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A 17-year-old Black Baltimore student spent seven months on house arrest after being accused of a carjacking that happened while he was sitting in class. He also didn’t match the description of the suspect.
Deryl Bright Jr. was accused of being one of three teens involved in a January carjacking. Police arrested him at school about a month after the incident.
But two school officials confirmed to The Baltimore Sun that Bright was in class at Green Street Academy when the carjacking occurred.
Surveillance footage also showed a suspect who investigators estimated was about six inches shorter and heavier than Bright. The school required students to wear uniforms, while the suspects in the footage were not.
The case remained active for about seven months until Baltimore Sun investigative reporter Kati Cimini questioned prosecutors on September 24 about why Bright was still facing charges even though he did not fit the suspect’s description and was in class when the carjacking occurred.
Prosecutors dismissed the charges on September 25, and Bright’s ankle monitor was removed three days later.
By then, Bright had missed his prom, a family reunion and a planned graduation trip to Florida. He also said the case prevented him from continuing his job as a pharmacy technician.
“I feel isolated,” Bright told The Baltimore Sun. “I feel unfairly punished for a crime I didn’t commit.”
Bright also said the experience made him feel targeted.
“I feel like I’m a victim of prejudice,” he said. “They assume I was somebody I’m not.”
He criticized the investigation, saying, “It was just pure laziness on the part of the detectives that they didn’t put more time into investigating the whole case.”
Bright is eligible to have the case expunged, but doing so would require him to waive his right to sue. His family is still weighing its options.
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