Woman charged with felony for not returning VHS tape 21 years ago

[left-of-center2012]

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 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 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 (OK) 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.

Court records obtained 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.

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 claimed that since 1999, she has been fired from a handful of jobs, but never was given a reason. 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.

https://www.newsweek.com/woman-facing-felony-charge-not-returning-vhs-tape-over-20-years-ago-1586050

[dalton99a]

1. Kick

[Rustyeye77]

2. felony embezzlement ??

This is some country.

[jimfields33]

3. The old "it wasn't me" defense. Lol

I don’t blame her for wanting to forget that movie. Hopefully she’ll be able to fix her legal problems.

[PJMcK]

4. That's pretty cynical

Enjoy your weekend.

[jimfields33]

5. Did you read the article?

Enjoy your weekend as well.

[Demsrule86]

42. Lots of people have been accused of not returning a movie...a felony is ridiculous...

[CreekDog]

49. yes we read the article

there was nothing in the article to warrant talking about the person like that.

but you did.

i think more of her than of you.

[CreekDog]

50. i got a better word for what it is

i'm sure you do too.

[secondwind]

17. Hello? She said it was someone she used to date or

live with, who had young children, etc.

[Tommymac]

29. Just wow.

Not funny.

[Kingofalldems]

32. Wow. Reads like RW talking points from Fox news.

[CreekDog]

48. she said she didn't watch that show

what the hell is your problem?

congratulations on making DU a worse place.

[kcr]

58. That wasn't as funny as you thought it was in your head n/t

[lpbk2713]

6. The complainant ceased to exist in 2008.

The DA's office should be able to act on that and not bother Ms McBride.

[Haggard Celine]

7. One would think that they would have

dropped the charges long ago, especially since the store closed down in 2008! I wonder how many people out there have warrants out for them from things they did decades ago. And now she's probably going to have to spend $1000 to get that charge expunged. That is some aggravating shit!

[Midnightwalk]

8. It isn't funny how this can mess you up

Getting back the right to vote doesn’t go far enough. There should be a way to remove items depending on severity and history since then for employment, credit, housing, etc.

There should be tighter rules on using criminal history in hiring and firing. A nonviolent crime when you are 18 shouldn’t be a millstone 10 years later if there’s been nothing else.

I suppose at least there wasn’t the aggravating factor of forgetting to rewind.

[ProfessorGAC]

9. Felony Embezzlement?

For a $10-20 tape?
Seems an excessive charge.

[Lochloosa]

11. At that time VHS replacement tapes were charging over $100

That put it in the felony class most likely

[ProfessorGAC]

12. Ah!

I rented tapes very seldom. Probably less times than fingers on one hand. So, I didn't know that.
I also didn't realize embezzlement applied to someone that didn't work for the outfit from whom funds were stolen.
I also would have thought this was theft, not embezzlement.
On Edit: $100 charge almost seems like theft. We didn't rent many tapes, but we bought some. $25 was expensive for a movie back then. A $100 no-return charge seems very high.

[Lochloosa]

16. Blockbuster made a lot of money off that and late charges back in the day

[TexasBushwhacker]

39. Back before DVDs came along, the VHS tapes that rental businesses

purchased were more expensive than the VHS tapes that were produced for home sales. They were more heavy duty and would hold up to hundreds of plays. The replacement cost of $100 was fair. However, unless she worked for the Blockbuster, I don't see how she could be charged with "embezzlement" of any kind.

[Demsrule86]

43. Oh...please.

I paid for videos in those times that I actually lost and it wasn't that much.

[CreekDog]

51. probably late fees adding up

then the cost for replacement.

$100 to replace a video in 1999 or 2000 is not the going rate.

but also notice she wasn't convicted, just charged.

[NoMoreRepugs]

19. ...And only Maddof went to jail after the near financial collapse of the planet.

[Rebl2]

10. I thought embezzlement

involved stealing from an employer. Did she work for that store at the time?

[elias7]

28. IKR?

[forgotmylogin]

13. I almost committed a "library felony" in college.

I forgot to return a book to the library and had it with me over summer break. When I returned in the fall I took it back prepared to pay late fees. The librarian said “good thing you got this back to us now - another month it would have been reported as stolen, and since this is a state university, that would fall under ‘stealing from the government’ which is a felony!”

😳

Imagine answering the “whaddya in for?” question on that!

[onethatcares]

25. in our state

a certain person was elected senator after his company stole 17 billion dollars worth of medicare moneys. He got a golden parachute and $300,000,000.00 for saying "I don't recall" over 75 times during a deposition.

He wants to run for president.

Go figure..

[LisaL]

37. I once returned a book to the library but some time later it was showing up in their system as

not returned. I had to go argue with the librarian and then search for it on the shelf. Once I found it they admitted it was returned and scanned it in their system as such. Obviously they didn't scan it correctly as returned when I returned it. I could have been accused of stealing a book, which I actually returned on time.

[Archae]

60. Same thing happened to me.

But it was a book I had no interest in, how it got scanned as checked out by me I still have no idea.

I finally went to the library, found the book, gave it to the librarian and told her it was on the shelf in it's proper spot.

Problem solved.

[BoomaofBandM]

14. Isn't that the state that says it is ok to hit protesters with your vehicles?

[rownesheck]

15. As a former video rental store employee,

that's what she gets for not returning the video. Maybe now she'll think twice about breaking the law.

Ok, ok. I'm kinda half joking. But, man I used to hate hearing "I never rented that video! I'm not paying the late fee!"

[Demsrule86]

44. You know what video store made lots of mistakes in those years...I got so I asked for a receipt

for returned videos. And I will never forget renting Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs for my kids, only it wasn't the G-rated version...nope...triple X for sure.

[forgotmylogin]

56. Especially in the "night drop"

So many times I'd just put the tape through that slot in the door and assume they'd scan it back in right.

[MarcA]

18. Legalism run amuck

and people not caring about the facts of the case, just legalistic buzz terms.
Of course these "rules" do not apply if one has enough wealth.

[dalton99a]

30. We don't have a justice system. We have a legalistic system

to serve and protect the wealthy and powerful

[Demsrule86]

45. I agree. We have become a society with stupid laws that really are meaningless...

and yet we let folks walk around with Machine Guns.

[PoliticAverse]

20. And here I thought it was library cops that were the tough ones...

What I didn't understand was how the rental tape matter got to a felony. The tape is worth maybe $100 at maximum retail - how low was the threshold for "felony embezzlement of rented property" in Oklahoma? Did they include late fees?

[FakeNoose]

21. Of course now she has to hire a lawyer to get her out of this

It's a completely unfair situation. Whatever "losses" the video store encountered, it was covered by insurance long ago. I'm sure it didn't prevent them from renting out more videotapes to more customers and making more money. And yet their over-the-top charges against this woman have really messed up her life.

For what it's worth, those video stores made lots of money from renting VHS tapes back in the day. Losing a few along the way cost them very little. It was almost a cost of doing business. After each tape was rented out 9 or 10 times it was paid for, all the rest was profit.

[Bristlecone]

22. How can there not be a statue of limitations on this?

It is a VHS tape. Forget the store closing. Try to find a VHS player at any store that is not a pawn shop.

Ridiculous.

[USALiberal]

33. I don't think a warrant expires. Nt

[Bristlecone]

41. Ah, I think you are right.

[BobTheSubgenius]

23. Don't charges drop off over time?

I'd have thought that the statute of limitations would apply. Clearly, I have a lay person's understanding of the concept.

[yonder]

27. I was busted for having a hash pipe some 45 years ago.

The county I was charged in called that "possession of a narcotic implement". Seemed a bit harsh.

I have always wondered if that's still on my record.

[BobTheSubgenius]

35. Convictions typically last forever, but yours is so old and so relatively minor...

...that it may have gone the way of mine. It was never computerized when they transferred all the paper records, so it had disappeared into the mists of time. I still had it tracked down and a pardon issued, though.

[Demsrule86]

46. probably not...we didn't have computers then.

[Jon King]

24. Yeah, the truth is probably somewhere in between...

I highly doubt she never got any notices way back then. She can't even be sure of the ages of the kids she lived with. She is likely telling parts of the total story.

[Demsrule86]

47. Oh bullshit...and if she didn't go to the video store, I doubt she got anything in the mail.

It was likely sent to her boyfriend.

[Vinca]

26. It must have been a solid gold VHS tape. This is beyond dumb.

[bottomofthehill]

31. She is being charged for income the tape "could " have generated

Not the cost of the tape.

[world wide wally]

34. OMG!

I just remembered that I didn't rewind "The Lion King".

Fuuuck

[Jedi Guy]

57. You're going up the river for that one, wally! N/T

[central scrutinizer]

36. Ask the DA to prove it is "Sabrina"

When he can’t find a working VHS player, habeas corpus will force the charges to be dropped.

[LisaL]

38. DA dropped her charges.

However she still has to figure out how to remove it from her record.

[central scrutinizer]

40. Probably impossible anymore to remove anything

You could petition for expungement but it would still live on on the inter webs. 87,000,000 references found in 2.3 seconds

[skypilot]

53. I don't understand how this could happen.

Every video rental place I've ever dealt with would have your credit card number on file and if you didn't return the video you would simply be charged for it as though you'd bought it.

[struggle4progress]

54. Was the video really worth more than $500?

https://law.justia.com/codes/oklahoma/2014/title-21/section-21-1451/

[ecstatic]

55. Umm.. Is this fake news?

Looks like Fox and other low credibility outlets are pushing the story.

[LisaL]

59. It's real.

https://6abc.com/oklahoma-vhs-movie-return-sabrina-the-teenage-witch/10544258/

[kcr]

61. I actually knew someone who was arrested for this

Back when VHS was still a thing. It was the husband of a co-worker. I remember when she got the call and had to leave to go bail him out. We were all completely shocked. I don't think he was charged with a felony, however.