KELSO — A Kelso woman says she was wrongly arrested for stealing the Longview mayor’s cellphone in June and plans to sue the city, police department, mayor and involved officers over the incident.
A letter dated for Tuesday from the law firm representing Tiffany Traufler was sent to the city of Longview as a notice of the pending lawsuit. The letter claims Longview police felt pressure to please Mayor MaryAlice Wallis, so they unjustifiably arrested the person who found her phone.
Traufler was never charged with a crime. Representatives from the city and Longview Police Department said they could not comment on a pending legal case, and Wallis did not return a phone call from The Daily News.
The Vancouver-based Angus Lee Law Firm argues in the letter Wallis made a private call — as opposed to calling on a recorded 911 line — to report her missing phone. The letter alleges two Longview officers covered the lens of their body cameras and turned off the devices’ audio when discussing the case prior to Traufler’s arrest.
Traufler’s attorney says his client is seeking $250,000 in general damages and $750,000 in punitive damages from the incident. The letter states Traufler was arrested in front of her family, then held in the Cowlitz County Jail overnight.
“This experience caused considerable pain, discomfort, stress and embarrassment,” the letter states.
A probable cause statement filed by Longview police says an officer was sent on June 28 to the Longview Grocery Outlet off Ocean Beach Highway to help Wallis because her cellphone had been taken from the checkout area. The report says an officer reviewed the store’s security footage and saw Wallis “accidentally forget” her phone after checking out, and later, saw Traufler placing the phone in her purse without asking a cashier about the found item.
Because Traufler purchased “gummies,” the report says the Longview officer asked another officer to check Kelso movie theaters for her vehicle. Traufler was later found at the Kelso Theatre Pub and arrested for suspicion of second-degree theft.
The report says Traufler told police she thought the phone was hers, but police say her phone is a different color. Traufler also told police “I was going to give it back to the woman,” the report states.
A court document dated July 1 says prosecutors decided not to file charges against Traufler in Cowlitz County Superior Court.
