While there, Buoniconti, an officer with the N.C. Port Authority police, took him into custody after he was mistaken for a man named "Shawn L. Hill" wanted in St. Louis, Missouri on felony forgery charges.
Although Hill protested and the lawsuit states Buoniconti saw the social security numbers did not match, no fingerprinting was done and Hill spent more than two weeks in New Hanover jail before being released.
Buoniconti was hired by N.C. Ports on March 3, 2014, according to information provided by Laura Blair, N.C. Ports vice president of administration and external affairs. He is a police officer with a salary of $38,495 and the employment history provided by the agency, which is public record per N.C. law, shows his previous salary increases were due to either a cost of living increase, market change, or were merit based.