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93celicaGT2
93celicaGT2 Dork
6/25/09 9:38 a.m.

No. I'm not joking.

I was teaching my girlfriend how to drive stick, i was in the passenger seat. We were going to Blockbuster to return some movies, and grab another.

The motorized shoulder belt things don't work, so we didn't have those fastened, just the lap belts.

So, we got pulled over because the officer didn't think we had our seat belts on. He came up and checked, believed us, ran the liscences and registration anyway. Came back, told us that we weren't getting any tickets, but that he had to take me in.

WTF?

He told me that there was an outstanding warrant for me in Johnson County, and that he'd have to take me in, that it would probably be a 30 minute in and out process if my girlfriend called and made bail now.

So he took me to the jail, and i waited 2 hours for them to process me. They called me up, asked for my SS#, i gave it to them. Gave it again, and again, and one more time. They started to get a weird look on their faces. I asked why.

"There's no warrant under this SS#." Alarm bells start going off.

They ended up pulling a warrant under my name, via a name search. It had a social that was so far off that not even ONE number matched on it. I was in their system TWICE. Once under my correct social (clear) and once under the wrong social. (Warrant)

Here's where it gets REALLY weird.

The warrant was issued 10/23/08. I'd been pulled over SINCE then in that county, and not a word was said. There was NO REASON on the warrant as to why there was a warrant, and no officer could tell me WHY there was a warrant.

As a little back story, i had a little issue with my liscence starting from a speeding ticket that i had lost and forgot to pay. That was all taken care of fairly recently. All court costs and fines paid, and my liscence reinstated in full. This was done AFTER the warrant was served. I never got served, since the warrant had the wrong address on it as well.

The ONLY thing that this warrant could have been related to was traffic offense. I've never had an issue with anything else. IF this warrant was valid, then i wouldn't have been able to get my liscence back, as far as i'm concerned. I was able to get my liscence back, because my true identity was and still is clear.

Long story short.... i spent 4 hours there last night before i got released. The bail bondsman said that NOTHING sounded right. He started to tell me not to drive anymore so i didn't get picked up again. I had to stop him and tell him:

"I wasn't driving. I have a valid liscence, i just gave it to you. It is clear, has only 4 points on it, no restrictions."

"Oh, well E36 M3. That's berkeleyed up. This all sounds wrong."

Sooo.... that's my story.

What do i do? I'll have a court date set shortly, and i'm trying to decide if i should get a lawyer to help sort this out and seek damages, etc, since now i have to put on job applications that yes, i HAVE been arrested, and this falls under the category of Wrongful Arrest as far as i can tell.

Give me your thoughts, please!

Grtechguy
Grtechguy SuperDork
6/25/09 9:47 a.m.

do you have a really common name?

93celicaGT2
93celicaGT2 Dork
6/25/09 9:50 a.m.
Grtechguy wrote: do you have a really common name?

No. Not even close. It's a really long 9 syllable name.

Carrera30
Carrera30 New Reader
6/25/09 9:51 a.m.

Good luck! In the mean time, slow down to avoid any further incidents.

And if you weren't driving and the person who was had a valid licence, they never should have taken you in in the first place - even if you were teaching them how to drive stick. If you were teaching an unlicenced individual how to drive, that would be another thing (the "teacher" has to have a valid licence.)

93celicaGT2
93celicaGT2 Dork
6/25/09 9:56 a.m.
Carrera30 wrote: Good luck! In the mean time, slow down to avoid any further incidents. And if you weren't driving and the person who was had a valid licence, they never should have taken you in in the first place - even if you were teaching them how to drive stick. If you were teaching an unlicenced individual how to drive, that would be another thing (the "teacher" has to have a valid licence.)

Yeah, i plan on it. I've only ever had one speeding ticket, and i have a valid clear liscence. My girlfriend has a valid clear liscence as well. I was not driving.

IF i had a true warrant, they could have taken me in if i was walking down the street. My only point is, my REAL identity has no warrant on it, that's my issue.

This isn't really about a traffic offense, as there was none committed yesterday.

captain_napalm
captain_napalm New Reader
6/25/09 10:00 a.m.
Grtechguy wrote: do you have a really common name?

I have a common spanish name, and I'm black. Makes for some fun adventures when I check in @ the border. So far I've been "wanted" for tax evasion, and I've been "deported"

RossD
RossD Reader
6/25/09 10:02 a.m.

In regards to answering the application question "Have you been arrested?" I'd still answer "no". They were trying to arrest a person with your name and a different SS#, not you. If a company calls you on it I'd just explain it... Or bring a lawyer to the hearing.

93celicaGT2
93celicaGT2 Dork
6/25/09 10:02 a.m.
captain_napalm wrote:
Grtechguy wrote: do you have a really common name?
I have a common spanish name, and I'm black. Makes for some fun adventures when I check in @ the border. So far I've been "wanted" for tax evasion, and I've been "deported"

Yeah.... i've been "wanted" for stealing my own car before. That was pretty funny.

93celicaGT2
93celicaGT2 Dork
6/25/09 10:05 a.m.
RossD wrote: In regards to answering the application question "Have you been arrested?" I'd still answer "no". They were trying to arrest a person with your name and a different SS#, not you. If a company calls you on it I'd just explain it... Or bring a lawyer to the hearing.

That was my train of thought. Which means it's wrongful arrest. Regardless of what happens, at least 3 things need to be done by them, as far as i'm concerned.

1) Get rid of that other ID ENTIRELY.
2) Get the arrest off my record if they move it to the correct id.
3) Reimburse me my bail money.

And that's the MINIMUM. I'm calling a lawyer this afternoon to discuss the situation.

Oh, and by the way. In case anyone was wondering, cuffs are ONLY uncomfortable if they're behind you. In front is AOK.

dyintorace
dyintorace Dork
6/25/09 10:09 a.m.

My brother went through a similar experience not too long ago in Roswell, GA. Pulled over, warrant in his name, arrested, put in jail, only he spent 4 days there while my family struggled to figure out what was happening.

Turns out, his wallet was stolen years ago. Whoever stole it wrote a string of bad checks in the panhandle of Florida. A warrant was issued for my brother. Once he got pulled over, it popped up, hence the "arrest".

Eventually it all got straightened out, but only after a lot of time and expense. What a nightmare.

Carrera30
Carrera30 New Reader
6/25/09 10:13 a.m.
93celicaGT2 wrote:
Oh, and by the way. In case anyone was wondering, cuffs are ONLY uncomfortable if they're behind you. In front is AOK.
I'll have to keep that in mind, sitting/leaning on them in the back of squad car is unpleasant.
93celicaGT2
93celicaGT2 Dork
6/25/09 10:14 a.m.
dyintorace wrote: My brother went through a similar experience not too long ago in Roswell, GA. Pulled over, warrant in his name, arrested, put in jail, only he spent 4 days there while my family struggled to figure out what was happening. Turns out, his wallet was stolen years ago. Whoever stole it wrote a string of bad checks in the panhandle of Florida. A warrant was issued for my brother. Once he got pulled over, it popped up, hence the "arrest". Eventually it all got straightened out, but only after a lot of time and expense. What a nightmare.

Ouch. Luckily mine doesn't seem quite that serious. I'm just worried about what happens when the person that the warrant is out for doesn't appear to the court date, and i show up instead.

What i'm pretty sure happened is that somewhere down the road when all of my previous liscense BS was going on, someone entered in my SS# wrong, and when i cleared my real ID up, the other one just stuck out there, and wasn't cleared.

914Driver
914Driver SuperDork
6/25/09 10:32 a.m.

At least he didn't confuse you with some sex offender, that would just suck.

93celicaGT2
93celicaGT2 Dork
6/25/09 10:50 a.m.
914Driver wrote: At least he didn't confuse you with some sex offender, that would just suck.

SERIOUSLY! Have to be registered on Watchdog.com and all that crap. Ugh. I'd never get to go to the mall again!

WilD
WilD Reader
6/25/09 10:59 a.m.

1) Lawyer up

2) Get all records of the wrongful arrest expunged.

3) ....

4) Collect damages, errr profit!

93celicaGT2
93celicaGT2 Dork
6/25/09 11:11 a.m.
WilD wrote: 1) Lawyer up 2) Get all records of the wrongful arrest expunged. 3) .... 4) Collect damages, errr profit!

You think i should pursue damages? This is something i'm going to bring up with the lawyer. It seems a 50/50 split as to whether people think i should pursue or not.

914Driver
914Driver SuperDork
6/25/09 11:19 a.m.
93celicaGT2 wrote:
WilD wrote: 1) Lawyer up 2) Get all records of the wrongful arrest expunged. 3) .... 4) Collect damages, errr profit!
You think i should pursue damages? This is something i'm going to bring up with the lawyer. It seems a 50/50 split as to whether people think i should persue or not.

Hmmmmm.... Money from damages vs pissed off cops that know where you live and what you drive.

Have a beer, forget the free money.

93celicaGT2
93celicaGT2 Dork
6/25/09 11:23 a.m.
914Driver wrote:
93celicaGT2 wrote:
WilD wrote: 1) Lawyer up 2) Get all records of the wrongful arrest expunged. 3) .... 4) Collect damages, errr profit!
You think i should pursue damages? This is something i'm going to bring up with the lawyer. It seems a 50/50 split as to whether people think i should persue or not.
Hmmmmm.... Money from damages vs pissed off cops that know where you live and what you drive. Have a beer, forget the free money.

Hahaha... the cops weren't pissed.... they were actually very sympathetic and apologetic. They were having a fun time joking around with me until about the 2 hour mark hit and i started to get mad.

Dr. Hess
Dr. Hess SuperDork
6/25/09 11:43 a.m.

Lawyer up.

Xceler8x
Xceler8x Dork
6/25/09 12:09 p.m.

Get a lawyer. F'in sucks you have to spend the cash but money up front now will pay back big further down the road. Get this straight.

I'll bet someone used your name during an arrest.

When we were kids we all had alias's for when we were pulled over by the police for riding our ATV's on the road. We were too young to have I.D. so there wasn't any way to verify our identities.

DILYSI Dave
DILYSI Dave SuperDork
6/25/09 12:13 p.m.

Lawyer up. The only damages I would pursue are your costs for the lawyer.

SVreX
SVreX SuperDork
6/25/09 12:19 p.m.

Lawyer up.

Don't forget when it's all over to file for a death certificate for the other ID. Who knows- could be a pretty reasonable insurance benefit!

wearymicrobe
wearymicrobe New Reader
6/25/09 12:42 p.m.

Yeah.... i've been "wanted" for stealing my own car before. That was pretty funny.

Your not the only one, I have been pulled over "at gun point", dragged into the back of a police car and given quite the tongue lashing for stealing my own car as well.

Profiling at its best.

WilD
WilD Reader
6/25/09 12:59 p.m.
wearymicrobe wrote: Yeah.... i've been "wanted" for stealing my own car before. That was pretty funny. Your not the only one, I have been pulled over "at gun point", dragged into the back of a police car and given quite the tongue lashing for stealing my own car as well. Profiling at its best.

Okay, now I'm curious as two of you have mentioned "wanted for stealing my own car". What is that all about? Too ethnic for your car/neighborhood or some such problem?

As far as suing for damages (and profit), I was was mostly just making a SouthPark joke above based on your previous statements. I do think you need to pursue clearing your name very agressively though, and should recover your actual costs incurred by their mistake (which may be substantial when all is said and done).

93celicaGT2
93celicaGT2 Dork
6/25/09 1:30 p.m.
WilD wrote:
wearymicrobe wrote: Yeah.... i've been "wanted" for stealing my own car before. That was pretty funny. Your not the only one, I have been pulled over "at gun point", dragged into the back of a police car and given quite the tongue lashing for stealing my own car as well. Profiling at its best.
Okay, now I'm curious as two of you have mentioned "wanted for stealing my own car". What is that all about? Too ethnic for your car/neighborhood or some such problem? As far as suing for damages (and profit), I was was mostly just making a SouthPark joke above based on your previous statements. I do think you need to pursue clearing your name very agressively though, and should recover your actual costs incurred by their mistake (which may be substantial when all is said and done).

My Celica is rather attention-getting. Profile a young guy that looks 16 on an old day driving it, and you get the general idea.

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