Man spends 2 years locked up in mental institution in shocking mistaken identity case

[Still Waters]

In what can only be described as the real-life plot of a horror movie script, a homeless man was wrongfully arrested and locked up in a mental hospital for over two years, after being mistaken for a man he had never even met.

Joshua Spriestersbach’s nightmare began on a hot day in 2017, while waiting in line for food outside a homeless shelter in Honolulu. When police woke him up, he thought he was being arrested for breaking the city’s law against sitting and lying on public sidewalks, but little did he know that things were a lot more serious than that. What Spriestersbach didn’t realize was that the police officer had somehow mistaken him for one Thomas Castleberry, who had a warrant out for his arrest for violating probation in a 2006 drug case. The fact that the two didn’t even look similar didn’t seem to matter to anyone, and instead of simply checking photographs or fingerprints of the two men, the homeless man simply became Castleberry.

https://www.odditycentral.com/news/man-spends-two-years-locked-up-in-mental-institution-in-shocking-mistaken-identity

https://people.com/human-interest/mistaken-identity-sends-wrong-man-to-hawaii-mental-hospital-where-he-was-stuck-for-2-years/

[Grim Reaper 6]

25 minutes ago, Still Waters said:

In what can only be described as the real-life plot of a horror movie script, a homeless man was wrongfully arrested and locked up in a mental hospital for over two years, after being mistaken for a man he had never even met.

Joshua Spriestersbach’s nightmare began on a hot day in 2017, while waiting in line for food outside a homeless shelter in Honolulu. When police woke him up, he thought he was being arrested for breaking the city’s law against sitting and lying on public sidewalks, but little did he know that things were a lot more serious than that. What Spriestersbach didn’t realize was that the police officer had somehow mistaken him for one Thomas Castleberry, who had a warrant out for his arrest for violating probation in a 2006 drug case. The fact that the two didn’t even look similar didn’t seem to matter to anyone, and instead of simply checking photographs or fingerprints of the two men, the homeless man simply became Castleberry.

https://www.odditycentral.com/news/man-spends-two-years-locked-up-in-mental-institution-in-shocking-mistaken-identity

https://people.com/human-interest/mistaken-identity-sends-wrong-man-to-hawaii-mental-hospital-where-he-was-stuck-for-2-years/

Wow that's really terrible, the dam police again didn't their jobs properly and because the guy was homeless they took advantage of the situation. Well hopefully he will sue, the city, the state, and the police department because he certainly has a case and he deserves to be compensated for his treatment in my opinion.

Really Sad

[Raptor Witness]

I wonder if perhaps, initially the gentleman thought it might be fun, playing along?

I guess we’ll see. 

Great find, Still …

[+Hammerclaw]

Well, that's one way to become rich; sue the State, sell the book and movie rights, tell The View to cut it him a check or stuff it....