California car dealership mistake ends with innocent driver held by police gunpoint
A car dealership's clerical error led California police to arrest an innocent man at gunpoint in a terrifying mix-up.
Driver Jamie Rodgers can be seen with his hands in the air on side of the highway just before a cadre of officers armed with rifles and pistols approach him on dash cam footage provided to Fox 11 by the Orange County Sheriff's Department.
The agency told the outlet they had received reports that he had stolen the vehicle from Car Pros Kia Huntington Beach and was considered "armed and dangerous," KTLA reported.
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Rodgers said he was "terrified [he] was going to die" in the ordeal.
"I've never had assault rifles just lined up, pointed at me," he told Fox 11. "My every move is essentially my last."
The dealership had loaned Rodgers the vehicle while his was under repair - but after they lost track of the paperwork, per Fox 11, they reported the SUV as stolen.
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The sheet of paper had apparently fallen behind a filing cabinet, the Orange County Register reported.
When the dealership received a bill for unpaid tolls, they concluded that the car must have been stolen.
"I don't know what's going on," he recalled of the arrest on the 73 freeway in June 2021. "My heart is pounding. My palms are just, like, dripping sweat. I wanted to see my family again - that's what's going through my mind."
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After about 10 minutes, deputies realized that the car wasn't stolen, according to KTLA. By that point, Rodgers had been handcuffed.
Rodgers said he has since filed a lawsuit against the car dealership.
"This shouldn't have happened. So it was reckless," Rodgers told Fox 11. "There was negligence. They are saying that they just misplaced a sheet of paper when they were moving files around."
Rodgers' attorney told KTLA that his client was forced to resign as an athletic trainer at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano due to PTSD from the incident. He has since shifted to a career in real estate, attorney Scott Harlan said:
"He's had to reinvent himself," Harlan told KTLA. "The problem with these things is an unintentional body movement can lead to death."
The Orange County Sheriff's Office, Car Pros Kia Huntington Beach and Rodger's attorney could not immediately be reached for comment at press time.