Nationwide — Elaine McAlister, an African American nurse, spent four days in jail after police mistakenly arrested her over a marijuana warrant issued for another woman. The arrest happened at Kansas City International Airport while she was preparing to fly to Jamaica for a vacation.
McAlister arrived at the airport on October 14, 2023, with a friend to catch a flight to Montego Bay. However, before she could board, Kansas City Airport police officers Kyle Greewalt and Matthew Zils approached her and asked for her identification.
According to Atlanta Black Star, she handed over her driver’s license and passport, not knowing that officers believed she was wanted in Kansas. They soon placed her in handcuffs and told her she was being arrested over a marijuana possession case in Johnson County, Kansas.
Police claimed McAlister had been arrested on August 19, 2023, and later failed to appear in court. McAlister told them that she had never been arrested in Kansas and explained that her driver’s license had previously been stolen. Her friend also tried to explain that McAlister did not look like the woman shown in the booking photo. Despite their concerns, officers took McAlister to the Platte County Jail, where she remained for four days.
McAlister later filed a lawsuit stating that another Black woman had used her identity after being arrested for marijuana possession in Kansas. When that woman failed to appear in court, authorities issued a warrant using McAlister’s name.
Her lawsuit claims police had several opportunities to discover the mistake before arresting her. Officers reportedly had a photo of the actual suspect, but the lawsuit says the two women looked different aside from both being Black.
The suspect also had several tattoos on her chest, right arm and left leg. McAlister did not have those tattoos, and the lawsuit claims officers had documents describing them but failed to use that information to confirm her identity.
The lawsuit further alleges that officers used a Kansas warrant to arrest McAlister in Missouri before obtaining a valid Missouri warrant. Her attorneys argue that the initial arrest was unlawful.
Police also did not take McAlister’s fingerprints to compare them with those of the woman named in the warrant. Instead, a jail employee discovered the mistake four days later after asking McAlister about her tattoos.
McAlister was released on October 18, 2023, after spending four nights in jail. She then sued officers Greewalt and Zils, along with the city of Kansas City, accusing them of false arrest, false imprisonment, racial discrimination and harassment.
The lawsuit says the experience left McAlister dealing with anxiety, fear, humiliation and stress. She is seeking damages over the mistaken arrest and the four days she spent behind bars.