Hannah Bringas has been living a bureaucratic nightmare since she opened her mailbox in early January.
Inside was a letter from the Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division suspending her driver's license.
“I thought it was a scam at first,” she said.
But it wasn’t.
The letter said her driving privileges were “withdrawn” as of December 27. In other words, her license was suspended.
It was all because a car owned by a woman with a similar name was involved in a crash. The woman and her husband were sued by an insurance company, resulting in a default judgment in court that triggered the suspension.
It was a case of mistaken identity.
Bringas was not in the crash. She had never been married. She didn’t even know the man who was supposed to be her husband.
She contacted ADOT and the law office that filed the lawsuit multiple times, trying to resolve the problem.
“I've told them this isn't me. This is a mistaken identity. I filed a police report. I sent in the proof,” she said.
She found herself mired in bureaucratic red tape. She had to rely on Lyfts, Ubers, and friends to get to and from her job — a 20-minute drive from her Chandler apartment. She cares for autistic children. She’s also a college student, studying to be an occupational therapist.
“My freedom has been taken away for no reason," she said. "I have tried over and over to prove that I'm not this person.”
Even an investigation by the Chandler Police Department, where an officer confirmed she wasn’t the person named in the lawsuit, wasn’t enough to lift the suspension.
After several calls, she said she was told by ADOT that because she had a suspended license on her record, she would need to get an SR-22 certificate of insurance in order to get her driving privileges back.
After a month of trying, Bringas contacted ABC15.
ABC15 reached out to the lawyer involved in the lawsuit and ADOT. Less than a day after getting involved, Bringas got a voicemail from the lawyer’s office saying her license suspension was voided.
“I was in shock. I was super happy. I got up, and I jumped,” she said.
In a statement, ADOT said: “With this new information, MVD has been able to remove the suspension from her record and the customer is not required to do anything further. She is immediately eligible to drive once again.”
Bringas had a long list of things to do. She got a haircut and drove to a doctor’s appointment. Then she brought her red 2007 Toyota Camry Solara to the car wash.
It’s unclear how many other people have ended up in similar circumstances. ADOT didn’t answer a question about how many people have had their licenses suspended because of mistaken identities.
In cases of mistaken or stolen identities, ADOT advises people to file a complaint with their local law enforcement agency.
ADOT says it will void suspension fees in cases of mistaken identity.
Have you had your license suspended because of mistaken identity? Contact ABC15 Investigator Anne Ryman at 602-685-6345 or anne.ryman@abc15.com
