A Texas plumber whose truck advertising his business ended up in the middle of a gun battle in Syria filed a lawsuit last week against the car dealership that sold his vehicle, The New York Times reported.
A photo of Mark Oberholtzer’s old truck, which showed his business name and phone number, was widely circulated online last year. The picture was tweeted by Caleb Weiss, who reports on jihadist groups:
Chechen Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar using plumbing truck against regime in #Aleppo pic.twitter.com/QQwJuIfV7F
— Caleb Weiss (@Weissenberg7) December 15, 2014
The Times reported that Oberholtzer received “thousands of harassing and threatening phone calls” at the office from people who thought the plumber was a terrorist sympathizer. He seeks more than $1 million in damages.
The lawsuit obtained by the Times explains that Oberholtzer traded in the old truck for a newer model at AutoNation Ford Gulf Freeway in Houston. Oberholtzer’s son began to remove the decal from the truck, but the dealership told him it was damaging the paint and would be taken off at a later date.
The dealer auctioned off the truck in November 2013. The truck then was sent from Houston to Mersin, Turkey and jihadi fighters later gained control of the truck in Syria, according to the report.
Stephen Colbert mocked the scenario of a Texas plumber’s truck ending up in Syria during a segment on “The Colbert Report” in December 2014. The sketch that was cited in the lawsuit as a tipping point for the threatening phone calls, according to the Times.
Watch the Colbert segment:
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This is why you should never go shopping “outside the loop.” No follow-through with customer service.
Not sure it’s a $1 million dollar case, but it certainly is a case.
I feel for the guy, reputation down the drain… Probably never foresaw the world of shit he was getting into when he became a plumber.
is the gun mounted in the back dealer supplied or is it an after market add-on?
how come the NRA isn’t lobbying for that?