Posted on 09/08/2006 12:00:05 PM PDT by Shimmer128
San Francisco resident Matthew Shinnick tried to sell a pair of mountain bikes on Craigslist late last year. He attracted a buyer, received a check in the mail -- and ended up handcuffed by police in a downtown Bank of America branch and jailed for almost 12 hours.
BofA calls the bizarre episode "an unfortunate series of events" and says that "clearly and without equivocation, Bank of America regrets what occurred." But the bank says it was only doing its duty by notifying the cops when a bad check surfaced.
It also says Shinnick has no grounds to sue for thousands of dollars in legal costs because of a 2004 state Supreme Court decision that shields institutions and people from liability when reporting suspected crimes to the police.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Apparently that sort of thing is allowed in California although it wouldn't fly anywhere else in the country. It's everywhere. Allegation, standing alone, is probable cause. The natural malignant outgrowth of a concept introduced to police work intended to combat domestic violence.
No matter the California Supreme Court rulings, this guy is still entitled, under federal law, to due process, civil rights, and false imprisonment relief. Just take it to federal court and sue the pants off BofA, the cops who jailed him, (someone had to press charges, probably the bank's manager), and also file claims for loss of reputation, public humiliation, etc,. etc., etc. They will pay you to go away if you handle these assclowns in a manner they will come to understand!
Do tell ...
From the story, it's either the bank or the police. Either the bank made a false police report, for which they should be liable civilly to Mr. Shinnick (and criminally if they did it deliberately), or the police overreacted grossly, in which case the city should have to fork over. I'd love to see the latter happen! Order Gavin Newsom to apologize publicly while handing over the damages check!
And if the California Supremes disagree, they should all be recalled!
What mistake did the bank make? They called polce when they received a fraudulent check.
BOA sucks. Anyone doing business with BOA is crazy. How do I know? Personal experience. Stay the heck away from BOA if you want good customer service and someone to talk to when you call the bank. You will get neither from the BOA.
They are as/more bureaucratic maniacal as the fed.gov.
What mistake did the bank make?
The bank should have known immediantly if the check was bad and refused deposit. Sounds like a lazy teller to me. Having one of their customers, who was basically an innocent party, arrested was their second mistake. Let me guess who got these no-liability laws passed?
"The court wants to protect people when reporting criminal activity," said Paul Glusman, a Berkeley attorney who has written about the Hagberg case. "But this can be abused. At this point, there's nothing that will protect ordinary citizens from a false police report."
hehehe Welcome to the PSofA...Police State of America.
This illustrates the wonderful thing about a free market. B of A has no legal liability, by they will lose lots of customers for their failure to handle this better.
You've never been wrongfully attacked through the legal system, have you?
Actually they did quite a bit wrong from a customer service point of view. They failed to make a good faith effort to determine the facts of the situation, before overreacting.
No, I've never been detained for 12 hours and had the charges dropped within 24.
My Bank of America peeve is that when you deposit a large check, even a cashier's check, their policy is to make you wait a long time, perhaps 10 days, for funds availability, even if the deposit clears in a day. It is a scam pure and simple. I won't make the mistake of depositing a large check there anymore - Wachovia is much more customer-friendly...
Bank of America will ruin your life. Amen on Washington Mutual. They are the best I've ever had.
I think the cops and prosecutors over-reacted. Have to respectfully disagree with you on BoA, though. If someone is at the counter trying to cash a stolen check, ya gotta make the call. I'd say the same thing if someone tried to pass a counterfeit $100.00.
Below is a link to congressional testimony by a BofA Senior VP in Houston, regarding the "matricula consular" identification card, which is accepted at BofA for illegal aliens.
Amazing........
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:gbU4cx-Lr00J:143.231.169.144/pdf/ACF13F.pdf+%22bank+of+america%22+houston+%22sylvia+castillo%22&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=3
Shinnick, it appears, was a victim of the classic "Nigerian 419" scam...
Moron!
even with immunity, negligence does become culpable.
12 hours in a jail is still a strict scrutiny test.
Yep, Mohammed Abacha, the son of the late Nigerian Energy Minister, warned me about that when I wired him my bank account information to get my share of his $10 million inheritance.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.