Man Arrested for VHS Rental Overdue by 14 Years

By Ephrat Livni, Esq. on March 28, 2016 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

The busted taillight is a driving offense that has triggered thousands of arrests, maybe more, including that of James Meyers, 37, of North Carolina. It's not the taillight that's the problem, but getting pulled over is an opportunity for cops to run a name and find out if there are any warrants out for an arrest. There was one for Meyers -- he failed to return a rented video 14 years ago.

Now Tom Green, the star of the overdue movie "Freddy Got Fingered," is offering to pay Meyers' fines. Here's what happened and how Tom Green got involved.

Just Driving Along

James Meyers was driving his daughter to school when he got pulled over for the aforementioned busted taillight. He was not expecting anything to come of the officer stop but Meyers soon learned, to his dismay, that he was a wanted man.

Concord, North Carolina police informed the father that he was being fingered for failure to return a film rental 14 years ago. There was a warrant out for his arrest, and the police fully intended to execute it. "I thought he was joking," Meyers told reporters.

The officer was serious but not totally urgent about the matter. He showed Meyers some understanding and allowed him to drive his daughter to school, ordering him to subsequently turn himself in to police. After all, it had been 14 years since the crime occurred, so what's a little more time?

Meyers did as told, though he was again dismayed to discover, upon his arrival at the station, that the misunderstanding would not be so easy to clear up. He said police put cuffs on him -- his first time -- and let him know he was charged with a misdemeanor offense. He has a hearing on April 27 and allegedly owes a fine of $200.

Struggling to Believe

Meyers wasn't the only person struggling with what happened. When Tom Green, the star of the super-overdue video, heard of Meyers' arrest, the comedian tweeted that he was having trouble believing it.

But it's true, and police confirmed Meyers' arrest to reporters. The Concord Police's Sergeant Jonathan Hathcock told the Huffington Post, "It doesn't matter what kind of warrant it is, if it's a warrant we're going to serve it."

Green and Meyers have reportedly exchanged since the absurd arrest. The comedian for some reason feels implicated and offered Meyers his help. He told the New York Daily News, "If it's 200 bucks, of course I'll pay it for him, just for the principle of the thing."

Follow FindLaw for Consumers on Facebook and Twitter (@FindLawConsumer).

Related Resources:

Copied to clipboard