Woman Jailed 13 Days In Mistaken Identity Case: Suit

AGOURA HILLS, CA — An Agoura Hills woman is suing the city of Los Angeles in federal court after she was jailed for nearly two weeks last year in a case of mistaken identity.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday, said Bethany K. Farber was waiting for her flight at Los Angeles International Airport on April 16 when she was escorted to a private room by Transportation Security Administration agents. She was handcuffed for about two hours without food or water and was not allowed to board her flight to Puerto Escondido, Mexico, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in the Central District of California.

When Farber was told there was a warrant issued in Texas for her arrest, she told TSA officers she had never visited Texas and wasn't wanted in the state. She repeatedly asked the officers to recheck and said if there was a warrant for her arrest, it was identity theft, according to the complaint, which was obtained by Patch.

"Plaintiff was shocked and confused as to why she was unable to board her flight but continued to abide by the TSA officers orders," the lawsuit said.

Police officers and TSA agents eventually arrested Farber, who accused them of doing so without first confirming her identity or checking her driver's license. LAPD officers booked her into jail, where she remained for the next 13 days until April 26.

Farber said the LAPD mistook her for another woman — also named Bethany Farber — who had a warrant for her arrest in Texas. But she said shared no similarities other than their names. The plaintiff was described in the lawsuit as a younger woman with long, blonde hair. The woman wanted in Texas was older with short brown hair.

"Despite the stark contrast between Plaintiff and the other Bethany Farber, plaintiff spent thirteen (13) days at Lynwood Women’s Jail," the lawsuit said.

At one point, Farber's 90-year-old grandmother suffered a stroke while her granddaughter remained jailed, the lawsuit said. The grandmother never recovered from the stroke and died shortly after Farber's release. The two were very close, and Farber suffered "extreme emotional distress, anxiety, and mental anguish when she found out her grandmother had a stroke," the lawsuit said.

While incarcerated, Farber said she was forced to share toilet paper, used hot food to keep herself warm and saw human feces thrown and smeared on the walls. Additionally, Farber's lawsuit said she was jailed for three days after Texas courts informed authorities there was no warrant out for her arrest.

"Three days after city defendants discovered that plaintiff was an innocent, law-abiding citizen, she was finally released and able to reconnect with her family," the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount in punitive, compensatory and special damages.

"This was an experience that no one should go through especially a law-abiding citizen, you know this is why we have our amendments in place to protect us we shouldn’t be fearing law enforcement," Bethany Farber said in a statement.

Her lawyer, Rodney Diggs, gave a candid assessment of the situation.

“In this case, what I can say is that they did not check the basic information to determine that Bethany K. Farber was not the other Bethany Farber," he told Patch in a statement.