So I just got home from jail. I came home yesterday around 11pm and counted my money I have tucked away "rat hole money" and $100 is missing, I thoroughly counted it and checked it with my record book I keep updated daily.

I had a problem with 50 bucks missing 2 weeks ago, and it turned out to be my cousin who is staying with me (my aunt, her 3 kids, 2 boys 19 and 18, and a girl 14) stole it, he admitted to doing it. He payed me back all was well he apologized etc......

So from there an argument ensued and just got heated to the point of yelling back and forth, no physical contact what-so-ever, I mentioned "I just wanna beat your a#$ right now, just leave." Well, about 2 hours after this argument the police show up at my door saying I threatened my cousin with a knife. The officer's let me give my side of the story and I was 100% honest with them as I had nothing to hide, well they decided that I should be charged with Misdemeanor Assault and off to jail I go. (I have my mom and father as witnesses to the whole argument as they were in the room while it all went down, my parents even stated to the officer that I had no such object in my hand nor on my person at the time) Prior to the police showing up to my door.....my cousin's brother who was at my Grandma's house during all of this sent text messages and left a voicemail stating "You mother#$%^#@, When I come over there tomorrow I'm GOING to KILL you, you piece of sh%^" I let the officer hear the message and read the texts but he won't do anything about it. He just stated that he will document it in the report.

Any tips opinions advice etc on this whole ordeal? BTW My dad has decided that tomorrow after he gets home from work (i feel bad because he is only getting 1 hour of sleep b/c of this) all their stuff is going to the curb for them to pick up. This is the second time in 2 weeks we've had a problem like this with them and he said "I'm done, they're out"

I just wanna get in my OLDS and drive!!!!!!!!!

-Brandon

 

First of all legally, stating that you "Want to beat someones ***" is merely an explicit expressive opinion which cannot be considered as assault. If you were to say, I will or Im going to, that IS legally assault. Considering the circumstances and the fact that your tenants were stealing from you, the colorful display of anger (WHICH as we said is is nothing more than opinion, and although not very happy and possibly hateful even the supreme court ruled that hate is a human right to express freely under the freedom to speak so long as it is not actually threatening a person) should be easy to justify in court if it goes that far. The fact that the same group of people who are charging you are also legitimately threatening your life should also help. As far as the police go that can be tricky depending on who much the cops care and how well you can make them care. You might have to call them back up or go down the the sheriffs office and actively (BUT UBER CALMLY, Cops like logical cool cucumbers) tell them that they failed to handle something that involved your immediate safety and that its not cool and that you would like to either have it handled or make a complaint. Thats a big ball to drop for a police station. The fact that you had evidence and they didnt even handle it doesnt matter if the man put it in his report, it should be taken as a completely different situation and dealt with leading to the arrest and charging of the brother or at least his immediate removal from your property. Problem is these situations arent so set in stone to fix, so get your ducks in a row, dont do anything but try to keep the peace even if others to try to start fights and trouble, first sign of aggression call the cops, keep your voicemail and texts, talk to the sheriff about the lack of policework definitely (not the same officers the sheriff, let him know his boys didnt do their work) and prepare levelheaded for an interesting day at court. The fact that the situation wasnt handled properly by the arresting officers should be enough to have all charges dropped but no one can say for sure how it will actually go down :/ This is what we call a bad day my friend, I feel for you. I hate jerks like that >:/

 

Thanks for the kind and long-winded words BACCHUS!

I have to be at court 1:30pm today it's 4:30am worked all day and now just gonna go get coffee in the delta and inhale the fumes of racing fuel in the morning (okay so it's just premium gasoline i can pretend a bit can't i?)

It's just disgruntling to say the least that I have family who is like this towards their family who is taking them in while they get back on their feet..... =/

 

Yeah sorry about that, just woke up its 4:30 in the morning, cant even think to put words together atm. Can't go for quality go for quantity right?? But still I agree thats a serious bummer :/ But remember it's like I always say, family aint got nuthin' to do with blood

 

and i apologize this should be posted in the clubhouse section......

 

Bacchus has great words of wisdom there.
Calling police is a break in obligated loyalty from a "Family" member that loses all honor.
With that being said, I'd handle it the wrong way.......so I cant' recommend that.

MY ADVICE would be to talk to your mother, and tell her you're thinking about a restraining order.
If you have the voicemail, you have EVERYTHING you need to get him out of your house and on the street.
YOu have the advantage if you kept that voicemail. That's a "You burned your bridges" moment for me.

2nd Advice - Buy a safe or use a bank.

 

Thats gratitude for you, give people a roof over their heads and this is what they do, Throw their asses out! I throughly believe in Karma as it will catch up with them. Sound like very unappriative people. Good Luck.

 

If you are unable to trust people living in your home due to whatever circumstances, even if they are family they need to go. Put 'em out and get a restraining order and/or a peace bond on the whole crew. You need that in case they come back and break in to get your stashed money- and sounds like at least one of them isn't above doing that. You also have to worry about people they know and may have talked to- that happened to me several years back. The kid I knew didn't break in, but his buddy did and went straight for the change jar- that was all that was missing.

Aces is right. When he left that message and sent threatening texts, he burned his bridges especially considering if y'all hadn't taken them in his *** would likely be on the street.

Honest to god you can't be kind to anybody that they won't try to screw you over.

 

love this forum! got to court and the bailiff asked my name, then said " you are not being charged at this time" I have the VM and Texts saved and will be speaking with my lawyer. I also have a restraining order and a shiny new safe which is getting bolted to the concrete floor. thank you guys again!
-brandon ..
Sent from my LG Viper

 

Late to the party Brandon

I don't think anyone of us would have reacted any different than you did. Too bad that part of the extended family sucks slew water. If you look under my avatar you'll see I'm not from the USA, but I'm curious about something. Does a misdemeanor assault (provoked) mean you now have a criminal record? From where I sit it sounds like you're guilty until proven innocent. I'd certainly appeal that in court! Sounds like some law enforcement could use some retraining in their listening skills especially since you had eyewitnesses who corroborated your story.

FWIW? I totally support your position and hope for a positive outcome.

 

You don't have a criminal record unless you are found guilty by a judge.
(In this case, there were no charges, as the District Attorney read the police reports and saw there was no crime committed).

However, you do have an arrest record if you've ever got far enough to have your picture and prints taken.

Your arrest record cannot be discovered by the normal searches, but since your picture and prints are "in the system," you can be subject to false identification and association with crimes you didn't commit later on (both fingerprinting and eyewitness identification are well known to be less than 100% reliable).

- Eric

 

Thx Eric. Sounds a lot like Canada.

 

Sadly, you cannot just put his stuff outside unless he agrees to it, and you must have written proof of this. You put his stuff outside and it gets damaged or stolen, guess who is responsible.

"Protection from abuse" orders (that's what they are called in PA) is a good thing. Get that and even if he knocks on your door, call the cops

 

Also, remember that there is an important legal difference between guests and tenants.

If you decide your guests have stayed too long, you can throw them out.

Tenants are protected by state and local housing laws, including anti-discrimination laws, and generally need to be given a significant amount of notice (which they can challenge in court) before being required to leave.

If your guests have ever given you anything in return for staying there, then they are tenants, and cannot just be thrown out.

Moral of the story: Be careful what you say. DO NOT in any way allow it to seem as though they are anything other than your guests whom you have been putting up out of the goodness of your heart. If they've been washing the dishes, or buying groceries, they have NOT been doing it because it's part of the deal, they've been doing it because they wanted to do it to be nice to you.

- Eric

 

Good advice Eric. If they are tenants, depending on the laws in your state, you will probably have to give them a 30 day notice to vacate the premises. You can't just "kick them out."

 

Also, to emphasize, depending on the jurisdiction, the anti-housing-discrimination part could come into play. If they are tenants, and one of the people is pregnant, or has a small child, or is of a different race than you are, then they can accuse you of evicting them in a discriminatory manner, and tie it up, potentially, for years.

- Eric

 

One way around all of it is to move out of your parent's house and get a place of your own. Then don't invite any of those family members over and you won't have to worry about it anymore

You can also put your money in a bank and then the only way for them to get it would be a felony

 

they're out for good by legal standpoint, 2 officers were on the scene of the move out session and it was all smooth. I'm glad it's over and my parents are taking legal action in the AM. thanks again guys.

 

I told you the restraining order would do the work for you.
Unfortunately I have an Aunt with an abusive cousin, so I'm familiar with this process.

Paper trails are THE MOST important aspect of getting these things taken care of.
YOU have to start the paper trail, because if they did......you'd be screwed.

Glad to see you got the LE on site to oversee the departure.
This ensures your cousin's know their faces have been seen, and they're on the radar.
It also ensures your safety from backlash of lies.

You're thinking of a normal landlord / tenant situation.
This isn't that kind of scenario.

Restraining orders change that. Hence why I recommended it.
This is how wive's force their abusive husbands OUT of their own homes.
This is how parents can throw their deadbeat kids out too.
Look it up......happens daily.

HAH!!! If that ever happened to me, God help them.

 

yeah, they were not paying any rent nor A SINGLE bill. we had every right to put them out legally. I pay my dad 400 bucks a month to stay here plus I buy my own food. I also do chores around the house to lighten their load a bit. This is a grown woman who's getting 2600/month disability (she had foot surgery and now cant walk or whatever so she says) with 3 teenage kids and she had the nerve to tell my mom after they saw their stuff being put outside that "we are staying here," I don't know where they got their info but they were sadly misinformed and the whole situation was handled pretty well I think. If they return to our property they are trespassing according to the LE on site. It's just an unfortunate event and I can only look forward to bigger and better things - I won't let something like this get me down. This really makes me want to dedicate my time to changing people's hate and greed and loathing into something positive and productive and beneficial to them and their environment. I'm going to stop before this gets all too political.

 

No I'm not.

I don't need to - I've lived it.

Question #1 from the PO [Police Officer]: "Do they pay rent or give you anything in return for staying here?"

Do NOT get me started on disability dirtbags.

There is no lower form of worm. And WE are all paying to keep them stocked up on Percocet. Sickening.

- Eric

 

Difference in jurisdictions Eric- what may be protocol in ME may be different in IL. I know that living on the border in a Commonwealth state, things are often way different from what goes on right next door in NC.

 

It's no different in Illonois. I have had rental peoprty there, Kentucky and Florida. All 3 states have laws reguarding things like this. More so this very thing is considered a civil matter and the LE who forced them to leave was a alittle above his jurisdiction. About the ONLY thing he could legally done was asked them to leave for the night if a disturbance was going on. That is about it. If they have mail going to that house they would legally need to be evicted through the civil courts. If there was any sort of verbal or paper agreement that said "Stay until you get back on your feet" even verbal they have a right to stay and no LE can make them move out. That is for a civil court judge to decide (small claims eviction court). LE are not even supposed to get involved with this unless there is a court order, or a disturbance and like stated above, they can only be asked to leave to calm the disturbance.

Granted, it sounds slike your Aunt needed to go and in no way am I taking up for her or your cousins actions. I just seem this bit of info reguarding LE making them leave and you thinking they would have to just because you want them to. Had your Aunt had even the slightest bit of law knowledge she could have told you and that LE "No, i'm not leaving I live here I have mail here, he needs to evict me" she would still be there. As far as I know thats pretty much standard law in almost EVERY state and it's in place to keep the right people protected. Lease or not, if they live in a house they have rights be it from a landlord or a family member.

Glad it all worked out for the best, and you guys had some luck on your side. I have dealt with this before in Indiana and Chicago with famly members so I have had a little history in this crap. Had to kick my own cousin out as well and I went through this very thing. Chicago PD wouldn't even get involved or ask him to leave or anything. This is what they told me that in Illinois it's a civil matter for a civil court judge to decide and that I needed to file and evicition. I had to leagally notify my Cousin by paper 5 days prior and ask him to leave, I then could go to the Daley center and file for an eviction. This is only if there is no lease and it's verbal. In Ill if they have a lease it's a whole other ball of wax.

Like I said, damn glad you were able to get what sounds like a real bad situation out of the house. Had they fought it, I am sad to say they would still be living in that house. Now, if he was able to get a restraining order against the cousin I dont know how that would work on making them leave but I know the aunt wouldnt have had to.