“Disbelief” — That’s the best way to describe what a St. Cloud man says he’s been through. He stood before a judge, facing grand theft charges, but the judge soon found out he was the wrong man. “Alright, Mr. Evans,” Judge Eric DuBois said as he called the next defendant. Eric McCline Evans Jr. stood before that Orange County judge Thursday, facing charges of grand theft and possession of a controlled substance. “I almost jumped out of my skin because I never heard of the charges before, grand theft?” Evans said. After reaching out to the public defender’s office, we learned the following: “Once in Orange County Jail, Mr. Eric McCline Evans was not taken to initial appearance until July 16, 2026,” Melissa Vickers, Ninth Circuit public defender, told WESH 2 News. “At the initial appearance, Judge Eric DuBois took testimony and asked for Mr. Eric McCline Evans to be fingerprinted by the jail staff. The jail staff fingerprinted Mr. Eric McCline Evans and realized he was not the same person as Eric Duane Evans.” DuBois apologized for the mistake and released him. “Alright, Mr. Evans. Let me first apologize to you. I am sorry for whatever mixup happened, but you are not the Eric Evans subject to (the case number).” WESH 2’s Gail Paschall-Brown asked Evans, “Didn’t you tell somebody that this wasn’t right?” “Yeah, I told them it wasn’t right, and there was nothing they could do. The staff was trying to find a resolution,” Evans said. The case involves an Eric Duane Evans, who has a different date of birth and different middle name. Osceola County deputies did arrest this Evans on drugs and trespassing charges back in May, but that case was later dropped. At his Osceola County court appearance on May 19, the public defender’s office told WESH 2 it appears that the assistant state attorney told the court that Evans had two pending cases in Orange County.He was released from the Osceola jail on June 30 and was transported to the Orange County jail on July 1. “I just felt pain every day because I was out of line and I didn’t know how to brace myself for something I didn’t do,” Evans said. “I was in jail 16 days here and 50, 40 days in Osceola County. I cried in here, been locked up before, it’s not a place you want to be. I had to tell them this is not my name on the docket, they didn’t even reference that to me. I had to tell them on the tablet, like, this is wrong, this is the wrong person.” Even his release paperwork reflects the wrong name. “I’m going to do everything I can not to come back, you know? I’m aging, I can’t look back,” he said. The Public Defender’s Office tells us Eric Duane Evans in the case involving the grand theft charge, “has been out of jail and the case is working its way through the criminal justice system. Mr. Eric Duane Evans has not failed to appear nor has he been re-arrested.” On top of all of this, Thursday was Eric McCline Evans Jr.’s birthday. He’s 32. He said he had four job interviews set up before all this happened and just wants to get his life back on track.

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. —

“Disbelief” — That’s the best way to describe what a St. Cloud man says he’s been through.

He stood before a judge, facing grand theft charges, but the judge soon found out he was the wrong man.

“Alright, Mr. Evans,” Judge Eric DuBois said as he called the next defendant.

Eric McCline Evans Jr. stood before that Orange County judge Thursday, facing charges of grand theft and possession of a controlled substance.

“I almost jumped out of my skin because I never heard of the charges before, grand theft?” Evans said.

After reaching out to the public defender’s office, we learned the following:

“Once in Orange County Jail, Mr. Eric McCline Evans was not taken to initial appearance until July 16, 2026,” Melissa Vickers, Ninth Circuit public defender, told WESH 2 News. “At the initial appearance, Judge Eric DuBois took testimony and asked for Mr. Eric McCline Evans to be fingerprinted by the jail staff. The jail staff fingerprinted Mr. Eric McCline Evans and realized he was not the same person as Eric Duane Evans.”

DuBois apologized for the mistake and released him.

“Alright, Mr. Evans. Let me first apologize to you. I am sorry for whatever mixup happened, but you are not the Eric Evans subject to (the case number).”

WESH 2’s Gail Paschall-Brown asked Evans, “Didn’t you tell somebody that this wasn’t right?”

“Yeah, I told them it wasn’t right, and there was nothing they could do. The staff was trying to find a resolution,” Evans said.

The case involves an Eric Duane Evans, who has a different date of birth and different middle name.

Osceola County deputies did arrest this Evans on drugs and trespassing charges back in May, but that case was later dropped.

At his Osceola County court appearance on May 19, the public defender’s office told WESH 2 it appears that the assistant state attorney told the court that Evans had two pending cases in Orange County.

He was released from the Osceola jail on June 30 and was transported to the Orange County jail on July 1.

“I just felt pain every day because I was out of line and I didn’t know how to brace myself for something I didn’t do,” Evans said. “I was in jail 16 days here and 50, 40 days in Osceola County. I cried in here, been locked up before, it’s not a place you want to be. I had to tell them this is not my name on the docket, they didn’t even reference that to me. I had to tell them on the tablet, like, this is wrong, this is the wrong person.”

Even his release paperwork reflects the wrong name.

“I’m going to do everything I can not to come back, you know? I’m aging, I can’t look back,” he said.

The Public Defender’s Office tells us Eric Duane Evans in the case involving the grand theft charge, “has been out of jail and the case is working its way through the criminal justice system. Mr. Eric Duane Evans has not failed to appear nor has he been re-arrested.”

On top of all of this, Thursday was Eric McCline Evans Jr.’s birthday. He’s 32.

He said he had four job interviews set up before all this happened and just wants to get his life back on track.