According to a federal lawsuit, a California woman spent 13 days in jail after being misdiagnosed as a person with the same name wanted in Texas.

Bethany K. Farber, a 30-year-old aesthetician from Agoura Hills, is suing the city of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Police Department for arresting her at Los Angeles International Airport last April while she was waiting to catch a trip to Mexico.

Farber was initially detained by TSA personnel, who led her to a separate room, where she inquired as to why she had been stopped. According to the lawsuit, they informed her that she had a warrant out for her arrest in Texas.

Farber stated that she had never travelled to Texas and was not sought for any crimes committed there, but LAPD and LAX officers “proceeded to arrest her” in front of airport personnel without validating her identification or checking her driver’s licence, according to the complaint.

“LAPD then held [Farber] in jail for the next 13 days until April 26, 2021,” the lawsuit alleges.

According to her lawsuit, the LAPD mistook Farber for another lady called Bethany Farber who was wanted in Texas, despite the fact that they simply shared a common name.

“The plaintiff is a young woman with long, blonde hair, while the other woman is elderly and has short brown hair,” according to the document. “Furthermore, the warrant was issued for a lady in the state of Texas, and Plaintiff has never visited that state.”

Farber made the announcement at a news conference in front of LAPD headquarters on Tuesday. She was eventually released after attorneys presented cellphone evidence proving she was in California on the day investigators said the Texas crime occurred, according to KTTV.

“It could happen to anyone,” Farber said of her nightmare scenario on Tuesday.

Farber’s attorney, Rodney Biggs, believes she was classified as a flight risk because she was travelling to Mexico, but that authorities could have cleared her with a few basic inspections.

“No one investigated her middle name or birth date,” Biggs explained. “No information pertaining to her person… They didn’t even verify that Bethany Farber was not the other Bethany Farber.”

Farber’s lawsuit alleges she was forced to share toilet paper and soap during her 13-day confinement at Lynwood Women’s Jail, where she was so cold she used hot meals to warm herself. According to the lawsuit, she also saw faeces being hurled and smeared on walls.

Due to her unfair arrest, Farber had “extreme stress, worry, emotional harm, and mental agony.” According to the lawsuit, Farber’s 91-year-old grandmother also suffered a “stress-induced stroke” after discovering she was in jail and died shortly after Farber was released.

According to her petition, Los Angeles officials eventually detained Farber in jail for three additional days after being advised by Texas courts that she was indeed the wrong person being sought.

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