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They as soon as dotted procuring plazas in America with ubiquity, beckoning binge watchers with cabinets of VHS cassettes, microwave popcorn and bins of sweet — and a reminder to “Be Sort, Rewind.”
However at the same time as video rental shops have been pushed nearer to the brink of extinction by streaming companies like Netflix and altering know-how, a Texas lady gained’t quickly overlook the time she rented a tape and didn’t return it.
The girl, who was recognized in court docket data as Caron Scarborough Davis, lately realized that there was a 21-year-old excellent warrant for her arrest in Oklahoma.
Her offense?
Prosecutors stated that Ms. Davis had did not return a replica of “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” a tv sitcom that aired from 1996 to 2003. She rented the tape of episodes from a video retailer in Norman, Okla., in 1999, in keeping with court docket paperwork.
She was charged with embezzlement of rented property, and a warrant was issued for her arrest in March 2000. The shop the place she rented the tape, Film Place, closed in 2008, in keeping with KOKH Fox 25 in Oklahoma.
In a charging doc, prosecutors stated that Ms. Davis “did willfully, unlawfully and feloniously embezzle a sure One (1) Videocassette Tape, Sabrina the Teenage Witch of the worth of $58.59.”
Ms. Davis, 52, found the excellent warrant for her arrest after she received married and tried to alter her identify on her driver’s license, KOKH reported on Thursday.
“I believed I used to be going to have a coronary heart assault,” she stated.
Ms. Davis stated motorized vehicle officers referred her to the district legal professional’s workplace for Cleveland County, Okla., the place a girl defined the cost in opposition to her.
“She advised me it was over the VHS tape and I needed to make her repeat it as a result of I believed, ‘That is insane,’” Ms. Davis stated. “This woman is kidding me, proper? She wasn’t kidding.”
Ms. Davis couldn’t be instantly reached on Sunday.
On April 21, prosecutors dropped the embezzlement cost in opposition to Ms. Davis in consideration of the “greatest curiosity of justice,” in keeping with court docket paperwork. KOKH Fox 25 had contacted prosecutors yesterday in regards to the cost.
Greg Mashburn, the district legal professional for Cleveland, Garvin and McClain Counties in Oklahoma, didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Sunday, nor did Tim D. Kuykendall, who was the district legal professional when the warrant was issued.
Sandi Harding, the final supervisor of the world’s final Blockbuster video retailer, in Bend, Ore., stated in an interview on Sunday that bringing felony fees for an unreturned film appeared overly punitive.
“We’ve undoubtedly not despatched out a warrant for anyone for that,” she stated. “That’s a bit a bit loopy to me.”
Blockbuster assesses every day late charges of 49 to 99 cents for overdue movies as much as 10 days. After that, the shop fees prospects as much as $19.99 to switch certainly one of its DVDs or Blu-ray discs, Ms. Harding stated.
In some instances, the shop, which doesn’t lease VHS cassettes, will refer past-due accounts for assortment, she stated.
“We’d by no means cost somebody $100 for a replica of ‘Scooby-Doo’ that they by no means returned,” she stated.
It was not instantly clear who owned the now-shuttered video retailer the place Ms. Davis rented the tape or whether or not she owed any late charges. She advised KOKH Fox 25 that she had no recollection of renting the video, saying that she lived with a person on the time who had two younger daughters.
“I’m pondering he went and received it and didn’t take it again or one thing,” she stated. “I’ve by no means watched that present in my whole life — simply not my cup of tea.”
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