A San Antonio woman mistakenly jailed for over a week is now free after error-ridden warrants were dismissed, revealing a mix-up in identity.
SAN ANTONIO — For a week, a San Antonio family has been living a nightmare, fighting to free their loved one from jail.
New records obtained by KENS 5 reveal she never should have been there in the first place.
This all started last Friday when Mary Jane Ramos said she was driving to the grocery store and an SAPD officer pulled her over for a broken taillight.
Next thing Ramos knew, she was in cuffs for a crime she never committed.
Eight-year-old Giselle took to YouTube after her grandma went to jail on September 19th.
“My grandma was arrested because they’re saying she’s this girl, she’s not, just…please help,” she expressed on her YouTube short.
Pleading with an officer as they put her in handcuffs, Ramos had been pulled over for a broken taillight.
“I gave him my driver’s license and everything with my legal name,” Ramos said.
Ramos told KENS 5 the officer said there was a warrant for her arrest.
“For what?” she asked. “And they said it was assault with bodily harm on a family member…but when I got here, it wasn’t under my name.”
For a whole week, Leonor Idrogo, Ramos’s daughter, and her family pleaded with authorities.
“I told them she was under a different name, and they said, ‘same person…don’t matter if it’s a different name, fingerprints match.. it’s the person they’re looking for,” Idrogo said.
The family feared for Ramos, who has diabetes and was recently diagnosed with ALS.
“The reputation of the Bexar County jail is not the best; they have had a lot of deaths, not taking care of their inmates properly.”
The magistrate clerk confirmed Friday with KENS 5 that the warrants were issued in error and have since been dismissed.
Sheriff Salazar responded to the mix-up:
“They were not able to reach any witnesses in the case to verify, so our captain contacted the court, and she was walked out,” Salazar said. “The initial arresting agency will have to go back and do some homework on the case.”
SAPD responded to KENS 5:
“We recently became aware of this incident and are looking into the matter.”
In the end, it was family that brought Ramos home, and family that will carry her forward.
“I’m a grandmother and I’m a mother and that’s what I want to get back to,” Ramos said.