Abductee Mistaken for Fugitive Is Awarded $1.15 Million in Suit
A U.S. District Court jury has awarded a Manhattan woman $1.15 million after she was abducted by bail bondsmen who mistook her for a fugitive and had her taken to Alabama, with her tearful attempts to explain the error ignored by police.
When Jrae Mason’s captors realized the mistake, they gave her $24 and sent her back to New York on a bus, her lawyers said.
In its verdict Thursday, the jury assessed the agency that runs the John F. Kennedy International Airport police $250,000 and two New York companies, Berretta Bail Bonds Inc. and Confidential Inquiries Inc., $900,000.
The abductors, looking for a woman named Audrey Smith White in July 1994, simply didn’t believe Mason, even though she was taller and weighed more than the suspect and did not resemble the fugitive’s photo, said Mason’s lawyers. White had allegedly jumped bail on a theft charge in Alabama.
Neither city police nor airport police checked Mason’s identity or tried to halt her abduction, her lawyers said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
