Sisters thought ICE agents were kidnappers when mistakenly grabbed at KC area park
Two sisters visiting relatives in the Kansas City area allege they were injured and their civil rights violated when U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents grabbed them and took one of them into custody at an area park, according to court documents filed in federal court.
The women filed a multi-count lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City against the United States, Paul Eric Dechir and Patrick W. Thornbrugh, the two ICE agents involved.
The sisters accused the agents of violating their Fourth Amendment rights through the use of excessive force and unlawful search and seizure. They also accuse the agents of assault and battery, false imprisonment and arrest, and intentionally and negligently inflicting emotional distress upon them, according to the court filing.
They seek an unspecified amount in actual and punitive damages.
The women declined to be interviewed or identified, saying they were unable to comment beyond what was contained in the court filings, and fear for their safety. One of the sisters is an American citizen, while the other is legally in the United States on a visa.
Their attorney also declined comment.
Documents reveal the two women in their 50s and 60s feared for their lives when they were approached and grabbed by the two male agents in the parking lot of a Gladstone park; how one of the women watched as her sister was dragged to an unmarked car and how that woman was terrified as she begged to be let go.
The sisters contend in the lawsuit that the agents never identified themselves by name or adequately as ICE agents.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency also declined to comment.
“ICE will not comment on ongoing or pending litigation,” an ICE official said in a statement.
‘Ambushed and violently grabbed’
The two sisters, who were visiting family in Missouri at the time, drove to Happy Rock Park in Gladstone on Oct. 25, 2021, to go for a jog and walk. Prior to heading out, they left their purses with their IDs in the car.
The women contend they were “ambushed and violently grabbed” by Dechir and Thornbrugh within seconds of exiting their rental car. Both agents were wearing civilian clothes with no visible badges.
One of the women told police the men yelled they were immigration police and flashed a badge from a distance as they sprinted towards the women, according to a police report filed with the lawsuit. They, however, began to fear for their lives because they didn’t observe anything indicating the men were real law enforcement.
The sisters, originally from central Honduras, stated they’ve heard stories throughout their lives of “fake police” abducting men, women and children, according to the lawsuit.
The agents did not request identification from the two women, reveal a warrant or inform them of their rights prior to grabbing the women, per the suit.
Thornbrugh allegedly punched one of the women with a closed fist in the face and pushed her down in the parking lot. She got up to help her sister, but Thornbrugh allegedly tackled her, causing her to strike the back of her head on the concrete when she landed on her back, according to the lawsuit.
As she was lying on the ground, she watched as her sister was dragged to an unmarked Dodge Charger. The woman screamed that they were from Virginia visiting family. She also yelled out their names and that she was being kidnapped by the men. One of the sisters fled into the street to get help, according to the suit.
The agents allegedly handcuffed and forcibly threw one woman onto the back seat of the Dodge, slamming her head against the transport cage bar. A witness tried to intervene until one of the men flashed a badge saying they were serving a warrant. The witness took a photo of the agents forcing the woman into the car.
Meanwhile, the other woman attempted to flag down passing drivers because she was not able to unlock her sister’s phone and call 911. One driver stopped and she told him that two men had taken her sister and she pointed to the Dodge still in the parking lot.
Then Dechir drove away with her sister and Thornbrugh followed in an unmarked black SUV, according to court documents. The driver who had stopped also followed the Dodge until it reached Missouri 152 highway, where he lost sight of it. He then called police and gave a description of the car.
The captive woman pleaded with Dechir to let her go, saying she had two children and a husband and money. She also demanded to see his badge. The lawsuit contends Dechir flipped a badge over his shoulder while driving, but pulled it away before she could fully see it.
The woman screamed at Dechir that he had the wrong person, and that she was a citizen from Virginia. He allegedly proceeded to play “loud music” so she couldn’t be heard, according to the suit.
Gladstone police responded to the park on a report of a kidnapping in progress and issued an alert that was broadcast to surrounding police agencies telling them to be on the look out for the vehicle, suspects and victim.
‘Got the wrong person’
After leaving the park, the agents drove to an isolated building and parked in the garage. The woman they had taken “believed that she was going to die once the garage door closed,” according to the lawsuit.
Dechir and Thornbrugh forced her up a flight of stairs and into a dark open area. Dechir turned on lights revealing a table, some computers and three glass cells. The woman was detained in one of the cells, per court documents.
A female agent searched her without her consent as Dechir stood outside and watched, according to the suit. At the end of the search, the woman allegedly turned and pointed to Dechir and yelled, “You’ve got the wrong person!”
Dechir fingerprinted her twice. When he went to take her photo, she pulled back her hair in attempt to make sure her bloodied and swollen head injury would be documented.
“Oh, you want to look pretty now,” Dechir allegedly mocked.
After the photo, she was allowed to call her husband and told him that she had been kidnapped and held captive by two men.
She was detained at the ICE building for about 30 minutes before Dechir forced her back into the Dodge and drove back to Happy Rock Park. On the way back, police spotted the Dodge and followed with their lights and sirens activated. Once at the park, she was released.
The woman told a Gladstone police officer that “she is a person too and she had been treated like an animal.” The two sisters were reunited at police headquarters.
Allegedly mistaken for a relative
Police also took Dechir and Thornbrugh to police headquarters for questioning. Dechir told police that he appeared to have mistaken the woman for a relative, who was not at the park. Dechir said he advised her that her family member had an alleged warrant for DUI.
The sisters contend in the lawsuit that only time the two agents properly identified themselves by their names and as immigration agents was to a Gladstone police officer, after they were forced to release the woman.
The sisters were taken to a hospital where one was treated for bruises on her right arm, hand and wrists and severe right shoulder pain and swelling. She also suffered from red, swollen body parts, scrapes, severe pain, numbness and emotional trauma.
The other woman was treated for a contusion to the right side of her face where she was punched and severe back pain from being tackled and shoved onto the ground. She also had a burst fracture of one of her vertebrae in her lower back.
The two sisters contend they continue to suffer emotional damages from the incident, and no longer feel safe to go outside their home.
Since the attack, the sister visiting on the visa has had to spend time communicating with immigration officials, filling out additional paperwork, participating in biometric screening and requesting additional time to extend her stay in the U.S. The incident may jeopardize her immigration status preventing her being able to return to the United States to visit her family in Virginia and Missouri, according to the lawsuit.
This story was originally published January 5, 2023 at 3:42 PM.
