DeKalb County

Man mistaken for fugitive on most wanted list

By Nicole Carr, WSB-TV
By Nicole Carr, WSB-TV

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A Clayton County man was locked up overnight in DeKalb County when authorities mistakenly believed he was a fugitive.

Brandon Williams says he ran out of gas along Clairmont Road earlier this month. He was walking to a gas station but saw blue lights, so he turned around to explain the situation to DeKalb County police.

Officers asked for his license,

"He said 'You have a warrant for your arrest.' And I said 'That's not possible,’” Williams told Channel 2’s Nicole Carr.

Williams was told he was on the U.S. Marshals most wanted list. Records Carr obtained show the fugitive they sought was wanted for cocaine possession.

While police were sure Williams was their guy, the 23-year-old wanted to make sure they understood he had nothing to hide.

“I said 'My name is Brandon Lee Williams.' I gave him my full name and my social,” Williams said.

Williams was fingerprinted at the DeKalb County Jail. Receipts show his car was impounded and Williams, knowing he was no one's fugitive, was locked up until the next evening. He was then released, but says he received no explanation as to how the mix-up occurred.

“Basically they ran my information and said, ‘This is not you. You can go.' And I'm like, ‘Wow.’ Like, that's not explaining like what happened, you know?” he said.

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Carr contacted the U.S. Marshals service in Virginia where the warrant originated. They would not provide her with a mug shot of the "real" Brandon Williams when she sought to do a side-by-side comparison of the two because he's no longer wanted. They said that Williams was eventually arrested somewhere out of state.

They said these rare incidents "happen from time to time."

Williams says he missed work, spent a couple hundred dollars to get his car out of impound and he wants an apology.

“I just don't know and I’m just trying to find some answers,” Williams said.

DeKalb police say they arrested Williams based on a warrant in their system.

The DeKalb County Sheriff's Office, who runs the jail, also provided the following statement with a timeline of the events that occurred in less than 24 hours:

"Mr. Brandon Lee Williams was arrested on a warrant from the U.S. Marshals' Office just before midnight on December 8, 2016 by DeKalb County Police, according to police department reports.  In a memorandum received by the DeKalb County Sheriff's Office from the United States Marshals Service on December 9, 2016 at 1:28 p.m., it was acknowledged that Mr. Williams was not the individual by the same name who was listed on the arrest warrant served by the police department.  Upon authorization of the Marshals' Office, Mr. Williams was released from custody of the sheriff's office at 8:23 p.m. the same day.  Mr. Williams' release took place within a time frame that was considered normal given the volume of releases being processed at the same time."

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