Woman faces felony charge for not returning VHS tape rental 21 years ago
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NORMAN, Okla. (KFOR) — A woman says she didn’t know she had a felony charge for over two decades for not returning a VHS rental.
Caron McBride says she found out she was charged with a felony when she changed her name on her driver’s license in Texas after getting married.
“I about had a heart attack,” she said.
Court records show the charges were filed in 2000, saying she “feloniously embezzled” the video cassette tape “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” from a store called “Movie Place” in 1999. The store was on Lindsey Street in Norman. According to the county assessor, that business has been closed since 2009.
McBride says she doesn’t remember renting the tape.
“It’s very possible the young man that I lived with at the time did, but I did not,” she said.
She says over the years, she’s been rejected from five jobs, and now suspects the charge was following her.
“When they run your criminal background, it’s going to come up that I have a charge of felony embezzlement,” she said.
The case has now been dismissed.
“The DA could still go forward and prosecute, they would loose and they would loose badly because there are no witnesses they’re probably going to be able to find, there’s no victim in existence anymore,” attorney Ed Blau said, providing context for the case.
McBride still has to get an attorney to expunge it from her record.
“Just because the district attorney’s office dismissed the case, it doesn’t make the case completely go away,” Blau said. “It’s not as simple as just filling out a form. You actually have to sue the state of Oklahoma and clear your record.”
“That’s what I am, a victim of the system when it comes to this,” McBride said.
She says still having it on her record has created a lot of hardship.
“It’s a serious issue. It’s caused me and my family a lot of heartache financially because of the positions I’ve lost because of those two words. Something’s got to give,” she said.
McBride says she’s in the process of looking for an attorney.
The DA’s office says the charge was filed under a previous district attorney, and after reviewing the case, they thought it was fit to dismiss it.
