A woman is suing the Los Angeles Police Department, claiming a case of mistaken identity left her languishing in a women’s prison for 13 days, causing her grandmother to die of a stroke.
Bethany K Farber was on her way to visit family in Mexico when she was handcuffed and detained by the TSA at Los Angeles International Airport in April last year.
But she was allegedly the wrong Bethany Farber.
"Terrifying, absolutely terrifying," she told KTLA-TV. "I was shocked, it just kept getting worse".
She said she was arrested on a no-bail, state-wide fugitive arrest warrant from Texas and taken to a nearby police station to be booked.
"I kept saying that they had the wrong person and to double-check, and they just said, yep, no we have it," she told the broadcaster. "Immediately all I could think is I’ve never been to Texas…. I started to get upset, realizing that it was all actually happening."
They told her to grab a blanket because she was "not going anywhere", Ms Farber said, and following a brief court appearance days later she was thrown into a cell "with 14 violent criminals".
She was not released until 13 days later on 28 April, the lawsuit alleges.
Her lawyer Rodney Diggs, says the LAPD failed to check her driver’s license, birth date, her Social Security number, and even the booking photo of the other Bethany Farber.
The lawsuit alleges that the case of mistaken identity has left her suffering anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as the loss of her grandmother.
When her grandmother Donna Emma Jaynes found out, she suffered a stress-induced stroke that ultimately took her life, never giving Bethany her the chance to say goodbye, Ms Farber’s representatives said in a statement to The Independent.
“Instead of taking simple actions to verify that she was not the same Bethany that had an outstanding warrant in the state of Texas, [she] was accused of trying to flee the country,” the statement said. “She was held without bail, with her rights taken away, while she was bullied and forced to remain silent. “
The Los Angeles Police Department said they don’t comment on pending litigation.
