Former Naperville high school student sues city for malicious prosecution over AirPods theft ticket

A former Naperville North High School High School student who last year was cleared of charges claiming she stole a pair of AirPods in 2019 now is suing the city of Naperville for malicious prosecution.

Amara Harris, who this month graduated from Spelman College in Atlanta, is seeking $20 million in damages from Naperville for the 2019 charge. At the time, a school resource officer issued Harris a municipal ticket for allegedly stealing a pair of AirPods.

Harris maintained her innocence and that she mistakenly picked up the wrong pair of AirPods. A jury last year found her not liable for the municipal ordinance violation.

In the federal lawsuit, Harris’ attorneys claim the city pursued malicious prosecution with little evidence against Harris. They argue the charge violated Harris’ civil rights and caused her emotional distress during the years leading up to trial and that the city should be held responsible for its actions. The lawsuit also alleges the city’s school resource officers engaged in “widespread misconduct” and that Harris was racially discriminated against.

In a written statement, Naperville City Attorney Mike DiSanto said the city believes the allegations in the lawsuit are without merit and that police acted on the information they had at the time the ticket was issued.

“The fact that the jury acquitted Ms. Harris does not negate the factual basis for the actions of the city and its officers,” DiSanto said adding that the city is “prepared to vigorously defend this lawsuit.”

Attorney Juan Thomas noted that at trial, the city acknowledged it did not have enough evidence to pursue a theft charge under state code so it instead opted to charge under municipal ordinance where a lesser burden of proof is needed for a guilty verdict. In the lawsuit, attorneys argue the school resource officer testified at trial last year that he only issued the ticket because Harris’ mother refused to talk to police. He added, when Harris realized she had the wrong AirPods, she returned them.

“They went after her on weak evidence,” Thomas said Friday. “There was no truth to any of this.”

The lawsuit names the city of Naperville along with Juan Leon, the school resource officer at the time, and Jonathan Pope, who supervised the school resource officers at the time of the incident, as defendants. Naperville Community Unit District 203 and Naperville North High School are not named in the lawsuit.