Couple Takes On Cops Who Called Kidnapping a Hoax

Police allegedly told victim's attorney to watch Gone Girl
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 17, 2015 6:58 PM CDT
Couple Takes On Cops Who Called Kidnapping a Hoax
Denise Huskins and Aaron Quinn at a press conference in July. They filed a claim against the city of Vallejo today after police publicly accused Huskins' kidnapping of being a hoax.   (Mike Jory/Vallejo Times-Herald via AP)

The California couple whose assault and kidnapping was publicly labeled a hoax by police filed a legal claim against the city of Vallejo and three police officers today alleging they "waged a vicious and shocking attack on two victims of a terrifying home invasion, kidnapping, and rape," NBC Bay Area reports. The bizarre case made national news in March when an intruder broke into Aaron Quinn's home and kidnapped his girlfriend, Denise Huskins, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Huskins was reportedly sexually assaulted before being found two days later. Regardless, police chided the couple and said they owed the community an apology during a press conference in March, NBC reports. “There is no evidence to support the claims that this was a stranger abduction or any abduction at all,“ the Chronicle reports one officer saying at the time.

NBC reports the claim, which signals an intent to sue, states police completely bungled the entire investigation. Among the claims: Police put Quinn's cellphone on airplane mode, missing calls and emails from the kidnapper; lost Huskins' sexual assault test kit; and wasted time interrogating Quinn instead of looking for Huskins. According to the Chronicle, the claim also alleges law enforcement officials said Huskins should "keep her clothes on" after she asked to be examined for sexual assault and told her attorney to watch Gone Girl, which depicts a fake kidnapping. Vallejo police sent a letter of apology to the couple after a Harvard-educated lawyer was arrested in July in connection with the kidnapping and other similar crimes. (More kidnapping stories.)

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