CLEARWATER, Fla. — A woman is suing the City of Clearwater, claiming her arrest was “unreasonable and unjustified.”
Back in December 2022, Hannah Ray was taken into custody for DUI manslaughter, accused of killing a motorcyclist. The charges were eventually dropped — but she said the arrest has haunted her ever since.
"You want police officers to do their job in an honest, truthful, neutral fashion, and unfortunately, in our culture, the only way that you can typically hold them accountable for that is by a lawsuit," said Tom Wadley, the attorney representing Ray.
WATCH: 'My worst nightmare': Woman sues Clearwater after DUI charges are dropped
Ray is an Indiana woman who moved to Clearwater in November 2022 to start her career as a therapist.
But one month later, Ray said her life changed forever.
The City of Clearwater shared body camera footage from that night with ABC Action News. In the video, when Ray learns the motorcyclist has passed away, she can be heard saying, “This is just my actual worst nightmare.”
An officer from that night told her, "You are going to go to jail tonight because someone died."
On Dec. 4, just after midnight, Ray was involved in a crash that killed a motorcyclist near Gulf to Bay Blvd and U.S. Highway 19.
She was charged with DUI manslaughter.
In the footage from that night, Ray questions the DUI, saying, "But I wasn’t breathalyzed."
After reviewing the evidence and inconsistencies in the report, a judge dropped the charges about a month later.
"It's damaged her name and reputation for the rest of her life," said Wadley.
The lawsuit claims false arrest, emotional distress, and violations of her constitutional rights.
According to the arrest report, an officer said Ray made an “improper left turn.”
In the footage from that night, an officer is heard saying, "The motorcycle was eastbound on Gulf to Bay with a green light. This female was trying to make a left-hand turn… the left hand is blocked, so she made an illegal turn."
That night, Ray said she was confused by the cones placed along her usual route home, and Wadley claims there were no signs posted about detours.
"You can't really tell that a left turn is prohibited until you make the turn," said Wadley.
Wadley said the arresting officer falsely described signs of impairment, like saying she had “bloodshot, watery” eyes.
But this photo was taken that night.
"Her eyes are perfectly clear," said Wadley.
While Ray told the officer she had a glass of wine earlier that night, it had been several hours before she got on the road. A medical report from that night shows Ray’s blood test came back clean — with no alcohol or drugs in her system.
In the footage from that night, you can see her removing her boots and performing the sobriety test — without stumbling.
But in the officer's report, it said she “did not touch heel to toe," and she “swayed” during the one-leg stand.
"She passes near flawlessly, probably does the best job I've seen on somebody in the 43 years I've been practicing law," said Wadley.
Ray also showed concern for the motorcyclist, whom Wadley said was found speeding and had alcohol in his system.
Even after the charges were dropped, Ray's mugshot and arrest details stayed online for months — specifically on the Clearwater Police Department's social media.
We’re showing her mugshot because it’s central to this lawsuit. Ray gave us permission to include it in this story.
"If you put Hannah Ray DUI, you will find just dozens and dozens and dozens of websites with her post on it, and then some of them have some very, very vicious comments," said Wadley.
Ray tells us she didn’t want to go on camera and be interviewed, saying it’s still too painful to relive that night. But in a statement, she said in part, "It troubles me deeply that police can falsify records and not be held accountable." She called the system flawed — and said she’s still living with PTSD from the experience.
"The people of Clearwater, the citizens of Clearwater, they need to recognize what happened here," said Wadley. "And the initial publication, the initial news stories were all, 'drunk driver kills somebody,' which is not really what happened."
I reached out to the City of Clearwater and its police department for a statement. But the city said it does not comment on active litigation.
Hannah Ray's full statement:
“It troubles me deeply that police who are supposed to protect us are able to falsify records, lie on arrest warrants, and not be held accountable.
Police reports for the arrest warrant said “I smelled like alcohol with my blood alcohol concentration being 0.00. The arrest warrant said my eyes were “blood shot and watery” with multiple close up photos of my face taken at the scene proving my eyes were not at all blood shot or watery.
The arrest warrant said I was stumbling and mumbling when body cam footage shows I did not stumble or mumble, but rather performed a sobriety test in heeled boots and asked eloquent questions to police. I was stepping in and out of an ambulance handcuffed with no assistance and did not stumble.
The warrant said “I smelled like marijuana” with no metabolites of mairjuana in my system in the last 30 days and no weed or paraphernalia in my car. I don’t even smoke weed. The list continues of lies written on the arrest warrant.
I cannot help but think less than 40 years ago there would have been no body cam footage or DNA evidence to protect me against these accusations. It would have solely been the police’s word, vs mine.
If I had not gone through this experience I would not have known anything I do about the flawed criminal legal system. I know from listening to so many other’s experiences after sharing mine that this kind of thing has been happening to mainly people of color since the creation of the legal system in the US.
Once you’re in jail you have no voice and no real rights that are respected. Human rights abuses go on in jails and prisons often and most you will never hear about. I realized in this country you’re not innocent until proven guilty. Your rights are immediately withheld, your mugshot can be posted and go viral before any fact finding, you can be fired from your job. In most cases people don’t even have the money or resources to get out of jail or properly defend themselves, which puts people in lower socioeconomic status at much higher vulnerability for this corruption to affect them in life changing ways.
I’m still dealing with the effects of this experience, the grief, the PTSD and the fact that my mugshot and news articles with misinformation perpetuated by police write ups are still first to come up when you google my name.
I urge everyone to know their rights when it comes to the police, mainly your right to remain silent.
I have now begun to work with nonprofits inside prisons as a therapist and push towards restorative justice practices because the whole system needs reformed. Once you know things like this happen, and have happened frequently, you really cannot look away.”
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