The woman claims police ignored evidence that would have absolved her immediately.
CAMDEN -- A woman has filed a wrongful arrest lawsuit against the police departments of Gloucester and Winslow townships, claiming officers ignored evidence that she had been wrongfully accused as part of an ongoing feud, the Courier-Post reports. She was cleared in the case more than a year later.
Crystal Langford, 45, filed her lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday. She had been held in jail for a month on charges related to allegedly assaulting Shermaine Lewis, of Winslow, in 2014. The two had been entrenched in an ongoing dispute over the custody of Lewis' two children. Langford's suit reportedly claims that Lewis had given Langford custody of her kids several years prior, and became angry when Langford did not give up that custody.
The Courier-Post reports that Lewis claimed Langford came to her house on April 29, 2014, then forced her way in and beat Lewis with a mop handle while demanding the children's clothing. However, Langford claims her car was impounded at the time after a traffic stop earlier that day. She said she was home eating lunch with her daughter at the time of the alleged attack.
The report also says that on the day she was accused, Langford was visited at her home by two police officers -- one from Winslow and another from Gloucester -- who questioned her about the incident. The Winslow officer told the Gloucester officer that because of the traffic stop, "given the timing of the reported incident, it was highly unlikely, if not impossible, for (Langford) to have been involved."
Langford also points out that she had a restraining order against Lewis, who had made several false allegations against her in the past.
Langford made bail after being in custody for a month, then spent several months under house arrest. All charges were dismissed in September of 2015.
She is reportedly seeking $1.5 million, saying that police and the Camden County Prosecutor's Office ignored information that would have validated her innocence.
Andy Polhamus may be reached at apolhamus@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ajpolhamus. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.