Remember the totally bizarre and hoax-sounding March 2015 kidnapping and ransom case involving Vallejo resident Denise Huskins? After she was released from two days of captivity, Huskins and her partner Aaron Quinn were accused by the police of faking the kidnapping and consequently pilloried in the national press for wasting police resources and playing the victim. The problem, of course, was that the kidnapping was real — allegedly the work of 38-year-old Matthew Muller, a former Marine and lawyer suffering from bipolar disorder who had committed similarly bizarre crimes involving female victims before. Huskins and her partner Aaron Quinn, reports KTVU, are now suing the city of Vallejo.

The two allege that the city's police department publicly smeared her and her partner as fraudsters, and that the police force's actions resulted in a "violation of the 14th Amendment, defamation, false arrest and false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent infliction of emotional distress."

To jog your memory: After Quinn reported the kidnapping (Quinn was tied up as well, and drugged, and consequently was unable to report it until the next day), Huskins turned up in Southern California apparently unharmed. Although it was later revealed that she had been drugged, blindfolded, and sexually assaulted while in captivity, the specific details were not publicly known and that lack of information, combined with the fact that she outwardly appeared fine, fed into the public's doubt of Quinn and Huskins's story.

This entire case was extremely strange for numerous reasons, not the least of which being the multi-page "manifesto" released by the suspected kidnapper(s) claiming they were "gentlemen criminals" merely engaged in a "dry run" getting ready for future crimes. Muller later emailed a 15-page, single-spaced email to Huskins' attorney apologizing, saying he and his fictional accomplices had intended to kidnap someone else, and they felt bad for kidnapping her — which is why they released her without collecting the demanded $15,000 ransom. In the end, it turned out that Muller had allegedly acted alone, but he has yet to have his day in court. In September, Muller pleaded no contest to a Dublin home invasion that occurred several months later.

According to KTVU, Huskins's and Quinn's lawsuit alleges the police “attacked Plaintiffs and Plaintiffs’ families, created a destructive nationwide media frenzy through public statements accusing Plaintiffs of faking Denise’s kidnapping and rape, and rubbed salt in Plaintiffs’ fresh wounds in the days and weeks following the attacks."

Huskins and Quinn, the channel notes, are seeking a jury trail. Having been smeared in the national press, it appears the two want a public opportunity to clear their names.

Previously: [Updated] Vallejo Kidnapping Of Denise Huskins Not A Hoax After All, Says FBI
Crazy Vallejo Kidnapping Story Probably Total Hoax
More Twists In Vallejo 'Kidnapping': Kidnappers Say It Was Just A 'Dry Run,' Nancy Grace Says 'Nope'