SEATTLE (CN) – A police officer strung a woman along for three years in a sexual affair, telling her he was a CIA agent and using a law enforcement database to track and harass her until she accidentally found out who he was, she claims in court.
After meeting her online, Lake Stevens police Officer Andrew Thor told Natalie Brunner he worked for U.S. and British special forces and the CIA and “obtained a great deal of private information” using police databases, she claims in a Nov. 9 federal lawsuit.
Brunner resigned a year ago after Brunner complained, and his department opened a criminal investigation, the police chief told KOMO News, an ABC affiliate. Brunner says in the lawsuit that the police investigation came to nothing.
She sued Thor, the City of Lake Stevens and Police Chief Dan Lorentzen for civil rights violations, assault, negligence, privacy invasion and emotional distress.
Lake Stevens, pop. 29,100, is north of Seattle, east of Puget Sound.
Brunner claims Thor abused his position to cyberstalk and harass her and send other officers to harass her.
“Over the course of their relationship, Thor obtained a great deal of private information about Brunner including: names and other information about her children and their father, her daughter’s daycare information, her mother and father’s addresses, her address, the names and addresses of close personal friends, etc. She doesn’t know how else he might use that information,” the complaint states.
“Thor has run Brunner’s name through the National Criminal Information Center (NCIC)’s database on at least 45 occasions, all during the course and time of his work hours at LSPD.”
Brunner claims Thor asked a Seattle police officer to follow her to her father’s house and harass her, and was responsible for four Pierce County deputies showing up on her doorstep claiming a kidnap victim was in her home.
He told her his name is Andrew Thor Kidd, Brunner says, but she stumbled upon his real identity while searching his name on the Internet.
“Brunner inadvertently hit return after typing ‘Thor’ and before typing ‘Kidd,'” the complaint states.
“A KOMO TV video popped up, with Thor in a Lake Stevens Police uniform talking about how to fight identity theft. Discussing people who pretend to care about you only to steal your identity and invade your privacy.
“Thus Brunner learned who Thor really was.
“Brunner also discovered that Thor was married and had children.
“At one point before she learned Thor’s true identity, Thor emailed Brunner and asked her how she felt about ‘being monitored.'”
Brunner obtained an anti-harassment order against him and he resigned from the police.
“LSPD launched an investigation, which prompted Thor to resign from the department. LSPD refused to recommend criminal charges despite the fact that Thor’s actions in conducting the unwarranted database searches on Brunner while working for them constituted a crime,” according to the complaint.
Brunner says Thor has continued to conduct Internet searches on her, in violation of the restraining order and she “continues to be frightened for her safety and her privacy.”
She is represented by Lawrence Hildes of Bellingham.
Brunner told KOMO that she filed the complaint because she fears Thor may have victimized other women.