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An American man was mistakenly identified as someone else and spent two years in a psychiatric hospital. Joshua Spriessterbach, 55, was detained at the Hawaii State Psychiatric Hospital after being picked up on the street in 2017. He was arrested by the police for a crime committed by a man named Thomas Castleberry. Splisterbach filed a lawsuit in 2021 alleging illegal detention. At this point, Castleberry had been in prison in Alaska since 2016, according to court filings cited in the lawsuit. He also said that police had already misidentified him twice before, but he was ultimately taken away in 2017 because he failed to correct his records. He will now be paid $975,000 by the City and County of Honolulu. The state may also offer him a $200,000 settlement to resolve legal claims against the Hawaii Public Defender’s Office. In his lawsuit, Mr. Splisterbach alleged false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, abuse of process and intentional infliction of emotional distress resulting from the ordeal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
It was in 2011 that police first mistook him for Thomas Castleberry. He was sleeping at Kawananakoa Junior High School in Punchbowl when a police officer woke him up and asked his name. He took only his grandfather’s last name, Castleberry. Officers discovered a 2009 warrant against Thomas Castleberry and arrested him even though he told police he was not Thomas Castleberry. He did not appear for his court date and the bench warrant was later withdrawn. Then, in 2015, an HPD officer approached Mr. Splisterbach in a park where he was sleeping. When he gave his name, officers discovered that Thomas Castleberry was listed as a false name and that there was a warrant out for his arrest in his name. However, this time they took Splisterbach’s fingerprints and confirmed that he was not Castleberry. However, the ministry’s official records have not been updated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n