Rio Wojtecki, a 15-year-old Florida resident, hadn't been in trouble for nearly a year. But in late 2019, sheriff's deputies started showing up everywhere to "check up" on him.
Over four months, deputies from the Pasco County Sheriff's Office contacted Wojtecki or his family 21 times—at his house, at his gym, at his parents' work. When Wojtecki's older sisters refused to let deputies inside the house during one of their frequent late-night visits, a deputy shouted, "You're about to have some issues." He threatened to write the family a ticket for not having their address number appropriately posted on their mailbox.
Related Coverage
AllSides Picks
Red Blue Translator
Social Justice
Headline Roundup
US-Canada Tensions Rise Amid Brewing 'Trade War'
August 26th, 2026
Headline Roundup
CIA Chief Ratcliffe Makes Covert Trip to Moscow for Meetings With Kremlin
August 26th, 2026
Announcement
The AllSides Student Journalism Award Opens Sept. 1
AllSides Staff
August 24th, 2026