A photo blunder by the NYPD has sparked outrage on social media and may result in legal action. An Instagram influencer has launched a £23 million lawsuit against the police department. While on vacation in Florida in August 2021, Eva Lopez came across a wanted poster with her picture on it. Lopez was wanted for grand larceny, in the poster. The poster had depicted her posing on a night out. Surprisingly, the police department mistook the fashion influencer for someone else.
“On August 3, 2021, the complainant’s roommate did reply to an online escort advertisement and while the subject was at his apartment at 178 2nd Avenue the subject did remove complainant’s Rolex watch valued at £13,000 and a Chase credit without permission or authority to do so,” read the poster; reported New York Post.
Lopez has approximately 8.4 million Instagram followers
After viewing the poster, the influencer phoned the NYPD. After understanding the mistake, the police agency reportedly took down the poster as well as all other posts.
“I thought it was something fake. I really couldn’t believe the police would put me on a wanted poster,” Lopez recalled. “It was already spread around on social media… it was still being passed around; still being talked about, still making me look like a thief and a prostitute,” she added.
The 31-year-old said she had never conflicted with the law. Also, she had never worked as an escort before the incident. The influencer says; “On Facebook, the [wanted poster] got shared over thousands of times 10,000, 20,000 times. Then on Instagram a lot of blog sites that have millions of followers, they posted it as well.”