Wamu got me wrongfully arrested and ruined my vacation and job.

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lobsterclaw

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This story can be written over 5 pages, but I will try to make it short and sweet to ease the process of getting advice here. I used to bank with WAMU and have since left due to their astounding incompetence in an identity theft investigation involving my account. Two of my checkbooks, along with my social security card, some cash, and my leather jacket were stolen from my room in my apartment, and I made a poliuce report for them. The checkbooks were used with my information to make several fraudulent charges. The very day I noticed these suspicious charges, I did what a good little account should do and went right to the bank and notified them that someone was using my account without permission. First off, it took them a while to freeze the account and it went around $1,000 negative. Second, they advised me to open a new account with them so that I could continue in my daily life as they conducted the fraud investigation, using that account to hold my money. For some reason they took $500 out of my new account and put it in the old one to cover the negative balance, no I am not kidding. Of coarse I had a few passionate words with them and they not-so-promptly returned the money to my new, not defrauded account. Finally, they determined that they would close the old account, but not after failing to determine that there was any fraud at one point. After some more passionate discussion, they looked over the account again and determined it was a case of identity theft. Severely dissapointed with the way they handled the case, I took my business to BOA, and am currently banking there. All this hooplah was roughly 2.5 years ago, but just recently, I got a taste of it again. I was pulled over by a sheriff's deputy for a expired reg on my jeep which I just got back out of the shop for a trans rebuild back in march. The sheriff told me that I had a warrent out for my arrest, I was shocked. I actually accused the deputy of playing a prank on me, but he took me to his cruiser and showed me the screen and there it was, theft by check. I said there has to be a mistake, he said turn around, and in no time I was in a holding tank at Hay's county. It turns out the checks were part of the charges perpetrated by the theif. Now, I don't know why I would have this notion that the bank dropped the ball and did not let it be known that my identity had been stolen and used in this case, thus preventing felony charges from being pressed and a warrant issued for my arrest(detect any sarcasm here?) The kicker is that I spent most of that day, a night, and the next morning in jail, contracted pink eye while there, and spred it to my girlfriend who bailed me out. Ok another kicker could be that we saved up for a long time to go on a cruise for spring break(4 day, cheap, but the best 2 poor college students can do) and IT WAS SCHEDULED TO LEAVE THE VERY NEXT DAY!!! My girlfriend worked tirelessly packing and preparing everything for the trip by herself while I slept with a bunch of drunk drivers and other types of criminals in a 50 degree bright lit holding cell. She stayed up most of the night calling my family and planning how she could bail me out to save our already payed for trip. I was sheduled to work that night on the day I was arrested so she called my work and informed them of the situation. By some miracle, she was able to pull together the bail money and pack all our stuff and print out the tickets and so on and so on so that we could get to the dock 30 minutes before the ship sailed. We made it, and took all the funky bacteria from the jail with us since I had no time to change or shower for we would have surely missed the boat. I call it nothing less than a miracle, the time window we had was hair thin. But we both got to enjoy our 4 day cruise with puss leaking out of our eyes, both of hers, and one of mine complements of the Hay's county holding tank. When I returned, I enjoyed a criminal reputation at my job with a big fat side of two pissed off managers. Being slightly new at my job, the incident erased any upward motion I had achieved in my standing there, and had me in the "doghouse" for a while. All of my co-workers knew I was arrested, all of my family members, and most of my friends as well. I have been required to check in with the bail bondsman every tuesday since, like some criminal, until this week when the investigator called to tell me the case was dismissed after examining my handwriting verses that on the checks turned in by the stores where they were used. This happened because I filled out and over-nighted a forgery packet for the investigator. I don't get my bail money back, I don't get my vacation back, I dont get my mugshot back, I don't get my reputation back, I don't get what happened. My girlfriend was in the car with me and was scared histerical while she watched me get cuffed and stuffed into the plastic back seat, in front of an apartment complex right down the street from the one I live in, and where many of my friends live. I was humiliated, confused, mainly in disbelief. Someone dropped the ball and I ended up in this crappy situation and I want them to pay. I am here to get some advice since my case was dismissed on tuesday, this is the next step I would like to take. Wow, what a mouthfull! so much for short and sweet. Please and thankyou someone help me!
 
you know, alot of my friends are telling me i should sue the bank for all this but I don't know how to go about it.
 
Wow thats awful. I'm no lawyer but iv taken a few law classes lately. Something you may want to do is find a local business lawyers office and tell them your seeking punitive damages (this means damages that are not based off monetary lose) and also seeking to recover damages lost due to the misunderstanding.
 
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