Man Busted for Not Returning Awful VHS Movie in 2002

NC man had arrest warrant out for rental of 'Freddy Got Fingered' from 14 years ago
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 24, 2016 12:00 PM CDT

If you're going to fall into highly publicized trouble for an overdue movie rental, at least hope you're busted for a dusty copy of Citizen Kane. North Carolinian James Meyers wasn't so lucky, Channel 9 reports—not only suffering the embarrassment of getting arrested for failing to return a VHS tape he took out 14 years ago, but also the shame of the movie he rented: 2001's universally panned Freddy Got Fingered, written and directed by and starring Tom Green. Meyers says he was driving his daughter to school Tuesday when he was pulled over for a broken taillight. After the cop ran his license, he asked Meyers to step out of the car. "I don't know how to tell you this, but there's a warrant out for your arrest from 2002," the cop said, per Meyers. "Apparently you rented the movie Freddy Got Fingered and never returned it."

Meyers said he thought the officer was kidding, and he was allowed to take his daughter to school by promising to clear it up at the magistrate's office the next day. But when he showed, he was handcuffed and charged with a misdemeanor for failing to return rental property, with a fine up to $200. Green himself heard about Meyers' plight through social media, noting he was "struggling to believe it is real," and the New York Daily News reports that he called Meyers Wednesday to offer moral, and perhaps financial, support. "If it's 200 bucks of course I'll pay it for him, just for the principle of the thing," Green tells the paper. Meyers has an April 27 court date. (One movie critic who holds the movie in high regard: AO Scott of the New York Times.)

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