LOS ANGELES (Washington Insider Magazine) – According to NBC NEWS, a California woman claims she was confused with someone with the same name and detained in jail for thirteen days because of it, according to a federal civil rights suit filed Tuesday.
According to the lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, Bethany K. Farber of Los Angeles County claims the nightmare started on Apr. 16 while she was at the Los Angeles International Airport going on a trip to Puerto Escondido, Mexico.
Farber was led to a separate room by Transportation Security Administration officers instead of getting on the plane. According to the suit, she waited for 2 hours before being notified there was an arrest warrant for her out of Texas.
According to the lawsuit, Farber sought to explain that there had been a mistake since she had never been to Texas.
The Los Angeles Police Department, the city of Los Angeles and Los Angeles Airport Police are named as defendants in the lawsuit. According to the case, Faber’s civil rights have been violated, she was wrongfully imprisoned, and the accused were irresponsible and purposefully caused her mental anguish.
The suit claims that while held by TSA at the airport, Los Angeles authorities arrested Farber without verifying her identification or examining her driver’s license.
Farber was arrested by the LAPD and sent to the Lynwood Women’s Jail, where she stayed for the following 13 days. According to the lawsuit, officials did not conduct even the bare minimum to ensure that the Bethany Farber they caught and arrested was the same woman who was wanted in Texas.
The California Farber was considerably younger than the Texas Farber he sought. She also had blonde hair, unlike the other Farber, who had brown hair, according to the lawsuit.
Farber’s 90-year-old grandmother died of a stress-induced stroke shortly after she was freed, according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Farber suffered in jail as a result of her experiences, which included losing her dignity, being forced to share toilet paper, and watching human excrement flung and smeared on the walls.
Farber further claims that while in custody, Texas officials called defendants and told them that the lady they had arrested did not have an arrest warrant. According to the lawsuit, Farber was held in the Lynwood prison for three more days.
Farber is seeking a jury trial as well as compensatory and special damages in a sum to be determined at trial.
