Plaintiff:
Mary Ellen Egan
Incident date:
08/31/2009
Location:
2433 W. Greenleaf Ave.
Allegations:
Egan was at home and expecting a visitor when she was notified that a guest was waiting for her downstairs at her apartment building on West Greenleaf Avenue. As Egan, who was pregnant at the time, stepped out of her apartment, she saw an "unkempt individual" who turned out to be Officer Vargas. Vargas was not in uniform, didn't show a badge or any other police credentials and did not tell Egan he was there to serve process. Because of Vargas' "demeanor, attitude and appearance," Egan asked him for identification. Vargas showed her "conflicting and expired" ID, so Egan, fearing for her safety, said she was going to call police. When other officers arrived, they arrested Egan and accused her of obstructing service of process. She was detained for approximately six hours after the arrest. The charges against her were later dropped.