'I'm not an impaired driver': Mistaken identity causes problems for Kamloops man

Douglas Anderson wants Kamloops, B.C., residents to know he's not that Douglas Anderson.

There are two men in the city with the same name but they have very different reputations.

One man owns the car shop, Magnum Machine, while the other was just sentenced for his eighth drunk-driving conviction.

'How do I do damage control?'

Anderson realized he needed to do something to clarify who he was when he read about the other man's most recent conviction.

"So I'm sitting there and I go oh wow," he said. "How do I do damage control on this?"

He wrote a letter to the local paper explaining that he happens to have the same name as the other Anderson.

"People don't tend to want to do business with someone who is not 100 per cent law abiding," he said.

Confusion led to teasing

The other Douglas Anderson is about the same age and had also owned a business in the past.

"I'm quite well known with my business," said Anderson, adding he's faced some teasing about the mix-up. He hopes his letter will clarify that he's not drinking and driving after he fixes cars.

"The people who don't know me well enough to know I'm not an impaired driver ... I hope they take and attribute my name to our business Magnum Machine — and realize we are trying to be legitimate." 

With files from Daybreak Kamloops