Caron McBride was surprised when the DMV notified her that she couldn’t change her name on her license. They sent her an email saying that there was a problem, and there was a reference number she could look into. Imagine her shock when she was informed that she had an outstanding charge in Oklahoma for felony embezzlement. What was that extreme charge for?
It turns out she had failed to return a VHS copy of “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” 21 years ago to a video store.
“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 first thing she told me was felony embezzlement, so, I thought I was gonna have a heart attack,” said Caron.
The charge was from 2000 but the tape was rented in 1999. The tape had been rented from Movie Place in Norman, Oklahoma which closed in 2008. McBride says that she once lived with a man with two daughters with ages ranging from 8 to 11 years old, so she believes that they were the ones who rented the tape. She says she’s never watched the show in her life, just not her “cup of tea.”
She also says that she’s gone in to several jobs and been let go without an explanation before. Now it all makes sense because if an employer ran a background check all they would see was felony embezzlement.”
“I mean, I didn’t try to deceive anyone over Samantha [Sabrina] the Teenage Witch. I swear,” she said. The the DA’s office said it would be dismissed and she would not have to face any repercussions from the charge. But she still needs to have her record expunged so that future employers won’t see it and get confused.
Felony embezzlement seems like a really extreme charge for not returning a single video tape. But after looking it up, there’s really no amount that you need to put on something before you’re charged. At the very least you need to have had the property up to ten days after the agreement has expired.
