A bizarre case originating out of Virginia Beach appears to be a case of a mistaken identity, or was it? Authorities seem to remain confused due to the strange details surrounding the incident.
It’s unclear at this time whether it could be a case of a stolen identity or some kind of records mix-up, or if the suspect and her family were blatantly lying, but officers and court officials are clearly scratching their heads in the aftermath.
In a news release, the Virginia Beach Police Department detailed circumstances from an internal investigation into an alleged wrongful arrest that occurred Feb. 17 at 12:53 p.m.
Here’s what we know from the VBPD: A woman named Jacqueline Smith visited Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia Beach. Navy Police took Smith into custody after querying her name and social security number through the FBI’s National Crime Information Center. Her name and SSN was linked to an open warrant for felony aggravated assault charge out of Baltimore County, Md.
VBPD officers met with Navy Police to take custody of the alleged wanted individual where she was held without bond while waiting to be extradited to Maryland.
Smith was fingerprinted, and the fingerprints allegedly confirmed that the person in custody was the same individual wanted in Maryland.
Case closed. Well, not exactly.
Would the real Jacqueline Smith please stand up?
- The specific return from NCIC on the SSN identified the woman as Jacqueline R. Smith, with an alias of Jacqueline A. Smith
- The date of birth on the NCIC return had the exact month and day of birth; but the year of birth of the wanted suspect and person in custody did not match
- Smith’s family told VBPD officers that the Jacqueline Smith they had in custody had never been to Baltimore
- VBPD officers contacted the victim from Baltimore County and sent the victim a current photo of the Smith it had in custody; the complainant indicated this was not the individual who had assaulted him
On Feb. 19, VBPD officers presented the information to the court with a request to lower the bond for Smith. Originally, Smith was granted no bond. Since the felony charge originated out of state, the court did not have the jurisdiction to dismiss the charge but granted a bond of $5 which allowed Smith to be released from custody.
Detectives reached out to the originating agency to advise them of the arrest of Smith on the open warrant and follow-up actions taken by the VBPD. The originating agency said the outstanding warrant in Baltimore County was for the individual the VBPD encountered.
Since Smith was released by the VBPD, she is advised to attend scheduled court appearances in Maryland to resolve the matter, according to the release.
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Crystal Graham
