PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Around June 6, Kelly Epperson and her fiance’s 13-year-old daughter went shopping at a Lincoln City Safeway. About a week before, 2 women had used a stolen credit card to buy items at that store.
Now, Epperson has filed a $425,000 lawsuit against Safeway and the store manager for falsely identifying her and her stepdaughter as the suspected thieves.
The suit filed in Multnomah Circuit Court claims it was Safeway’s negligence in providing their picture to the police that tagged them as suspects. Because of their negligence, and a subsequent update from the Lincoln City police, Epperson’s reputation was seriously damaged.
The chronology
On May 31, two women used a stolen credit card at the Lincoln City Safeway and at Chinook Winds Casino, among other places.
Days later, Lincoln City police asked Safeway for store surveillance tapes. The lawsuit states store manager Randy Alimossy gave the video of Epperson and her stepdaughter to police.
A press release from the police on June 7 included a photo of them, naming them as suspects in the case. The information was reported by news organizations throughout Oregon and posted on social media.
The next day, the Lincoln City PD sent out an update on the case and said the women came forward on their own and were not suspects. But the press release added:
“Due in no small part to their assistance, the Lincoln City Police Department has ruled them out as persons of interest in this case and have developed new suspects.”
But on June 27, the Lincoln City PD put out another corrected release:
“Epperson and (her stepdaughter)…were interviewed by the investigating officer and based upon that interview, were cleared of any wrong doing. Neither one had knowledge of this incident, did not have any information relating to the actual suspects and were not associated with the actual suspects.
“The Lincoln City Police Department regrets any negative consequence that may have occurred as a result of the previous media releases on this incident.”
‘This never should have happened’
Epperson, 44, said she and her stepdaughter “bought everything from baked good to grapes” that night at the Safeway. The next day she took her stepdaughter to get a pedicure when her “phone started blowing up with messages.”
“She was very upset telling me we were all over the news, that we had used stolen credit cards at Safeway and Chinoook Winds Casino,” Epperson told KOIN 6 News. “I’m, like, ‘Well, OK, but we didn’t.'”
At first she thought her stepdaughter was joking, but quickly realized she needed to go talk to the police. At the station, she showed her Safeway receipt from the night before and added a fact that upset the investigation timeline.
Her stepdaughter hadn’t come to Lincoln City until June 4. “How was this child in this video from May 31 with me when she did not come to this area from Klamath Falls until June 4?”
She demanded the police fix the release. But the second police press release, she said, actually made it worse.
“In my mind, it kind of rolled us together with the true criminals and also now that we’re telling on people,” Epperson said. “I didn’t feel that cleared us. I think it made it worse.”
Jill McGinnis, the Communications Manager & Public Affairs for Safeway, said they were “unable to comment on pending litigation.”
When she hired an attorney, “Greg (Kafoury) asked for them to put a factual retraction out, and they did so.”
Epperson filed the suit on August 1.
The incident has had a giant impact on her life, she said.
“I’ve worked very, very hard my entire life to put a good name out there for myself,” she said. “I’ve coached soccer, I’ve done Special Olympics. I’ve worked hard to make a name for myself and I feel like this ruined everything that I’ve ever done.”
Her family and friends are supporting her, but she said she has a lot of explaining to do with her co-workers.
“At the end of the day, this never should have happened, but here I am explaining myself and seeing pictures on the internet. And people are still seeing them. It just doesn’t seem to stop.”
She and her family are relocating because of the situation.
What she wants, she said, is for Safeway to change their protocols in releasing tapes to police, to make “sure that dates and tapes match before it’s handed over as word to the police department, and then handed over as word to the media.”
She also worries about how it could affect job searches or getting a house.
“It is absolutely surreal. I feel as though I’ve been stuck in a really bad dream.”
Filed under: Civic Affairs, Crime, Editor's Pick, Multnomah County, Oregon, Top Video
