Florida sheriff sued for blunt tweets to fugitives during Irma

The Florida sheriff who offered to shelter fugitives from Hurricane Irma’s wrath inside a county jail is facing a lawsuit for his blunt remarks.

A Virginia man behind the suit claims Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd “misused emergency shelters” as an excuse to check those caught in the storm’s path for warrants.

The suit claims Andres Borreno was denied entry at a shelter on Saturday as millions of Floridians were asked to evacuate ahead of the monster hurricane’s arrival in the Sunshine State.

A Virginia-based inmate rights group, Nexus Services, helped lodge the suit against the Polk County sheriff and alleged his deputies told Borreno he had to undergo a criminal background check before entering the shelter.

RELATED: Irma spreads destruction across Florida

Court papers fails to identify the shelter that Borreno tried to access or if had a warrant for his arrest.

The sheriff told the Orlando Sentinel that he did not know if Borreno stayed in a Polk County shelter that night, or if at all. He said 43 sex offenders sought shelter at his jail facility over the weekend and were not in custody.

The lawsuit was filed on Sunday afternoon and has not been assigned a case number in Polk County’s 10th Judicial Circuit Court.

Hours before Irma devolved into a Category 1 storm in Judd's jurisdiction west of Tampa, the Florida law man dismissed the pending suit.

"They filed that lawsuit for free press and it's obviously frivolous," Judd told the Sentinel on Sunday.

Borreno's suit cites Judd’s tweets Saturday offering to bunk wanted criminals as the basis of its case.

“If you have a warrant, turn yourself into the jail — it’s a secure shelter,” Judd wrote ahead of the storm’s arrival.

The American Civil Liberties Union’s Florida chapter slammed Judd’s “irresponsible tweets” and discouraged him from adopting former Arizona law enforcement boss Joe Arpaio's “tough cop” style.

Judd defended his social media comments as an attempt to keep sex offenders out of shelters that see children riding out the storm with their families.

Polk County ordered residents in some flood-prone areas to evacuate on Saturday after the hurricane's deadly path through the Caribbean. Evacuees had the choice of at least 12 nearby shelters.