Man beaten and robbed after being left at scene following cousin’s arrest for DUI

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WSVN) -- A family is suing the Broward County Sheriff's Office after their son was forced to walk home and wound up getting shot.

Twenty-two-year-old Harry Borges was out celebrating on St. Patrick's Day, March 17 with his brother and cousin when they were pulled over by a Broward Sheriff's Office deputy for driving under the influence.

Borges' cousin was arrested and taken into custody by the BSO officer while the car was impounded. Borges and his brother were forced to walk home at 1:30 in the morning in a bad neighborhood by themselves. "He just told us to get out of there, or we were going to get arrested," said Borges in regards to what happened that night, "to go walking, in the middle of nowhere, where the neighborhood looked bad."

According to Borges, that night, he tried to find his way home; he got lost and wound up getting mugged, beaten and shot four times. "He had the gun to my face," said Borges, "and said, ‘Give me a reason why I shouldn't kill you?"'

According to BSO, they allowed Borges to call his mom, Luz Borges, but he started walking home without their knowledge. However, Borges' mother says the first time she heard from Borges was when he was walking home being robbed.

Harry's mother spent the night trying to locate her son. When she finally did, she rushed him to the hospital. "By letting him walk home at 1:30 in the morning, Saturday night, was basically like throwing him into a ring of lions," Said Scott Sabol, Borges' attorney.

According to BSO's policy, they are not allowed to transport passengers from DUI vehicles. "If a BSO police officer stops a Greyhound bus, and if the driver is arrested for drunk driving, do they tell all the passengers to walk home?" said Sabol.

Harry's family wants a change to BSO's policy. However, a spokesperson for the Sheriff's office said the officer did nothing wrong, and they are not going to change their policy.

The family now plans on suing for negligence.

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