Wife Says Husband Held In LA County Jail On Mistaken Identity For 2nd Time In 6 Years
DOWNEY (CBSLA.com) — A man's family claims he has twice been locked up in Los Angeles County Jail as a result of mistaken identity.
Yanira Hernandez says that, six years ago, her husband was jailed for a crime he was innocent of.
Now she says it has happened again, after Downey police pulled him over and arrested him, believing him to be a wanted man.
"The question is 'when'," Yanira said. "When is he coming home?"
Hernandez' husband, Gerber Guzman, has been held in the Los Angeles County Jail for ten days, for what she is calling a case of mistaken identity.
"The thing is that they know it's not him, but they still have him in there, and that's what's heartbreaking," Hernandez, who is eight months pregnant, said.
Guzman was pulled over on April 27 for an expired car registration, and according to Hernandez, when the officers ran his records, they found that there was an arrest warrant out for him, and they arrested him — and this is not the first time this has happened.
"They told us it wasn't going to happen again, and fast-forward six years later, it happened again," Hernandez said.
Hernandez said her Guzman's identity was stolen six years ago, and that an arrest warrant was mistakenly issued for his arrest.
She says her husband spent 16 days in Los Angeles County Jail on drug-related charges before his name was cleared, with the help of U.S. Marshals.
"They cannot let him go, because the U.S. Marshals are the ones that have the hold," Hernandez said. "It's really hard when you have kids, and you have one on the way, and your kids ask you twenty-four/seven, 'where's daddy'."