HOUSTON, Dec. 15 (UPI) — The owner of a Texas-based plumbing company has filed a $1 million lawsuit against a Ford dealership after his work pickup truck was photographed being used Islamic extremists in Syria’s civil war.
Mark Oberholtzer, owner of Mark-1 Plumbing, said he received thousands of angry and threatening phone calls after the truck he sold to AutoNation Ford in Houston wound up in Syria with an anti-aircraft gun in the cargo bed. He said the death threats would have never happened if AutoNation had removed the decal on the truck that featured his company’s name and phone number.
A tweet on Dec. 15, 2014, said the truck was being used by the extremist group Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar. Images of the truck, with the company name and phone number clearly emblazoned on the side, wound up on the final broadcast of the Colbert Report that had 2.5 million viewers.
Chechen Jaish al Muhajireen wal Ansar using plumbing truck against regime in #Aleppo pic.twitter.com/QQwJuIfV7F— Caleb Weiss (@Weissenberg7) December 15, 2014
“By the end of the day, Mark-1’s office, Mark-1’s business phone, and Mark’s personal cell had received over 1,000 phone calls from around the nation,” Oberholzer’s lawyer said in the lawsuit. “These phone calls were in large part harassing and contained countless threats of violence, property harm, injury and even death.”
Oberholtzer said the threats were so severe employees refused to go to work, he and his family left town for nine days in fear of their safety and he bought a handgun for protection.
He said he was interviewed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigations because the truck wound up in the hands of extremists. After the Colbert Report aired on Dec. 18, 2014, the harassing and threatening phone calls continued for about three weeks.
“Nearly one year has passed since the initial news story broke and [Oberholtzer] still receive[s] harassing phone calls and threats to this day,” the lawsuit said.
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