Minister, mistaken for fugitive, gets new SUV

Christian Century, Nov 7, 2001

A United Methodist minister in New Jersey is getting a new sports utility vehicle after he was grilled for a few hours by the FBI. Jack Copas of the Totowa United Methodist Church in Paramus was interrogated because he had been mistaken by an employee of a Honda dealership for Eric Rosser, a child-porn suspect featured on Fox TV's America's Most Wanted.

Ironically, Copas, 47, has traveled to Thailand several times for a ministry that battles child pornography and child slavery. His detention for questioning occurred last spring. In August, Rosser was arrested in Thailand and could face up to 20 years in prison, said the Associated Press.

Copas told the Record, a Tea-neck-based newspaper, that he had considered suing the FBI, the dealership and Fox TV. But recognizing that Copas had suffered "obvious embarrassment, upset, concern and shock," the dealership said it plans to give the minister a Honda SUV as a goodwill gesture. "I'm in the business of forgiving and forgetting," Copas told the newspaper. "This is a big vehicle that will come in very handy transporting all the donations we get at our food pantry."