Orange County man held at gunpoint after dealership loses loaner agreement, reports car stolen
A man is suing an Orange County car dealership after they provided him a loaner car, then reported that car stolen, leading to his apprehension at gunpoint in Laguna Niguel.
Jamie Rodgers was driving on the 73 Freeway in June 2021 when he was pulled over and held at gunpoint by about a dozen law enforcement officers armed with rifles and pistols, as reported by the Orange County Register.
“I’m thinking I’m going to get shot. I’m a Black man being pulled over in Orange County. … I’ve heard too many stories of this happening,” Rodgers told the Register. “I’m thinking, I’m going to be next.”
Officers were looking for a reported stolen vehicle and believed that Rodgers was armed and dangerous, but it turned out that Car Pros Kia Huntington Beach, which was working on Rodgers’ vehicle, misplaced the loaner contract.
“Apparently, it had fallen behind a file cabinet,” the Register reported. “The dealer received a bill for unpaid tolls, couldn’t find the contract and assumed it must have been stolen, Rodgers said.”
In the 10 minutes or so it took police to find out Rodgers’ loaner vehicle hadn’t been stolen at all, he’d been handcuffed and threatened with shooting if he didn’t follow directions.
Nearly three years later, the ongoing PTSD from the incident has cost Rodgers his job as an athletic trainer at JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano. Instead, he’s been forced to shift to a career in real estate.
“He’s had to reinvent himself,” said Scott Harlan, Rodgers’ attorney. “The problem with these things is an unintentional body movement can lead to death.”
Car Pros Kia Huntington Beach did not respond to the Register’s request for comment.
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