KIRKWOOD, Mo. – Imagine being wanted by police for someone else’s crime—that’s what a St. Louis man was dealing with until calling FOX 2 for help.

Christopher Roth says he was leaving the Kirkwood Wal-Mart six months ago when he was confronted by police in the parking lot. Officers said his license plates were flagged with warrants.

He has unique vanity plates that, in part, say “WUF” because of Roth’s love for rescuing dogs.

“I (was) shocked,” Roth said in reaction to being surrounded by police. “I have no idea who this gentleman they are identifying is, and the vehicle he’s driving is nowhere near my vehicle.”

Roth drives a gold Ford pickup truck. Police say the wanted suspect was driving a silver Chrysler car.

This month, he was stopped again. FOX Files obtained the body camera video, showing that officers remembered him.

“Hey, how you doing? We’ve actually – we’ve done this in the Commons (shopping center),” an officer says to Roth. “Every time I run the plate, it’s got warrants attached to it and a different subject that really needs to be seen by police.”

The warrant appears serious, as three officers responded in three vehicles. One of them then warns Roth about how another police department might react.

“Be careful with them because… you can get spiked and guns drawn on you,” one officer said.

It’s obvious from the pleasant police interaction that the Kirkwood officers want to help him.

Another officer says, “Mr. Roth, sorry to bother you about this again, but… hopefully we can get this resolved here soon.”

Officers gave him enough information so Roth could try to clear it up. They tell him that a St. Louis police officer entered his plate as ‘wanted’ in the system.

Roth says he failed to get the issue fixed on his own and reached out to FOX 2.  

St. Louis Police answered us, saying they solved the issue for Roth after confirming he is not the guy police are looking for. His plate is now cleared from the system as being wanted.

“I don’t have to worry about getting pulled over and stopped because of your hard work and I really, really appreciate it,” Roth said.

He confirmed with Kirkwood police that his plate no longer shows up with a warrant attached.

“It was amazing because I went round and round and got nowhere and within 48 hours you had it all worked out,” Roth stated.

While his plate is cleared, the question remains of how did this happen in the first place?

The St. Louis Police Department maintains Roth’s plate was entered into the system as wanted for legitimate reasons; however, Roth tells police in the body camera footage that his truck was in the shop at the time his plate was entered.  

It still seems farfetched, as it would have required someone to take Roth’s plates off his pickup and put them on another car. Kirkwood Police told Roth that they would investigate and follow up with the mechanic shop in question.