Losing your car to police is frustrating. There’s no sugarcoating that. Whether it’s tied up in a case, impounded after a stop, or sitting in a lot while paperwork piles up, it’s a headache that tends to bring out the worst in people. Most folks grumble, call a lawyer, or just wait it out. One Boynton Beach man, however, decided to pick up the phone and do something considerably less productive.
Anthony Terrence Denson III is now facing a felony charge after police say he repeatedly called law enforcement dispatch to threaten the officer responsible for seizing his vehicle. The arrest report says the original car seizure happened in May during a traffic stop connected to a prior case. That’s already not a great start to the summer.
By June 11th, Denson apparently had enough of waiting and started dialing. Investigators say he made several threatening statements toward the officer during those calls, and then kept calling back. Multiple times. It’s the kind of decision that makes sense to exactly no one outside of that moment.
Authorities confirmed the phone number used in the calls traced directly back to Denson, and recordings of those conversations were collected as evidence. That detail is worth sitting with for a second: recorded threats, from your own phone number, directed at a named officer. It’s not exactly a hard case to build.
What He Was Charged With
Denson is charged with threats or extortion, which is a felony under Florida law. He’s currently being held in the Palm Beach County jail.
The original car seizure, whatever its circumstances, is now the least of his legal concerns.
Why This Never Works Out
It bears repeating, because this is not the first time something like this has happened and certainly won’t be the last: calling police dispatch to threaten the officer who took your car does not get your car back. It gets you a felony charge, a jail cell, and a much longer wait before you see that vehicle again, if you see it at all.
There are legitimate avenues for contesting a vehicle seizure. Attorneys exist for exactly this purpose. Courts have processes. None of those options involve a phone and a threat.
The Takeaway for the Rest of Us
Car seizures are genuinely complicated and can feel deeply unfair, especially when they’re tied to cases that haven’t been resolved. That frustration is understandable. Acting on it the way Denson allegedly did just compounds every problem already on the table.
In this case, a man who started the summer without his car is now spending part of it in county jail with a felony on his record. Whatever the original traffic stop involved, the chapter that followed was entirely self-authored.