeing what LeDuc was taking.
A deputy wrote in his report, “I advised her to stay away from him and not to touch him. This command was for the safety of all parties to prevent any physical confrontation.”
“I’m standing there and, as I look around, I saw my phone. I grab it and call 911,” Percival said.
She told ABC Action News that she hoped to summon a supervisor to get the deputies and LeDuc to leave.
“Sir, could you please send officers to my house? You have two officers at my house, and they are having this man come into my house, and they lie and say that he has an address. And he doesn’t have an address to my house,” Percival told the 911 operator.
The operator said he couldn’t send anyone else.
"You’re calling the wrong number,” he said. “You can’t shuffle deputies, OK?”
“If you have concerns, I can give you a number to complain about their conduct,” the operator said.
Percival said LeDuc left with his belongings.
Incident ended with the homeowner’s arrest
The deputy wrote in his report, “Percival, with two balled fists, approached me in an aggressive manner as if she was going to strike me.”
Percival said the other deputy knocked her down.
“He just comes boom. I went down. I’m down there screaming, screaming. I was on my face like this,” she said, showing where she was taken down in her kitchen.
Despite several verbal commands, the report said Percival refused to place her hands behind her back.
It said she then refused to walk under her own power and chose to force herself to the floor.
Percival was arrested, charged with resisting an officer, misuse of 911, and battery.
“Dave is already out there. All they had to do is leave,” Percival said.
Percival, who had never been arrested in 65 years, was examined by paramedics and then taken to jail.
“My job let me off without even questioning it; they let me off for three months without pay,” she said.
Her criminal case was later dismissed.
Lawsuit alleges multiple civil rights violations
Percival is now suing.
The lawsuit alleges deputies entered her home without probable cause, detained her, and used unnecessary force, violating her civil rights.
We contacted LeDuc, but he didn’t respond.
He declined to prosecute Percival and signed a sworn statement saying, “I do not adopt law enforcement’s characterization of that event.”
A Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said she can’t comment because it's an ongoing case.
In a motion to dismiss, the sheriff’s office’s attorney argued a warrantless entry was valid because deputies had a reasonable belief that LeDuc lived at the address and that LeDuc consented to their entry.
The motion also said, “Based on the facts, the amount of force used by the deputies was reasonable.”
“If anyone is supposed to be safe anywhere, it’s supposed to be in their own home,” said attorney McLymont.
Percival hopes the incident will help deputies learn an important lesson.
“They should be trained to help. They should be trained to de-escalate, not to escalate,” she said.
The case is still pending in U.S. District Court.
Percival seeks unspecified damages for fear, indignity, humiliation, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and injury to her character and reputation.
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