Rochester pays $140K to Wisconsin woman falsely accused of crime

ROCHESTER — The City of Rochester agreed to pay a Wisconsin woman $140,000 to settle her federal lawsuit, after three police officers’ investigation led to false counterfeiting charges.

Susan Girdhari, 69, of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, filed a personal injury lawsuit on Feb. 26 against the City of Rochester and police officers Nicholas Kruger, Spencer Peterson and Josiah Duit after the officers’ investigation into a counterfeiting case led to a warrant issued for Girdhari’s arrest.

The case was dismissed on Aug. 26, after the parties settled out of court.

Jason Hively, representing the City of Rochester, gave the Post Bulletin the following statement:

“The City of Rochester and the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust (LMCIT) have agreed to pay $140,000 to Ms. Girdhari in exchange for a full dismissal of all claims made by her in her lawsuit against the City and the involved Officers. There was no admission of liability on the part of the City or the Officers. This settlement was mutually agreed to between the parties and will eliminate the time, expense, and uncertainty of further litigation. The City believes this is a fair and reasonable resolution to this case.”

On Sept. 1, 2025, a woman passed fake $20 bills at a southeast Rochester gas station. According to her lawsuit, three Rochester police officers incorrectly named Girdhari as the suspect.

The then-69-year-old woman was arrested on an out-of-state warrant Oct. 10, 2025, and released the same day.

At the time, the Post Bulletin was unable to determine how the police officers concluded that Girdhari — who was not in Rochester at the time of the incident — was the suspect.

As the charge was dismissed, open record requests for investigative materials were denied pursuant to the Clean Slate Act.

Attorney Eric Rice, Girdhari’s representative, said he believed the suspect — identified as Susan Turnmeir in Girdhari’s lawsuit — had used other names in the past, including one that was similar to his client’s.

“I understand that the officers involved in this incident were acting in part on that information when they identified Ms. Girdhari as the suspect,” Rice said.

Girdhari originally requested at least $50,000 in damages following the incident.

“We hope that this resolution encourages officers to understand the harm that issuing a warrant for an innocent person causes and to make sure that this does not happen again,” Rice said.