In October of 2023, Tristan Sosa and her 10-year-old daughter were driving to their Guadalupe, Arizona home when she saw something suspicious in her rearview mirror. She saw the police car approaching without lights or sirens, but she had no reason to suspect they were after her.

“I saw a cop car behind me and it looked like he was going to run into me, it made me nervous,” Sosa told ABC. “And I thought to myself, ‘He’s getting really close,’ and all of the sudden he hits my car.”

She wasn’t running away from the police, but they thought she was because she was driving a nearly identical white Buick Verrano to the fugitive they were chasing who had a warrant for arrest. The officer used a grappling device to secure her car to the cruiser and force it to stop.

What made matters worse for Sosa was what she heard the officers say when they approached her driver’s side door with their guns drawn. Even after learning it was the wrong car, officers still made Sosa exit the vehicle and walk backward toward her.

“I heard them say, ‘Oh s***, we got the wrong car,'” she recalled. “I didn’t know if we were going to live or what… It was very scary. And seeing my daughter’s face was… I don’t think I could ever forget that.”

Police acknowledged they damaged her car

In a report filed by the officer who used the grappler device on her car, he wrote the gas tank was punctured and admitted he’d apprehended the wrong car.

The city of Tempe told reporters it sent Sosa $500 for totaling her car. To which Sosa responded: “Yeah, they never even did that. Not even a penny.” Instead, it went to the rental car company the city utilized for Sosa while the investigation took place.

Sosa’s estimate from a body shop read the damages to her Buick totaled over $10,000, and the city of Tempe’s risk management emailed her declaring her car was a “total loss.” Now, she’s relying on Uber to get to work, and she’s only working part-time to avoid spending too much on Uber.

Officers weren’t disciplined for totaling her car, either. The department promoted the officer who hit her to Sargeant, but he reportedly resigned.

Sosa says the officers ruined her life

Without a reliable mode of transportation, she’s struggling to save up for another car. The city of Tempe said she waited too long to continue the case and wouldn’t do anything else to help her.

She tried to get an attorney’s help but said she couldn’t afford the legal fees. So, she feels as though she’s back to square one.

“They ruined a good portion of my life,” Sosa said. “And my daughter’s. It’s been really rough.”