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

The two-minute video captures the moment six US marshals armed with rifles falsely arrested 66-year-old Penny McCarthy.

“Since when did this happen. I’m sorry, I’m so disappointed in my government. It’s not funny,” Penny told ABC15 while fighting back tears.

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

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

“For me?” Penny replies.

“Yes. For you,” says the officer.

“Who am I?” Penny asks.

Several agents then yell at Penny, “Get back. Turn around. come back We will discuss later. come back You’re going to get hit.”

Penny had no idea why the feds were there or how they could get a warrant for her arrest.

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

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

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

The officer responds by yelling back, “Put your hands behind your back. We will discuss this later.”

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

Federal agents insisted McCarthy was looking for Oklahoma fugitive Carole Anne Rozak, 70, when they arrested and detained her in March. The US Marshals Service later admitted it made a mistake days after The ABC15 investigation.

Who is Carole Anne Rozak?

Oh Arizona the federal judge was later dismissed the case against McCarthy and canceled her pending ID hearing.

Federal agents claimed McCarthy was Rozak, a woman now in her 70s who was wanted on a 1999 parole violation warrant from Oklahoma. Rozak served prison time for all non-violent crimes. But according to federal court records, she failed to report to any federal probation officers after being released from federal custody in Harris County, Texas.

McCarthy provided extensive documentation for ABC15 she wasn’t RozakOklahoma searched for fugitive.

“I was never Carole Anne Rozak”

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

Despite Penny asking the officers several times if they wanted to confirm her identity and being told they would talk later, Penny said they never talked later.

“We never discussed it later,” Penny said.

“If you come back again. You are tight. You got me,” a federal agent later said to Penny in the body camera video.

“They did nothing but treat me like crap and lie to me,” Penny said in response to the video.

It’s not until Penny is handcuffed that the US Marshals finally tell her who they think they’re arresting – 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 US Attorney’s office.

“This case is concerning because of the manner in which Miss McCarthy was arrested,” he said. “A textbook example of federal agencies not doing what they should be doing.”

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

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

Koslrud believes the videos show Phoenix US Marshals used excessive force.

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

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

“We expect law enforcement to have the ability and determination and ethics to determine who someone is when they arrest them. And in this case, they didn’t do that,” he said.

US Marshals response

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

In an earlier statement, the agency said, “USMS continues to conduct a thorough review of the actions taken by deputy US Marshals regarding the fugitive investigation of Carole Anne Rozak and the subsequent wrongful arrest of Penny McCarthy.”

But the federal government has yet to provide an update on the status of that review.

The only public acknowledgment ABC15 has found of the apparent disconnect between Penny and Carole comes from a courtroom audio recording, a day after she was taken into custody, when a federal judge also questions why Penny was arrested .

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

Evidence that was not sufficient to proceed with a hearing.

At his initial court appearance, the judge released McCarthy pending an ID hearing where he would have to prove he wasn’t Rozak. The the case was dismissed before that hearing ever takes place.

Analysis of the fingerprint in question

As I did previously reportedMcCarthy was fingerprinted when federal officers first took her into custody in Arizona.

The US Marshal’s Service in Oklahoma, where the cold case investigation that led to McCarthy’s arrest was conducted, initially said there was some sort of “glitch” that initially appeared to show that McCarthy’s fingerprints matched .

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

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

“U.S. Marshals are above the law. That tells me. And the United States government is allowing that to happen,” Penny said.

The whole ordeal made Penny question the government’s power and lack of accountability.

“It’s a hell of a system,” she said.