# Man arrested for overdue videotape **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 25, 2016, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073 "2016-03-25T00:44:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073/1 "2016-03-25T00:44:23Z")
Here’s the story: "The law caught up with a wanted man on the streets of North Carolina this week. The man, James Meyers, was driving his 10-year-old daughter to school in Concord, northeast of Charlotte, when a police car pulled him over for a broken brake light. But when the officer ran his license, he confronted him with an older crime, from 14 years ago. “Sir, I don’t know how to tell you this,” the officer began. Mr. Meyers had a 2002 warrant out for his arrest for failing to return a VHS movie rental of “Freddy Got Fingered.”" Well it’s about damn time. If we keep letting people get away with these crimes, our American society goes into the dumpster. What would Trump and Cruz say? “Bomb him into dust”. I agree. Our wimpy liberals would forgive and forget. “Amnesty”, they would cry. First it was not returning library books, then video tapes, next our neighbors will “forget” to return borrowed power tools! Shoot, the movie’s “star”, Tom Green, has offered to pay for any reasonable fines. Pffftt. He should have bought out all the remaining copies of that bomb (11% on Rotten Tomatoes). Softy liberal. And the location, Charlotte, NC. Panty-waists. You got all those trans-genders wandering around in bathrooms of their choosing, now blatant video theft. No wonder the state legislature went into special session to slap legal sanctions on the city. Please join me in this quest to right wrongs, demand accountability, make America great again. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073/2 "2016-03-25T01:15:34Z")
This has ‘we don’t have the whole story’ written all over it. How about a link to the article. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073/3 "2016-03-25T01:26:46Z")
Okay, scanned a couple of articles, the charge is ‘failure to return rental property’. My guess would be that when he didn’t return the tape, they nagged him for a while, then turned the case over to the police (instead of collections?). The police probably mailed him a ticket, he didn’t show up for the court date and has had a bench warrant out since 2002. Maybe he didn’t get the ticket, maybe he did and blew it off because he was mad that he got a ticket over a tape, maybe he still swears he returned it. I don’t know. Either way, from the officers POV, the man had a warrant and he was brought in, the cop didn’t do anything wrong, it’s not up to him to say ‘well, this is silly, I’ll just take this out of the system’. That’s for the judge to deal with. And, it still bugs me when people say ‘don’t the cops have better things to do [than arrest me]’. Maybe, but this is still what they do. Besides, the guy pulling people over for burned out tail lights isn’t solving murders. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073/4 "2016-03-25T01:30:10Z")
If anything, he did the public a favor by taking a copy of that “film” out of circulation. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073/5 "2016-03-25T01:38:51Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > If anything, he did the public a favor by taking a copy of that “film” out of circulation. No kidding. Hell, if anything, they should have arrested him for having seriously shitty taste in movies. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073/6 "2016-03-25T01:39:25Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > If anything, he did the public a favor by taking a copy of that “film” out of circulation. Unless it turns out the guy has been making illegal copies of it and selling them en mass to the millions of fans of Tom Gre…sorry. I could in good conscious finish my own stupid argument. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073/7 "2016-03-25T01:41:35Z")
If anyone deserved to be arrested for that movie, it’s the studio head who gave it a green light in the first place. Oh, and my ex-fiancee, who loved Tom Green, and forced me to watch it under pain of never getting laid again. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073/8 "2016-03-25T01:42:15Z")
Did they add aggravated circumstances for failing to rewind? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073/9 "2016-03-25T01:57:35Z")
Meyers’ defense is that he’s been trying to return the tape but he can’t find a video store. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073/10 "2016-03-25T02:24:15Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Okay, scanned a couple of articles, the charge is ‘failure to return rental property’. My guess would be that when he didn’t return the tape, they nagged him for a while, then turned the case over to the police (instead of collections?). The police probably mailed him a ticket, he didn’t show up for the court date and has had a bench warrant out since 2002. Maybe he didn’t get the ticket, maybe he did and blew it off because he was mad that he got a ticket over a tape, maybe he still swears he returned it. I don’t know. Either way, from the officers POV, the man had a warrant and he was brought in, the cop didn’t do anything wrong, it’s not up to him to say ‘well, this is silly, I’ll just take this out of the system’. That’s for the judge to deal with. > And, it still bugs me when people say ‘don’t the cops have better things to do [than arrest me]’. Maybe, but this is still what they do. Besides, the guy pulling people over for burned out tail lights isn’t solving murders. Oh common. Be a fucking human being. Here’s what I would have said to this guy: "Sir, there’s a warrant for your arrest for… you won’t believe it, not having returned a video tape over a decade ago. this is beyond ridiculous, but I have a job and that job says I need to take care of this one way or another. How about this, head over to City Hall and take care of this as soon as you possibly can. Like drive there now. Pay whatever stupid fine they’ve got or otherwise begin the process of clearing the warrant. I’ll check again in a week and if you’re taking care of it, we’re good. But if you haven’t done anything I’m going to have to show up at your door. Neither one of us wants that, right? Have a good day sir" But I guess I probably wouldn’t have made it out of the academy what with not having peppered sprayed the fuck while tazing his nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073/11 "2016-03-25T02:39:14Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > Oh common. Be a fucking human being. > > Here’s what I would have said to this guy: > > "Sir, there’s a warrant for your arrest for… you won’t believe it, not having returned a video tape over a decade ago. this is beyond ridiculous, but I have a job and that job says I need to take care of this one way or another. How about this, head over to City Hall and take care of this as soon as you possibly can. Like drive there now. Pay whatever stupid fine they’ve got or otherwise begin the process of clearing the warrant. I’ll check again in a week and if you’re taking care of it, we’re good. But if you haven’t done anything I’m going to have to show up at your door. Neither one of us wants that, right? > > Have a good day sir" > > But I guess I probably wouldn’t have made it out of the academy what with not having peppered sprayed the fuck while tazing his nuts. Or something like there is no discretion when it comes to warrants. There is usually language on them saying “Law enforcement personnel shall…” Shall means you have no choice but to follow the law or you are breaking it yourself. One thing warrants don’t say are things like the warrant is for not returning a video. It will have the overall charge and nothing else. So you think the cop should break the law and not enforce a warrant without knowing what you know after the fact. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073/12 "2016-03-25T02:47:27Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Or something like there is no discretion when it comes to warrants. There is usually language on them saying “Law enforcement personnel shall…” Shall means you have no choice but to follow the law or you are breaking it yourself. One thing warrants don’t say are things like the warrant is for not returning a video. It will have the overall charge and nothing else. So you think the cop should break the law and not enforce a warrant without knowing what you know after the fact. I assumed he would know what the warrant was for. What exactly would he have known? ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073/13 "2016-03-25T02:52:30Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > If anyone deserved to be arrested for that movie, it’s the studio head who gave it a green light in the first place. > > Oh, and my ex-fiancee, who loved Tom Green, and forced me to watch it under pain of never getting laid again. No wonder she’s an ex. ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073/14 "2016-03-25T02:52:56Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Or something like there is no discretion when it comes to warrants. There is usually language on them saying “Law enforcement personnel shall…” Shall means you have no choice but to follow the law or you are breaking it yourself. One thing warrants don’t say are things like the warrant is for not returning a video. It will have the overall charge and nothing else. So you think the cop should break the law and not enforce a warrant without knowing what you know after the fact. Also, if Police are going to break the law, this is a case where I’d be ok with it. I mean in a country where EVERY FUCKING DAY we have law enforcement acting about as professional as apes on the plains of the Serengeti, where they are caught lying, assaulting, killing people left and right, yeah, I think this ok. It would be a step up. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073/15 "2016-03-25T03:09:58Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > Oh common. Be a fucking human being. > > Here’s what I would have said to this guy: > > "Sir, there’s a warrant for your arrest for… you won’t believe it, not having returned a video tape over a decade ago. this is beyond ridiculous, but I have a job and that job says I need to take care of this one way or another. How about this, head over to City Hall and take care of this as soon as you possibly can. Like drive there now. Maybe you should take your foot out of your mouth and go read an article (like I did) and you’ll see that that’s almost exactly what happened. To be clear, I’m not sure if he was ever actually placed under arrest. All of the articles state that the officer told him he could take his daughter to school and go to work and come down the station to deal with this later in the day, one of them went on to say that the only reason he was placed in handcuffs was because it’s station policy to handcuff anyone in the secure area. It’s possible he was never actually arrested, just cuffed. Keep in mind Most (all?) of the articles are ONLY from his point of view. Like I said in the first reply, there may be a whole other side to this story. Like, maybe he had _another_ warrant he was picked up for or something else he had to ‘deal with’ at the police station and his tweet went viral. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073/16 "2016-03-25T04:26:53Z")
In his defense, the accused has been looking for a video store to return it to for 10 years. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073/17 "2016-03-25T05:02:39Z")
This would never happen in Mayberry. Sheriff Taylor would not permit it. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073/18 "2016-03-25T11:13:54Z")
> [@Kinthalis](#): > > I assumed he would know what the warrant was for. What exactly would he have known? Bench warrants just have the statute that was violated. There is no report attached to determine the circumstances behind the warrant. You just know a judge issued it. ---
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073/19 "2016-03-25T13:12:12Z")
Videotape? Ok, David Cronenberg, he should be arrested; it’s at least 18 years past due. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2016, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073/20 "2016-03-25T13:27:55Z")
The original offense was a class 3 misdemeanor. I am not a lawyer, but it is surprising to me that there is, apparently, no statute of limitations in effect for crimes this small. NC must have an enormous backlog of unserved warrants for petty crimes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-arrested-for-overdue-videotape/750073.md?page=2)