The Customer Is Always … Arrested?

(CN) — A schoolteacher who thought he had just bought a new Sony laptop from Best Buy claims that when he opened the box at home he found “a used Compaq laptop in the box, along with two pieces of brick.” When he returned the stuff to Best Buy, the man says, the store called the cops and had him arrested “for stealing the Sony laptop that he never received.”

Carlos E. says he spent a night in jail and couldn’t find work for more than a year because of the threat of prosecution. He sued Best Buy in Broward County Court, Fort Lauderdale. (The plaintiff’s name has been removed from this article as a courtesy.)

“When [E.] arrived to his home, he opened the Sony box and he noticed that there was a used Compaq laptop in the box, along with two pieces of brick,” according to the complaint.

E. says he called the store and an employee told him to come in for an exchange. He says he did that, and asked for “the new Sony laptop which he had paid for.” But the store refused, so E. called its corporate office. Best Buy is based in Minneapolis.

At that point, he says, “Rather than give [E.] the new Sony laptop for which he paid, the employees of Best Buy called the police and, through lies and misrepresentations, had [E.] arrested for stealing the Sony laptop that he never received.

“[E.] spent the evening in jail, was under the threat of prosecution for over a year, and was unable to find work as a teacher as a direct and proximate cause of the deliberate, false and wrongful actions of Best Buy.”

He also had to hire a criminal defense attorney.

E. says the charges were dropped after he passed a polygraph test.

He sued the Minnesota-based electronics retailer for malicious prosecution, false imprisonment and false arrest.

He seeks lost pay and damages for malicious prosecution, and false imprisonment. He is represented by Joseph Gibson of Miami.

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