The Portage Board of Works approved a settlement Tuesday with a LaPorte woman who was wrongly accused of a battery in Portage in February.
The city and Christina Mann agreed to a $7,000 settlement agreement following what Police Chief Troy Williams called “an unfortunate incident.”
According to Williams, a police officer responding to a battery call in the Camelot mobile home park interviewed a victim and witnesses. The suspect had already left before police arrived, he said.
The police officer was given Mann’s name instead of the actual suspect’s and ran it by the city’s dispatcher, Williams said.
Ultimately, a warrant was issued for Mann’s arrest and she later turned herself in at the Porter County jail before bonding out, Williams said. Using a booking photo of Mann, a Portage detective confirmed the mistaken identity, and the department worked to clear Mann of any charges.
“(Mann is) being compensated for her time and trouble,” Williams said. “She was very appreciative of the effort we made as an administration in trying to get this resolved for her.”
Williams said police brass spoke with the officer responding to the initial battery call, his supervisor and others to avoid such incidents going forward.
“That’s on us to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Williams said. “Just because the name (of a possible suspect) is in the system, we’ve go to do a better job. We have to make sure we’re doing our due diligence.”
Michael Gonzalez is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.