This is asinine, ridiculous, and unfair in so many ways. Woman Facing Felony Charge for Not Returning VHS Tape Over 20 Years Ago A woman who allegedly failed to return a rented VHS tape to her local video store back in 1999 is now facing felony charges 21 years later. Caron McBride explained to FOX 25 that she only learned that she had a warrant out for her arrest and charges filed against her this week. While trying to legally change her name following her marriage and relocation to Texas, she herself learned of her own criminal past. "I went to change my driver's license, during this COVID thing you had to make an appointment, and so, I sent them an email [and] they sent me an email and they told me... that I had an issue in Oklahoma and this was the reference number for me to call this number and I did," McBride said. The number connected her to the Cleveland County District Attorney's Office. During the call, McBride was informed that because she did not return a VHS copy of Sabrina the Teenage Witch in 1999, she was facing felony charges. "The first thing she told me was felony embezzlement, so, I thought I was gonna have a heart attack," McBride told FOX 25. "She told me it was over the VHS tape and I had to make her repeat it because I thought, this is insane. This girl is kidding me, right? She wasn't kidding." Indeed, court records obtained by the outlet noted that McBride had been charged with felony embezzlement of rented property in 2000. The tape was rented at a local store called "Movie Place," which closed its doors in 2008. McBride alleged that she herself never rented the tape, nor does she remember watching it. "I had lived with a young man, this was over 20 years ago. He had two kids, daughters that were 8, 10, or 11 years old, and I'm thinking he went and got it and didn't take it back or something," she explained to Fox 25. "I have never watched that show in my entire life, just not my cup of tea." "Meanwhile, I'm a wanted felon for a VHS tape," she added. "I mean, I didn't try to deceive anyone over [Sabrina] the Teenage Witch. I swear." McBride also believed that her documented "criminal background" is the reason her career has been in flux for the last 20 years. "Because when they ran my criminal background check, all they're seeing is those two words: felony embezzlement," she told Fox 25. She claimed that since 1999, she has been fired from a handful of jobs, but never was given a reason. Fortunately, the Cleveland County District Attorney's Office announced on Wednesday that they would be dismissing the case against McBride. A local attorney told Fox 25 that, in order to truly be free of this VHS drama, McBride still needs legal intervention to have the charges expunged from her records. Woman Facing Felony Charge for Not Returning VHS Tape Over 20 Years Ago (msn.com) So first, no one even bothered making a serious attempt to contact this woman and they charged her. Apparently when they couldn't easily get a hold of her, someone just got frustrated so they decided to charge her with a felony, with the assumption that she was trying to avoid returning the video. A felony charge over a single unreturned video. All the while this woman did not know about it. And all the while an entry made in a computer database for criminal background check severely hurting her career, evidently. It's also why it can be inherently unfair for people to judge an individual based simply on a label of a criminal statute they are charged with (or convicted of). Because that label may sound like one thing, but could be something completely different that is not that bad. There are so many issues here.
Sure it is an extreme example. In my state, failing to return rented merchandise is technically a crime. About the only people who actually have people prosecuted for it though are those over-priced rent to own places who use the police as their bill collector.
