VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The Virginia Beach Police Department (VBPD) said Tuesday it has finished an internal investigation into the wrongful arrest of a woman at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story last month.
According to a Navy spokesperson, Jacqueline Renee Smith was pulled over for speeding on base, Friday, Feb. 16.
VBPD says their officers were called to meet Navy police at the military base for a wanted person they had in custody, just before 1 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 17.
Officers came into contact with Smith and looked her up in the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC), using the name and Social Security Number (SSN) that she provided. According to VBPD, the search connected her to an open warrant for aggravated assault out of Baltimore County, Maryland.
Did fingerprints, name, birth dates match the arrest warrant?
Police claim the SSN Smith gave them identified her in the NCIC database as Jacqueline R. Smith, with an alias of Jaqueline A. Smith, and that the date of birth obtained from the search was same month and day with a "slight difference" in the year.
VBPD say their officer then contacted Baltimore County Police Department and confirmed that they had an open warrant on file, that the charges on file were the same as the charges listed in NCIC database, and that BCPD wanted Smith held without bail until until she could be extradited to Maryland.
Smith was taken to Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office, where she was booked into Virginia Beach City Jail.
RELATED: Woman wrongfully arrested in Virginia Beach on someone else's warrant with same first, last name
Smith was fingerprinted at the jail, and Virginia Beach police say the "fingerprints confirmed that the person in custody was the same person wanted out of Maryland."
A spokeswoman for the Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office said their office has no discretion over who is admitted to the jail.
Did police have a suspect mugshot at time of Virginia Beach woman's arrest?
Smith previously told 13News Now, "Although they had the mugshot, they had the mugshot from Baltimore police department, Virginia Beach police still brought me over to the sheriff's office to be put in jail for something that I didn't do."
Virginia Beach police dispute Smith's assertion that they had a mugshot of the Baltimore suspect, telling 13News Now on Tuesday that "there was not a mugshot of the person on the arrest warrant."
When did police question Smith's identity as assault suspect?
Smith and her family all contend she has never been to Baltimore, nor was she involved in an assault.
Smith said her family showed up at the scene of her arrest to attest to that. VBPD confirms one family member was there.
Police say her family members also went to a VBPD precinct on Sunday, Feb. 18 and spoke on her behalf. That's when police say their officers contacted the assault victim in Baltimore and sent him a picture of Smith. The victim confirmed she was not the person who had assaulted him, according to VBPD.
Police say that officers presented that information to a magistrate on Sunday and requested to lower Smith's bond from no bond to $5 so she could get out of jail.
Police said because the felony charge originated out of state, local courts can't dismiss the warrant, but the magistrate did grant the lower bond, which allowed Smith to be released instead of potentially being extradited to Maryland.
According to the magistrate's checklist for bail determination document, which is dated Sunday, Feb. 18 and was obtained by 13News Now at Smith's Feb. 22 extradition hearing, Virginia Beach police began to have "concerns of identity" after Smith's arrest.
The magistrate wrote on the form that, per a VBPD lieutenant, "VBPD confirmed this [person] is not the same [person] as that subject to underlying warrant" and that the "investigation included speaking with the underlying [police department], underlying victim and inconsistencies of fingerprint returns."
However, Virginia Beach police's internal investigation stated that no such fingerprint inconsistencies existed, and that Smith's fingerprints matched the suspect listed in the Baltimore warrant.
"There was never any dispute about Ms. Smith’s identity, which again, was confirmed by her fingerprints," a VBPD spokesperson told 13News Now. "The dispute is whether or not she was ever in Baltimore County, MD, and if Baltimore County signed warrants on the wrong person."
When asked again about why the magistrate referred to "inconsistencies of fingerprint returns" in court documents, the VBPD spokesperson told 13News Now that the department "would not speculate as to what the magistrate was referring to in that document."
"We saw that," the spokesperson said. "That is why we confirmed with the VBSO, the agency that processed her, that the fingerprints were a match and there was no dispute of Ms. Smith’s identity."
VBSO told 13News Now it "had no problem processing Jacqueline Smith’s prints."
"We verify the Virginia Beach Police Department’s statement," VBSO wrote.
Smith was released from jail Sunday night.
Has Virginia Beach woman's name been cleared?
VBPD said their detectives have reached out to the Baltimore County, Maryland authorities to advise them regarding Smith's arrest and their follow-up actions.
VBPD says it does not know the circumstances around the signing of the warrant in Baltimore, but they say they have confirmed that the outstanding warrant was for the person they arrested, essentially placing responsibility for the wrongful arrest on Maryland's police agency.
VBPD ended their statement Tuesday by saying that Smith would need to attend court appearances in Maryland to resolve the matter.
13News Now has reached out to the Baltimore County Police Department for additional information and comment on Smith's arrest and VBPD's internal investigation. A spokesperson provided this statement:
"Records show on February 17, 2024 the Baltimore County Police Department verified an active arrest warrant for a person with the name and date of birth Virginia Beach police provided. Based on that information, the Baltimore County Police Department indicated it would extradite the subject. On February 20, 2024 when Baltimore County was notified of the subject’s release, the detainer was withdrawn. The warrant which is still open in Baltimore County stems from a misdemeanor assault that occurred in 2015."
A spokesperson at JEB Little Creek-Fort Story released this statement: "We are aware of the Feb. 16 traffic stop for speeding onboard Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek and of the resulting dismissal of the extradition warrant. We are investigating the details of the routine traffic stop to ensure the base security officers followed all proper procedures."
In a statement sent to 13News Now, the Virginia Beach branch of the NAACP denounced the situation, saying "it is important that all citizens are properly identified" and treated with care and compassion.
13News Now has also reached out to Jacqueline Smith and her attorney for comments on the statement released by VBPD Tuesday, and she said she would get back to us.