It is beyond scary to think that one day you might be suspected of a crime you never committed and might get arrested. Though it sounds like the plotline of a sci-fi novel, it’s actually happening in real life.
Police officers and regular citizens took to a viral online thread to share their stories about mistaken identities and the authorities realizing that they had the wrong people. It is low-key terrifying. Scroll down to read their stories.
#21
Obligatory "Not a Cop". A few years ago, my husband and I were having a lazy Sunday morning, making pancakes, blasting music, having a good time. There's a really loud banging on the door, and I rush over to answer it, thinking someone must have knocked a couple times before we heard it, and open it up to 4 police officers who push into our kitchen.
Two of them grab my husband and start telling him that he's being placed under arrest for a hit and run accident that took place in a city almost 2 hours away. Freaking out, my husband explains to the police that he was at work all night, and just got home about an hour before that. He must have been really convincing, because two officers sat at our kitchen table with us, while the other two went outside to call my husband's workplace to confirm his story.
Turns out, a car that we had sold about a year before that was involved in an accident that hit 3 parked cars, and a woman the night prior (woman had minor injuries, thankfully), but the driver was nowhere to be found. There was a clear video of our old car smashing into parked cars, hitting pedestrian, and a man jumping out of it shortly afterwards. When the police found the abandoned car and ran the VIN, it lead them to our house.
In Ontario when you sell a vehicle, you're supposed to bring a slip into the Service Ontario centre to prove that the ownership has transferred, but, it's not really enforced, and there's no penalties for not doing it, because the person purchasing the vehicle needs to do the same (to get plates, stickers, insurance etc). Obviously, and stupidly, we did not do this.
Cops came back in, apologized for the mistake, gave us a halfhearted lecture about properly switching ownerships, and left. The jerk that was actually driving the car was caught the next day, an officer called my husband to tell him, and made a joke about us having to pay any impound fees.
Two of them grab my husband and start telling him that he's being placed under arrest for a hit and run accident that took place in a city almost 2 hours away. Freaking out, my husband explains to the police that he was at work all night, and just got home about an hour before that. He must have been really convincing, because two officers sat at our kitchen table with us, while the other two went outside to call my husband's workplace to confirm his story.
Turns out, a car that we had sold about a year before that was involved in an accident that hit 3 parked cars, and a woman the night prior (woman had minor injuries, thankfully), but the driver was nowhere to be found. There was a clear video of our old car smashing into parked cars, hitting pedestrian, and a man jumping out of it shortly afterwards. When the police found the abandoned car and ran the VIN, it lead them to our house.
In Ontario when you sell a vehicle, you're supposed to bring a slip into the Service Ontario centre to prove that the ownership has transferred, but, it's not really enforced, and there's no penalties for not doing it, because the person purchasing the vehicle needs to do the same (to get plates, stickers, insurance etc). Obviously, and stupidly, we did not do this.
Cops came back in, apologized for the mistake, gave us a halfhearted lecture about properly switching ownerships, and left. The jerk that was actually driving the car was caught the next day, an officer called my husband to tell him, and made a joke about us having to pay any impound fees.
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6points
#22
Since everyone else isn't a cop...
I was 16 and worked at a golf course mowing lawns and such. We got a call at home from the cops that said I'm a suspect in a hit and run accident because my plate #s were on the car that drove away without stopping. The cops said the car was maroon colored; my car was gray. We told them and figured that was that.
The next day at work there was a minor accident. A dumb coworker pulled a metal rake too hard and the rack holding it came down onto my forehead. It wasn't a deep wound, but it bled A LOT. My boss took me to the ER to get my head super glued, and to be safe, took me home too. Thus my car stayed at the golf course.
That evening a cop comes by and finds me with a head wound and my car is missing. I look quite guilty. By sheer luck, the cop calls someone after talking to my parents and discovers they got the guy and the plate numbers were close.
I probably would've been arrested.
I was 16 and worked at a golf course mowing lawns and such. We got a call at home from the cops that said I'm a suspect in a hit and run accident because my plate #s were on the car that drove away without stopping. The cops said the car was maroon colored; my car was gray. We told them and figured that was that.
The next day at work there was a minor accident. A dumb coworker pulled a metal rake too hard and the rack holding it came down onto my forehead. It wasn't a deep wound, but it bled A LOT. My boss took me to the ER to get my head super glued, and to be safe, took me home too. Thus my car stayed at the golf course.
That evening a cop comes by and finds me with a head wound and my car is missing. I look quite guilty. By sheer luck, the cop calls someone after talking to my parents and discovers they got the guy and the plate numbers were close.
I probably would've been arrested.
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5points
#23
Not a police officer, but the person they talked to. I had just finished a cooking class and my husband was waiting for me. It was 9:30 at night and the parking for the class was in a back alley. Before we left, the officers turned on their lights and asked for identification and registration. They said, in their system, our plates were registered to a green vehicle (ours was white). They let us go on our way since the registration was all correct, but told us to talk to the DMV and get it cleared up.
The next day I went to the DMV and they said that the only car with those plates was our current vehicle.
Best we can figure is that we purchased this car in September and in August, our DMV had switched to a new computer system. So on the old system, was registered to our old vehicle. On the new system, they were registered to the new vehicle. And the police were still looking at the old system (this was in February, so 6 months after the switch over). I have to wonder how many other people they had incorrect vehicle information on.
The next day I went to the DMV and they said that the only car with those plates was our current vehicle.
Best we can figure is that we purchased this car in September and in August, our DMV had switched to a new computer system. So on the old system, was registered to our old vehicle. On the new system, they were registered to the new vehicle. And the police were still looking at the old system (this was in February, so 6 months after the switch over). I have to wonder how many other people they had incorrect vehicle information on.
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5points
#24
I once went to a guys house to arrest him on a warrant for missing court for a speeding ticket. I knock on the door and ask the guy who answers if he is “Bob Smith” (can’t remember the real name but he spoke broken English) and the guy says yes. I ask him if he got a speeding ticket that he never took care of and he says yes so I tell him he is under arrest and take him to jail. At the jail I discover that this “Bob Smith” is about 30 years older than the one on the warrant and I forgot to check the date of birth before arresting him. I was looking for his kid “Bob Smith Jr”. Turned out that the kid was on his way to post bond for the dad so I let the dad go free and arrested the kid when he got to the Jail to pick his dad up.
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5points
#25
[This guy definitely went through some s**t being the wrong person](https://nypost.com/2017/06/12/man-jailed-for-17-years-until-lawyers-find-lookalike-convict-with-same-first-name/)
[Photo of the two men](https://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/richard-jones-free.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1236&h=820&crop=1)
>A Missouri man spent nearly 17 years behind bars for robbery until his doppelganger was discovered — and the other guy looked so much like him that authorities decided to toss out his conviction.
>Jones, 41, had been serving a 19-year jail sentence for a 1999 robbery when he heard other inmates buzzing that another prisoner looked just liked him — and even shared his first name, Star said.
>It’s unclear what the other man was locked up for, and Jones never saw his doppelganger. But he told two legal interns assigned to his case about the rumors, according to Alice Craig, one of Jones’ lawyers.
>The interns brought the message back to their superiors at the Midwest Innocence Project and the Paul E. Wilson Defender Project, who dug further into the case.
>It turned out that not only did the other man bear an uncanny resemblance to Jones, he also lived closer to the site of the crime.
>Jones’ doppelganger, Ricky Amos, used to live with his mother in Kansas City, Kansas, near the address of the incident, Craig said. Jones lived across the state line in Kansas City, Mo.
>“When I saw that picture, it made sense to me,” said Jones, who has denied committing the robbery, to the Star.
>“Either you’re going to think [we’re] the same person, or you’re going to be like, ‘Man, these guys, they look so much alike.’ ”
>His lawyers showed the two men’s photos to the victim, two witnesses and the prosecutor in Jones’ case — and all four admitted they could not tell the pair apart, according to the Star.
[Photo of the two men](https://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/richard-jones-free.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1236&h=820&crop=1)
>A Missouri man spent nearly 17 years behind bars for robbery until his doppelganger was discovered — and the other guy looked so much like him that authorities decided to toss out his conviction.
>Jones, 41, had been serving a 19-year jail sentence for a 1999 robbery when he heard other inmates buzzing that another prisoner looked just liked him — and even shared his first name, Star said.
>It’s unclear what the other man was locked up for, and Jones never saw his doppelganger. But he told two legal interns assigned to his case about the rumors, according to Alice Craig, one of Jones’ lawyers.
>The interns brought the message back to their superiors at the Midwest Innocence Project and the Paul E. Wilson Defender Project, who dug further into the case.
>It turned out that not only did the other man bear an uncanny resemblance to Jones, he also lived closer to the site of the crime.
>Jones’ doppelganger, Ricky Amos, used to live with his mother in Kansas City, Kansas, near the address of the incident, Craig said. Jones lived across the state line in Kansas City, Mo.
>“When I saw that picture, it made sense to me,” said Jones, who has denied committing the robbery, to the Star.
>“Either you’re going to think [we’re] the same person, or you’re going to be like, ‘Man, these guys, they look so much alike.’ ”
>His lawyers showed the two men’s photos to the victim, two witnesses and the prosecutor in Jones’ case — and all four admitted they could not tell the pair apart, according to the Star.
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4points
#26
NOt A pOlIcE oFfIcEr but had some officers turn up to my delivery suite looking for a man wanted for stealing a motorcycle. They'd watched CCTV footage of the theft, followed him on cameras (in central London) and seen someone with the same description (black male wearing a hoodie and Nike trainers) enter the hospital and then the delivery suite. I'm usually a calm person but I was slowly losing my marbles as they demanded to come into the ward and speak to him. I'd repeatedly said that the man they were talking about had only left the ward for 15 minutes to get something from the canteen, they must have got people mixed up on camera and also his wife was currently in labor so could they kindly get lostand come back later.
They were telling me I was getting in the way of their investigation. Took my manager telling them they were getting in the way of us providing safe care in a life threatening situation to get them to leave. We got a phone call later saying that they would no longer need to speak to him as they got the right guy. Didn't even apologise.
They were telling me I was getting in the way of their investigation. Took my manager telling them they were getting in the way of us providing safe care in a life threatening situation to get them to leave. We got a phone call later saying that they would no longer need to speak to him as they got the right guy. Didn't even apologise.
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4points
#27
Was on the receiving end. Went to the local sheriff's office to renew my CHL. Turn in my paperwork and wait in the waiting room in front of the window. Little while later an officer walks in and says "Mr. (name I didn't catch), we have reason to believe there's a warrant out for your arrest."
I said, "I'm sorry, what name did you say?"
"what's your last name?"
"(Trollio)"
... Officer looks at girl behind the window
Girl: "THAT'S MY CHL CUSTOMER!"
Officer walks into room, him and gal walk away from the window talking. Officer walks back out to me. "I'm sorry, I was told the man in the tan pants in the waiting room" (i definitely matched that description). We laughed, he apologized some more and walked off.
I finish up my business and walk to the elevator to leave. Doors open and guess who it is? Same officer. He apologized again and told me he had the wrong waiting room. Sheriff's office was in the basement, he was after the second floor court waiting room. Good times.
I said, "I'm sorry, what name did you say?"
"what's your last name?"
"(Trollio)"
... Officer looks at girl behind the window
Girl: "THAT'S MY CHL CUSTOMER!"
Officer walks into room, him and gal walk away from the window talking. Officer walks back out to me. "I'm sorry, I was told the man in the tan pants in the waiting room" (i definitely matched that description). We laughed, he apologized some more and walked off.
I finish up my business and walk to the elevator to leave. Doors open and guess who it is? Same officer. He apologized again and told me he had the wrong waiting room. Sheriff's office was in the basement, he was after the second floor court waiting room. Good times.
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4points
#28
I went to jail for a few days when I was younger and one of the guys in there got caught because the cops mistook for someone else. He had a warrant out for failure to appear and changed up his hair and clothing style to try and look a bit different, but he happened to end up matching the description of someone else the cops were looking for. They just wanted to ask him some questions, but when they eventually found out who he was they took him in on his warrant.
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4points
#29
Not a police officer but a "wrong person"
I was sitting in my apartment, girlfriend was in the shower, I heard knocking on the door and ignored it... heard a knock again, looked out the window, nothing... then came the cop knock. So I get up and open the door, two cops with guns drawn were hiding behind the door frames, and asked me to put my hands up. I comply. They ask, "are you here with your girlfriend?" I am super confused but I say yes, because I am.
They storm in and cuff me, about this time the girlfriend comes out of the shower, sees me handcuffed and is understandably pissed.
The whole time I am asking what is going on and saying I think there has been a mistake.
Then the cop points out the door to an old guy and asks "is this not your dad?" It wasn't and I said "No, what is going on?"
The cops look at the old guy and he stumbles saying "uhhh. No. No, that is not my son."
The cops turned white. They were super embarrassed and they left quickly.
A couple hours later one of the cops comes back and apologizes, apparently that old dude got a phone call from his estranged son saying he had a gun and was going to shoot his girlfriend... don't know what came of that but it wasn't me and that dad apparently didn't even know where his son lived.
Crazy day.
Then I went and got some tacos and a margarita.
I was sitting in my apartment, girlfriend was in the shower, I heard knocking on the door and ignored it... heard a knock again, looked out the window, nothing... then came the cop knock. So I get up and open the door, two cops with guns drawn were hiding behind the door frames, and asked me to put my hands up. I comply. They ask, "are you here with your girlfriend?" I am super confused but I say yes, because I am.
They storm in and cuff me, about this time the girlfriend comes out of the shower, sees me handcuffed and is understandably pissed.
The whole time I am asking what is going on and saying I think there has been a mistake.
Then the cop points out the door to an old guy and asks "is this not your dad?" It wasn't and I said "No, what is going on?"
The cops look at the old guy and he stumbles saying "uhhh. No. No, that is not my son."
The cops turned white. They were super embarrassed and they left quickly.
A couple hours later one of the cops comes back and apologizes, apparently that old dude got a phone call from his estranged son saying he had a gun and was going to shoot his girlfriend... don't know what came of that but it wasn't me and that dad apparently didn't even know where his son lived.
Crazy day.
Then I went and got some tacos and a margarita.
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4points
#30
I work with a guy who has dealt with mistaken identity A LOT. He's from another state. There's a guy from that state with the same first and last name, and the same birthday. He's been arrested multiple times because of warrants on the other guy, and he's had his wages garnished for child support THREE SEPARATE TIMES because of it. He has no kids. Other guy apparently has a couple. A few months ago he had to take a week off of work to go back to court in his home state snd prove *again* that he wasn't that guy.
All they ever had to do was check his middle name or his SSN.
All they ever had to do was check his middle name or his SSN.
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4points
#31
Sort of fits. I used to work an AWOL section in the army where we would collect soldiers that were awol from various jails and process them. One time we got paperwork for a guy that was supposedly AWOL since the Korean War. Both me and the LA officers had no idea what to make of it. The guy was old (I don't remember exactly how old) and obviously the paperwork we had from his enlistment was outdated and impossible to tell from the picture if it was him or not. I mean it was 50 years prior. The person in custody was saying he was never in the Army and that it was a mistaken identity. He was Korean and his name, particularly his last name, was not all that unique (I think Kim, Lee, and Park account for something like 60% of South Korean last names). Socials weren't used as ID numbers back then so we couldn't use that. We ended up just letting him go because a)we had no way to tell if it was even the right guy or not and b) we weren't going to send a 70 year old guy to get Dishonorable Discharged. Still no idea if it was the right guy.
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4points
#32
Not a cop but got confused for a wanted guy apperently.
Transfered at the main railwaystation of my city from the train to the bus. The moment I see the overview-board I start to run to catch my bus home.
What I didn't know two undercover-cops were tailing me because they were looking for somebody who kinda looked like me. When I broke into a run they thought I made them and tried to run.
Long story short. They tackled me from the back and totally offguard thinking I'm being mugged I cursed and tried to fight back. Ofcourse they got me under control after a few moments.
After they found out I wasn't the one they were looking for they appologized kinda awkwardly and were gone.
And I missed my bus.
Transfered at the main railwaystation of my city from the train to the bus. The moment I see the overview-board I start to run to catch my bus home.
What I didn't know two undercover-cops were tailing me because they were looking for somebody who kinda looked like me. When I broke into a run they thought I made them and tried to run.
Long story short. They tackled me from the back and totally offguard thinking I'm being mugged I cursed and tried to fight back. Ofcourse they got me under control after a few moments.
After they found out I wasn't the one they were looking for they appologized kinda awkwardly and were gone.
And I missed my bus.
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4points
#33
Not a police officer but a crime happened to me. A couple years ago someone stole my phone and wallet from the hockey dressing room while I was on the ice. They then eventually took my drivers license and made my ID into a fake, and since I was under 18 at the time they were just committing a bunch of crimes and presenting my ID. Eventually the guy got arrested and apparently the officer that did it was like “hmm that dude does not look 17.” The dude was like 26 and tatted up.
PS: Fun side story the guy went into the bank and showed them his new ID of me and somehow they gave him access to my bank account and he withdrew over $5000 (basically all of my money when I was 17)!!!
PS: Fun side story the guy went into the bank and showed them his new ID of me and somehow they gave him access to my bank account and he withdrew over $5000 (basically all of my money when I was 17)!!!
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4points
#34
My dad got arrested in the 80s because some guy in the next town over with the same name, age, and car with a license plate that was only one digit off had a warrant.
It was funny because my dad is the biggest goody-2-shoes you will ever meet.
It was funny because my dad is the biggest goody-2-shoes you will ever meet.
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4points
#35
In our family we had a great uncle who tattooed his name and social security number to his shoulder. Apparently he had the same name and birthday as another guy with a prison record, and had kept hearing about it. It came in handy at least twice when he was pulled over and the cops started arresting him. Each time he got out because he had his social security as proof that he was innocent.
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3points
#36
Sorry to be just another person who wasn’t the PO in the story.
I was in high school and me and my three best friends were having a sleepover at one of their homes. We wanted to watch Netflix on the TV but did not have an HDMI cord. My friends dad said he’d drive us to Walmart to get a cord, but her older sister said she would instead (kind of an important detail).
Anyways, we make a turn out of my friend’s neighborhood on to the main road and we so sirens behind us. So my friend’s sister pulled over. When the sirens did not pass us we realized that we were being pulled over for some unknown reason. By the time we realized the PO was already at our window. He had a really powerful voice and he yelled at my friend’s sister to “ROLL THE WINDOW DOWN. NOW.” By this point we are shaking and freaking out. As soon as she rolls the window down the PO shines his flashlight at all of us. He sees 5 terrified teenage girls. Immediately he backs off. He asks for friend’s sister’s license. She hands it to him and I just remember how much she was shaking.
PO asks “do you know why I pulled you over?” Friend’s sister says “no sir. I honestly have no idea why.”
PO says “well it’s because of the way you came out of that neighborhood.”
Friends sister says “okay.”
PO asks “are these your sisters?” (I think he’s backpedaling at this point because we are all clearly not sisters) he continues “well your car matched the description of another car so yes. Here is your license. Have a goodnight).
After we started driving again my friends sister goes “I’m so glad my dad didn’t end up driving you!!” And I honestly think about what might have happened if he was the one who drove us a lot.
I was in high school and me and my three best friends were having a sleepover at one of their homes. We wanted to watch Netflix on the TV but did not have an HDMI cord. My friends dad said he’d drive us to Walmart to get a cord, but her older sister said she would instead (kind of an important detail).
Anyways, we make a turn out of my friend’s neighborhood on to the main road and we so sirens behind us. So my friend’s sister pulled over. When the sirens did not pass us we realized that we were being pulled over for some unknown reason. By the time we realized the PO was already at our window. He had a really powerful voice and he yelled at my friend’s sister to “ROLL THE WINDOW DOWN. NOW.” By this point we are shaking and freaking out. As soon as she rolls the window down the PO shines his flashlight at all of us. He sees 5 terrified teenage girls. Immediately he backs off. He asks for friend’s sister’s license. She hands it to him and I just remember how much she was shaking.
PO asks “do you know why I pulled you over?” Friend’s sister says “no sir. I honestly have no idea why.”
PO says “well it’s because of the way you came out of that neighborhood.”
Friends sister says “okay.”
PO asks “are these your sisters?” (I think he’s backpedaling at this point because we are all clearly not sisters) he continues “well your car matched the description of another car so yes. Here is your license. Have a goodnight).
After we started driving again my friends sister goes “I’m so glad my dad didn’t end up driving you!!” And I honestly think about what might have happened if he was the one who drove us a lot.
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3points
#37
Not a police officer, but my dad once almost got taken into custody because our car's license plate matched one that had been stolen, and they'd incorrectly written down the stolen plate - mixed up an O and a 0 or something like that.
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3points
#38
Not the police guy, but a bus I was on was stopped and they questioned me and searched my stuff one the side of the road for ages because apparently I look similar to someone they were after for human trafficking (at least that's what I'm assuming from the questions they asked). Weird day that was.
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3points
#39
Kid I went to college with had a scrappy car that had a rope to the inside lever to open car doors. Going how from work one night he gets 3-4 cop cars surround him and pull him out of car, put him in handcuffs and throw him face first on the ground. After 30 minutes they apologize and let him go saying someone called saying he broke into and stole the car. Don't know why anyone would steal his car that was older than himself and obviously falling apart. Kid said if he was black he would have assumed it was racist cop activity. We urged him to still try to press charges since it was ridiculously brutalized over reactive behavior, but he didn't think he could win.
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3points
#40
Not a LEO, but I’ve witnessed something like this.
My roommate about 10 years ago had a pretty common name, with the exception it was one letter different and pronounced differently. Fake name, but let’s call him Wason while the norm is Jason. Wason has a pretty common last name, too. Let’s say Smith. He was pulled over for having a tail light out. They look at his ID, and (according to the officers) ran his name and didn’t check anything else. The elder officer stayed near his car while the younger one did the check. Comes back, asks him to get out of the car. Wason says “sure, but way?” Big mistake. Guns drawn, everyone out of the car, on the ground, they’re searching the car. They pat him down, and call for backup.
After what seemed like forever, they come back and apologize. Apparently, there’s another Wason Smith in the area on the run. He lets us go. We look up his name, and it’s true. It was in the local news like a month before this happened. Wason Smith was wanted for beating his wife half to death, and was known to carry lots of weapons in the car, hence the car search. A one in a million name, and there’s two that lived within 30 miles of each other.
My roommate about 10 years ago had a pretty common name, with the exception it was one letter different and pronounced differently. Fake name, but let’s call him Wason while the norm is Jason. Wason has a pretty common last name, too. Let’s say Smith. He was pulled over for having a tail light out. They look at his ID, and (according to the officers) ran his name and didn’t check anything else. The elder officer stayed near his car while the younger one did the check. Comes back, asks him to get out of the car. Wason says “sure, but way?” Big mistake. Guns drawn, everyone out of the car, on the ground, they’re searching the car. They pat him down, and call for backup.
After what seemed like forever, they come back and apologize. Apparently, there’s another Wason Smith in the area on the run. He lets us go. We look up his name, and it’s true. It was in the local news like a month before this happened. Wason Smith was wanted for beating his wife half to death, and was known to carry lots of weapons in the car, hence the car search. A one in a million name, and there’s two that lived within 30 miles of each other.
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2points