In a disturbing example of the fractured US law system, a North Carolina father was arrested.
His charge? He was arrested for supposedly failing to return a VHS tape he had rented nearly 15 years ago from a store that has since closed
Yahoo news reports:
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On Tuesday, James Meyers, 37, was pulled over by police as he was taking his daughter to school, according to court documents. Officers ran his license and learned an active warrant had been issued for Meyers’s arrest.
After dropping off his daughter, Meyers turned himself in to police and was booked on a single charge: failure to return rented property.
In late 2001, Meyers allegedly rented a copy of the universally panned Tom Green film Freddy Got Fingered. Since it was released, the movie – about a struggling cartoonist who is forced to move back in with his parents – has attained cult film status.
Meyers is scheduled to appear in court on April 27 to answer to the charge, and faces a possible $200 fine if convicted.
The warrant was issued years ago, police tell PEOPLE, and remained active even after the rental store shuttered its doors.
Green, a stand-up comedian on a tour of Australia, learned of Meyers’ arrest, and took to Twitter to say he was “struggling to believe it is real.”
In a video posted to YouTube, Meyers says he can’t believe he was arrested for allegedly not returning a video to a defunct business and expressed his opinion that the police had better things to do with their time.
