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A Vanderburgh County resident is suing the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office and two sheriffs deputies after she said officers wrongfully arrested and charged her with resisting law enforcement in October 2024.
The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana on behalf of plaintiff Carie Brown. The complaint names the sheriff’s office, sergeant Thad Zuber and deputy Alexander Miller as defendants.
“This case illustrates unfortunate and all-too-common overreach by law enforcement,” Stevie Pactor, an attorney with the ACLU of Indiana, told The Indiana Lawyer in an email. “Sheriff’s deputies are not above the law, and we look forward to vindicating our client’s constitutional rights.”
The Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office does not comment on specifics of pending litigation, Sheriff Noah Robinson told The Lawyer. But he said the department takes allegations concerning the conduct of its personnel seriously.
“We will address the claims through the appropriate legal process, which is the proper forum for resolving them,” Robinson said in an email.
On Oct. 16, 2024, Brown and her two young children were inside their home in Vanderburgh County when they received a knock on the door from Deputy Miller, the lawsuit states. Miller was in the area responding to an anonymous call about a young boy who was seen walking along the road in front of Brown’s home wearing pajamas. He asked Brown if she had a little boy who was missing.
Brown told Miller that she had a young son and brought him to the door so Miller could compare him to the caller’s description. She told Miller that her son could be the child the caller was referring to, as he had walked to his grandma’s house a few houses away earlier that morning, court documents state.
Miller tried to reach the caller to verify the description but was unable to make contact. He told Brown he would close the report, as it was possible that her son was the child the caller saw, the lawsuit states. During the conversation between Miller and Brown, Sergeant Zuber arrived to the home. And two other deputies had arrived near Brown’s home.
The officers approached Brown and asked her to identify herself, the complaint states.
According to the lawsuit, Brown calmly told the officers she did not wish to identify herself, as she hadn’t done anything wrong and didn’t want to be listed on a police report. Brown has a history of harassment and stalking from an ex-spouse and said she was afraid any information about her could get to him via police blotter or scanner, the complaint states.
Law enforcement asked Brown several times to identify herself, but she refused. At one point, Brown turned to go into her house and grab her ID from her purse, but Zuber allegedly grabbed her arm and tried to pull her out of her house, the lawsuit says.
Brown pulled her arm back, but Zuber maintained his grip, according to the lawsuit, and then Miller entered her home to help Zuber restrain her. Brown says in the complaint that Miller and Zuber had no probable cause to enter her home or detain her.
One of the officers put Brown in handcuffs, and Miller walked her to a patrol car, court records say. Brown was detained in handcuffs for about 30 minutes before officers brought her back into her house and told her she was still under arrest, according to court documents.
The lawsuit states that the officers did not tell Brown what she was under arrest for.
Miller, Zuber and several other officers entered Brown’s house and said they would stay until the Department of Child Services came to do a screening since Brown had been arrested. Zuber expressed remorse for the incident but told Brown she was detained because she resisted and refused to give him her name, the lawsuit states.
Brown said the officers were in her home for nearly two hours altogether. The lawsuit says she was not cited while police were there. Instead she was given Zuber’s business card with a case number on it.
The lawsuit also states that Zuber and Miller were both wearing body cameras that recorded audio but the audio had been turned off before and during Brown’s arrest.
Zuber completed a probable cause affidavit later that day, which said that Brown was arrested for resisting law enforcement. But according to Brown’s complaint, Zuber’s affidavit included false information or omitted information that would have been important to determine any finding of probable cause. The complaint is not specific about what in the probable cause was false or omitted.
Brown was charged with resisting law enforcement on Nov. 14, 2024. The charge was dismissed without prejudice in December 2025.
Brown is suing the defendants for violating her First and fourth amendment rights when she refused to give them her information without a warrant. She is seeking a trial in the case.
The case is Carie Brown v. Sergeant Thad Zuber, Deputy Alexander Miller, Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office, 3:26-cv-166.
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