Woman Charged With Felony Over Rented VHS Tape

Young people may not realize this, but there was a time before movies were all streamed or on Blue-Ray.  Back in the olden days (like the 1980s and 1990s), we all watched movies on videotapes.  The movies were on actual VHS cassette tapes!  You couldn't just skip to different parts of the movies.  You had to fast-forward and rewind.  And, when the movie was all over, you could be charged an extra fee if you did not rewind the movie before taking it back to the rental place.

That's why, when your mom or grandmother is setting up the DVR or adding a show to their library on YoutubeTV, they say they are going to "tape" the show.  Now ya' know.

Well, apparently, a woman in Texas is in some real trouble because she never returned a rented videotape.

According to WGME, Caron McBride found out she was wanted for Felony Embezzlement when she tried to change her name on her license after she got married.

In an interview, McBride explained:

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.

The number they gave her was for the Cleveland County District Attorney's Office.  The clerk who answered the phone explained the situation to her.

According to documents, back in 1999, she had rented a "Sabrina The Teenage Witch" VHS cassette from a now closed video rental store in Normal Oklahoma.  When she failed to return the video, the operators of the store filed charges in March of 2000.

McBride believes she knows what happened.  At that time, she had been living with a man who had several small children.  She believes the video was rented for them and they somehow overlooked returning it.

Even though the store closed in 2008, because the charges were so serious, she could still be penalized.

McBride said that some strange things in her life now make sense.  Over the last few decades, she had been let go from a few jobs without an explanation.  She believes those employers had saw the charges on a background check.

Hopefully, she gets the problem worked out.