

The Fugitive, a 1993 thriller starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones, showed us the lengths a man who has been wrongfully accused of a crime he didn’t commit would go to in order to prove his innocence. Sometimes, however, reality finds a way to one up anything Hollywood can offer. Our story begins one day when a young man went to work; there were no initial signs this day would be different than any other. By the time that day was done, however, he would find himself behind bars in a local jail cell, facing a charge he didn’t fully understand. That man, Christopher Precopia, faced a felony charge that carries a possible sentence of life in prison. The accuser turned out to be an old girlfriend he hadn’t seen or talked to in years. She said he broke into her house. She said he assaulted her with a box cutter. She gave police the exact date and time. The only problem? Christopher didn’t do it. In fact, he couldn’t have. But how would he prove that to the authorities Denied enlistment to the Army A 21-year-old man from Texas approached an army recruiter, wishing to enlist in the U.S. Army. His application was immediately denied, because he’d been charged with a violent offense a year prior. The only problem? It was a crime he hadn’t committed. In fact, that man, Christopher Precopia, almost had far worse problems than not being able to enlist in the Army. At the time, he faced a potential sentence of life in prison, which he only avoided because of his mother’s quick thinking, and one advantage of modern technology.

Former girlfriend’s accusation It all started one September morning, when Cristopher was going to work at a timber yard in Georgetown, Texas. It seemed like any other day, but ended with him sitting inside a cell, looking at a sentence of life in prison. Police came to his workplace and arrested him. When he asked why, he was reportedly told, “Don’t act like you don’t know.” Christopher eventually managed to get a straight answer – there was a warrant for his arrest in Bell County. “Where is Bell County?” he reportedly asked. Bit by bit, things became clearer. A former high school girlfriend accused him of breaking into her home in Temple, and slicing an “X” into her chest with a box cutter.

Facing a felony charge Christopher’s accuser provided police with details of the alleged break-in in written and oral statements. She described how he had supposedly forced his way into her home, and then physically attacked her. It all supposedly happened on September 20, 2017, at around 7:20pm. Christopher was now facing a felony charge of burglary of a habitation with intent to commit other crimes. Feeling lost, Christopher was taken to the Williamson County Jail. After a day in lockup, his parents took out loans to pay the $150,000 needed for bail – and a lawyer. But he wasn’t coping with the situation well. Constantly afraid, he said he went to sleep hoping not to wake up, just to “get away from it.”

The freedom selfie Even though things seemed to be incredibly grim for Christopher, he suddenly got what may yet turn out to be a “get out of jail” free card. And it wasn’t his lawyer who provided it – it was actually his mom, Erin! She somehow remembered that on the evening of the alleged attack on September 20, she and her son were with friends at the Renaissance Austin Hotel in the city’s northwestern part. The significance? It placed them roughly 65 miles away from the accuser’s home. Still, Erin needed harder proof than her own recollection. Scrolling through her phone, she found it. She couldn’t believe her eyes, but she’d actually taken a selfie with her son at the aforementioned hotel.

A mother’s crusade Erin was ecstatic. She later remembered thinking, “This is awesome. By the grace of God, she said it happened on the day when I can say totally, 100 percent, where he was at.” The police needed to know about that selfie, and they needed to know about it now. She couldn’t stand thinking her son would spend one more moment with that cloud hanging over him. But Erin wasn’t done. She arranged for the people who were there with them that evening to provide sworn affidavits. She got someone to have cell phone towers triangulate the location of Christopher’s phone that particular evening to the Renaissance Hotel. She would stop at nothing to see her son’s name cleared.

The metadata has it Would a simple selfie really be enough to exonerate Christopher? After all, it could’ve been taken at any time, right? Wrong. It wasn’t the photo, but its metadata that Erin hoped would get her son out of trouble. Metadata are details encoded into modern photos and videos that provide certain information, from shutter speed to the date and time they were taken. It was this last two things Erin counted on. She posted the photo to Facebook, and it – and the post – were time-stamped and geo-located. It was proof positive.

Not a ‘gray matter’ The attorney hired by the Precopia family to defend Christopher, Rick Flores, found himself in an unusual position for a criminal defense lawyer – his client was undeniably innocent of all charges. In fact, he was as surprised as anyone to learn he wouldn’t have to do much to plead the case in court, as the accused’s own mother may have solved the case for him. “Most of the time, we deal with gray matters,” he said, adding things are rarely “black and white” in his profession – except in this case!

The charges are dropped Nevertheless, Flores did his job, and took all the evidence collected to the county’s authorities. Then, on June 21, 2018 – nine months to the day after Christopher was first arrested – all charges against him were formally dropped by the Bell County District Attorney’s Office. District Attorney Henry Garza confirmed that the county had been able to corroborate the evidence presented to it by the family, and decided the proper thing to do was to dismiss the charge.

Lingering questions Was the whole affair truly over and done with? Would Christopher really be free to return to normal life, never to think of the awful business again? Not quite so soon. Questions still lingered in his and his family’s minds, questions that kept tugging away at them. There was clearly hard evidence to prove his innocence. Why had the police seemingly made no effort to find it? Why had he not been given an explanation for being arrested? They wouldn’t be able to move on until they found out.

No contact before arrest It seems that the Precopia family had some valid concerns when it came to Christopher’s arrest. Police experts agree that in most cases, investigators should at the very least talk to a suspect before filing charges against them to determine whether or not they have an alibi for the crime in question. Police reports from Christopher’s case show he was contacted, and returned a call to them. He left a message, but no one followed up on it before he was arrested.

Ex-assistant police chief blasts force A former Austin assistant police chief named Bruce Mills seems to agree that the police’s conduct in Christopher’s case was questionable, at best. Talking to the suspect before arresting them may not get the police any new information, he conceded. But what it does is give the boys in blue a chance to see the suspect’s reaction and response. This, he concluded, certainly seemed to be a case where the suspect was available, and reaching out to him for comment would not have been out of line.

Police stays mum Naturally, Christopher and his family or their attorney weren’t exactly impartial in the matter of the police’s conduct, but even former police officials like Mills thought it left a lot to be desired. So how did the force actually respond to this criticism? Well… It didn’t. Temple Police refused to comment on the case’s handling. Bell County’s district attorney, however, preferred to focus on the dropping of the charges, saying, “We are always willing to listen and examine new information, and that’s exactly what we did in this case.”

Why she did it If they weren’t going to get any answers from police, the least the Precopias could hope for is to find out why the accusation was made in the first place. After all, Christopher had not seen or heard from this former girlfriend in years. He had no idea why she’d show up again – and with such an accusation. Some closure was found on this matter, at least. His accuser apparently told police they’d had a “troubled” relationship when they were together, which was why she reported the fictional assault.

A permanent badge of shame? The Precopias’ attorney said the family had no ill will towards the police for following up on the accuser’s allegations, of course – that was their job. And even though the charges were dropped, they were still concerned about how this might affect Christopher and his reputation going forward. While his record will be cleaned, the damage was “kind of done,” he said, adding that nothing is ever completely scrubbed from the internet. Christopher being denied army enlistment was an example of how this might “follow him around forever,” he feared.

Ready to move on As for Christopher himself, more than a year after the affair, he was ready to put it behind him. “I’m ready to live my life, the way I want to,” he said, “without (worrying) this can come back and hurt me.” We can only hope he’ll be successful in doing that. The first positive sign? His application to enlist in the army is being reviewed by someone higher up the chain of command. But just imagine how different things could have turned out if his accuser just picked another date…

Justice at last Just as Christopher seemed to have given up on seeing any actual justice… his accuser had been arrested! The ex-girlfriend, identified as 19-year-old Faith Cox, now faces a charge of a class B misdemeanor for filing a false report. She paid her bond and was released, but if convicted, faces a fine of up to $2,000 or up to 180 days in jail. While it won’t do anything to return Christopher’s good name to him, it will help him rest a little easier at night knowing she’ll get what she deserves.

Still reeling from the ordeal With the allegations against him dismissed and his accuser in custody, you might think Christopher was free to return to his normal life life, completely carefree and happy. That, sadly, has not been the case. For nine whole months, he was forced in to check with a bail bondsman every week, Erin revealed. She, the person who knew him better than anyone else, added that he just wasn’t the same kid he was 18 months ago, and it was breaking her heart.

Night terrors Erin said she thought the affair had affected his “psyche” – and she wasn’t wrong. In a brave interview with local news media, Christopher wasn’t embarrassed to tell the public that he’d been going to sleep crying every night and suffering from night terrors ever since the whole thing began – and it wasn’t getting any better. He found himself breaking down at work, and said he was still facing a daily struggle. He does, however, plan to see a therapist, who’ll hopefully be able to get him to move forward.

Facing people’s judgement It wasn’t just what Christopher was feeling inside, of course. In the same interview, he said he was constantly forced to deal with society’s perception of him in the wake of these accusations. They have all been proven to be false, of course, but the damage has been done – perhaps forever. People tend to side with the women in these situations, he said, and while that’s understandable, he was being judged by everyone he knew for a crime he never committed. The injustice of it all enraged him.

Ex staged it all? Now, after Cox was arrested, more details regarding the original incident are starting to come to light. While there couldn’t be any doubt Christopher wasn’t the one who attacked her, the question remained – who did? It appeared things may have been much darker than they seemed. The Precopias’ attorney believed she had in fact staged it all, including smashing a vase and throwing other household items around, to make it look like a break-in. Even the cut on her chest seemed too clean-cut to have been done during a struggle.

What was next Asked how he felt now he knew his accuser was arrested and could potentially face jail time herself, Christopher couldn’t help but feel gratified. “It’s been a long time coming,” he said, “but this is just the first step.” There was so much more he wanted to do. He was in the final stages of completing his application to join the army, and had plans to start a nonprofit named What About Me? – intended to help people who have been falsely accused and who can’t afford legal defense.

Seeking revenge? Christopher was also confronted with the question of whether he wanted retribution of any sort. He strongly denied the notion, saying he only wanted justice to be brought and for the book to be thrown at Cox. He wanted to see her placed in a situation she had no control over – the same one he was in. “I just want justice,” he stated, which as far as he was concerned would include her serving time behind bars. “I want her to realize the pain she has caused me,” he concluded.

What he would tell his accuser We all sometimes fantasize about confronting people who have wronged us in some way. It feels so cathartic to imagine us giving them a piece of our minds and letting them know exactly how we feel. Perhaps surprisingly, Christopher wasn’t interested in doing any of that. When he was asked what he would’ve told Faith if he ever saw her again, his reply was – nothing. “I’d turn my face and look the other way,” he said. He was finally done with her and ready to move on with his life.

A surprising amount of information We love living in this modern, interconnected world of ours. In Christopher’s particular case, living in this world may have spared him a life sentence. But everything comes at a price. In this instance, the price is a significant sacrifice of our privacy. People are often surprised about how much information their device shares about them, a computer forensic examiner said. When your phone’s location services are turned on, he added, your devices almost constantly records your location. The solution? Simple, just turn them off unless you specifically need them.

The story of the Hurricane One of the more famous stories of a man falsely accused of a crime he didn’t commit was that of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, a successful boxer who was convicted of the slayings of three people. He was given three life sentences, but many doubted he was guilty, including celebrities like Burt Reynolds, citing alleged racial bias by the court. Bob Dylan even wrote a song about him. In 1985, after 19 years in prison, Hurricane was finally freed by a federal judge. Denzel Washington played him in a 1999 biopic.