Woman jailed for long overdue VHS rental
PICKENS, S.C. — It was not a pile of late fees a South Carolina woman got when a video store owner said she failed to return a video she rented in 2005. Instead, she spent a night in jail.
Kayla Michelle Finley, 27, of Pickens was arrested Thursday and charged with failing to return a rented video cassette, according to Pickens County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Creed Hashe.
Hashe said Finley rented the movie “Monster-in-Law” from Dalton Videos nearly a decade ago. The owner took out a warrant against Finley, who was arrested when she was at the sheriff’s office for something else and the warrant was found.
Hashe said Finley had been sent several certified letters at the time, but the woman told WHNS-TV that she never got the letters and that she will fight the charge. The video store has since closed.
On Facebook Finley wrote, “First of all i was not pulled over, i went to the police station to press charges of harrassment & stalking. Not once did i ever receive anything regarding this, if i had it would have been taken care of immediately. Some of you need to quit juding like you are. This is a bogus charge and everyone knows it.”
Finley spent Thursday night in jail and was released Friday on a $2,000 personal recognizance bond, according to authorities. If convicted, she could face up to 30 days in jail and $500 in court fines.
Finley is scheduled to appear in court in March, and court records listed no attorney for her. Authorities did not immediately return a message Tuesday seeking more information on her case, and working phone numbers for Finley and the defunct store’s owner could not be found.
