PHOENIX — A dramatic video highlights a significant mistake U.S. Marshals made when they moved to falsely arrest a Valley grandmother at gunpoint earlier this year.

The two-minute video captures the moment six rifle-wielding U.S. marshals wrongly arrested 66-year-old Penny McCarthy.

“Since this happened. Sorry, I’m so disappointed in my government. It’s not funny,” Penny told ABC15 while holding back tears.

It took more than six months for the federal government to release the body camera video to the public.

“We have an arrest warrant,” a federal agent says in the video.

“In my opinion?” Penny replies.

“Yes. For you,” said the officer.

“Who am I?” Penny asks.

Several officers then shout at Penny: “Turn away. Turn around. Divert. We will discuss this later. Divert. You’re going to be hit.

Penny didn’t know why federal agents were there or how they could obtain a warrant for her arrest.

“I definitely felt like I was being kidnapped,” Penny told ABC15 in response to what happened.

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ABC15 obtained the videos through a federal Freedom of Information ACT request.

“Don’t you want to confirm who I am?” Penny asks the officers again on the body camera video.

The officer shouts back, “Put your hands behind your back. We will discuss this later.

“It makes me even angrier than before,” Penny said in an interview with ABC15 after watching the video.

Federal agents insisted that McCarthy was wanted by Oklahoma fugitive Carole Anne Rozak, 70, when they arrested and detained her in March. The U.S. Marshals Service later admitted it had made a mistake. days later ABC15’s investigation.

Who is Carole-Anne Rozak?

An Arizona the federal judge was later removed from office the case against McCarthy and canceled his pending identity hearing.

Federal agents said McCarthy was Rozak, a woman now in her 70s, wanted on a 1999 parole violation warrant from Oklahoma. Rozak served time in prison for all non-violent crimes. But according to federal court records, she did not report to any federal probation officers after being released from federal custody in Harris County, Texas.

McCarthy provided extensive documentation to ABC15, she was not RozakOklahoma was looking for a fugitive.

“I was never Carole Anne Rozak”

ABC15 showed the body camera videos to Penny who described them as showing: “Abuse of power. Period.”

Although Penny repeatedly asked the officers if they wanted to confirm her identity and was told they would discuss it later, Penny said they never discussed it further.

“I never discussed it later,” Penny said.

“If you turn around again. You are doomed. You understand me,” a federal agent later told Penny on the body camera video.

“All they did was treat me like shit and lie to me,” Penny said in response to the video.

It’s not until Penny is handcuffed that the U.S. Marshals finally tell her who they plan to arrest: wanted fugitive Carole Anne Rozak.

Former federal prosecutor reviews body camera video

Josh Kolsrud is a criminal defense attorney with years of experience as a federal prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

“This case is concerning because of the manner in which Miss McCarthy was arrested,” he said. “A classic example of federal agencies not doing what they are supposed to do.”

ABC15 asked Kolsrud to review the videos and evidence in Penny’s case.

“It’s breathtaking to watch,” Kolsrud said. “And it’s scary that this could happen in America.”

Koslrud believes the videos show the Phoenix U.S. Marshals used excessive force.

“Anyone who watches this video can see that this was an aggressive arrest and apprehension,” he said. “And that’s unreasonable on so many levels.”

Koslrud also questioned how federal agents made the arrest before fully verifying Penny’s identity.

“We expect law enforcement to have the capacity, determination and ethics to establish who a person is when they arrest them. And in this case, they didn’t,” he said.

Response from the US Marshals

ABC15 repeatedly asked the U.S. Marshals for their views on the body camera videos, but the agency did not respond by deadline.

In a previous statement, the agency said: “The USMS continues to conduct a thorough review of the actions taken by Deputy U.S. Marshals regarding the investigation of fugitive Carole Anne Rozak and subsequent mistaken arrest by Penny McCarthy. »

But the federal government has not yet provided an update on the status of this review.

The only public accountability ABC15 found for the obvious disconnect between Penny and Carole came from a court audio recording a day after she was detained when a federal judge also questioned why Penny was arrested.

The federal prosecutor said his arrest was based strictly on information from the Tulsa, Oklahoma probation office, including “Facebook posts”… “information from the pre-sentence report generated in 1999”… and…” certain pseudonyms.

Evidence that was not sufficient to move forward with a hearing.

At his first court appearance, the judge released McCarthy while waiting for an identity hearing where she was going to have to prove that she was not Rozak. THE the case was dismissed before this hearing takes place.

Fingerprint analysis in question

As we have previously reportedMcCarthy was fingerprinted when federal agents first arrested her in Arizona.

The U.S. Marshal Service in Oklahoma, where the investigation into the cold case that led to McCarthy’s arrest was conducted, initially said there was some sort of “problem” that appeared, at start, showing that McCarthy’s digital fingerprints matched.

The federal prosecutor told a different story during his first court appearance a day after McCarthy’s arrest, according to the audio recording.

A full fingerprint analysis confirmed what Penny knew all along. Her fingerprints did not match to Rozak and federal agents arrested and detained the wrong person.

“US marshals are above the law. That’s what it tells me. And the United States government is allowing this to happen,” Penny said.

The whole ordeal has made Penny question the power of government and its lack of accountability.

“It’s a hell of a system,” she said.