Google Me...I'm a Criminal?
December 4, 2010By Tasan Thompson

What are the odds of googling yourself and discovering that you committed a crime you never knew you committed? It's a question that college student Zachary Garcia can easily answer.


University of Florida student Zachary Garcia did a random Google search for himself and found his driver's license photo circulating around the web and connected to a Florida murder that occurred in September.


The photo was released under the supervision of the Polk County Sheriff's Office. The actual person charged with the felony was named Zachery Garcia (with an 'e'). However, the wrong picture was published.


"Everybody makes mistakes," he stated. "I work at Publix [grocery store] and I might get somebody's sub wrong. But for somebody to get the photo of a suspect wrong ... it's not a sandwich, it's somebody's life you're playing with."


On September 23, a group of teenagers along with the Garcia suspect broke into a house in Davenport, Fl. The owner gunned down one of the teenagers. Since the teen was shot while the crime was taking place, the other three were charged with homicide.


The Zachery Garcia actually charged with murder was arrested and sentenced to a juvenile facility in October.


Garcia, the innocent student, had found the news reports bearing his picture that were posted shortly after sheriff's department's September release.


"We made a mistake -- a serious mistake. And we've apologized. The sheriff has sent Zachary a formal letter," said Scott Wilder, a spokesman with the Polk County Sheriff's Office. "It's basically just one of those bizarre and unfortunate coincidences that occurred."


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