LilRick

Sorry for the long post but this really pisses me off and I'd like to know what you guys think. I hope ya'll are like me and have plenty of free time on your hands.

I get a call about two days ago from a friend. He say's "Hey man, I just wanted to call and tell you that my friends house got robbed. They caught one guy with some stolen merchandise from the house. There were also two other people accused of helping rob the house. I heard your name (ME) mentioned in the discussion. You might want to call and see if there is a warrant out for your arrest. I know you personally and I know this isn't something you would do."

So I thank him for the heads up, and go on about my day, not taking this very seriously because its probabley just hear-say, and I KNOW I haven't been anywhere near that house, nor have I been in any contact with the people already arrested and proven guilty of this crime.

The next day I get to work and jokingly tell some co-workers about the call I got. We all get a good laugh out of it, as everyone knows I was at work when the crime happened. So I have people to vouch for me not being at the seen of the crime. More of a reason for me not to worry.

At 12:05, right as I'm about to walk out the door for lunch, two sherriffs walk in with my boss and tell me they have 8, count them, EIGHT, warrants out for my arrest!!! The sherriff didn't show me any warrant, I didn't ask for one, I just wanted to go down town, answer some questions and get this straightened out, because I know I'm not guilty and there's no way they can have any evidence showing I broke into any house or car or anything.

So I politeley get into the patrol car and ride downtown. When we arrive at the station I am then asked to remove everything from my pockets. I'm searched, and then i'm BOOKED!!! I get escorted to a little room, I'm read my rights and then told I was arrested on 8 counts of house burglary, and something about auto burglary.

On a side note; here's a little comic releif I found amidst all the nervousness of going to jail and having to shower in a group and not see my friends and family, and lose pretty much everything in my life I've worked for. ( for example, my career and my relationship among all my friends and family) When I first sat down at the desk, the sherriff sets this envelope to the side in plain view for me to see. On top it says: SUSPECTS FINGERPRINTS FOUND AT CRIMESCENE!....................ha ha ha, I mean come on!! How stupid do I look? I do have a television and I've seen a few cop movies. It might as well have said "Ricky! Trust us, we have proof that you did it, so go ahead and admit it!!" I'll give them an A for effort though. Nice try..

Anyway, back to the going to jail part. They go on to tell me that they arrested my two "friends" that I helped in the burglary. One of them I did know. Let me explain. I graduated with him about 5 or 6 years ago. I saw him a few times around town after graduation but we never hung out, or spoke more than 5 minutes. The last time I saw him was 2 years ago. He was working at his dad's place of business and I stopped by to pick up some parts. I said hey, and that was it. Now I'm being arrested because "he's my running buddy, and I helped him break into several houses." Way to do your homework there "Greenville's finest"!! Yeah I understand there's this thing called just doing your job, but there's also this thing called "EVIDENCE"!!

I don't even know the other guy, but the police go on to TELL me how I'm friends with him. Everytime I deny knowing the convicted suspects, and deny breakin into any of the 6 houses, they all shake their heads and snicker. I'm not a goddamn thief, or a goddamn criminal, don't judge me until you know the ******* truth. This **** goes on for about 45 minutes until finally they bring the guy that accused me by the door. He peaks in the door and say's "thats not the guy. But it was a Ricky Cooper". There's two Ricky Cooper's I know of. Me and my dad, and I promise you, arresting him will not be this easy.

So then another cop comes in and say's " you can look at a thief and tell if they're a thief. He's not a thief." BULLSHIT!! 45 minutes ago every ****** one of you were lookin at me knowing I was guilty and that I was a thief, but now all of a sudden you know I'm not?? Where the **** were you an hour ago when I was being arrested at work in front of all my co-workers/friends? What a crock of ****. So then he say's "he's not the guy" so they finally let me go, gave me my stuff back, and drive me back to work like nothing ever happened.

So! What do I do? Lets stop to reflect on what has happened here. How many of my friends neighbors, co-workers, etc., the ones that think of me as a good guy, someone who would never do anything like this, how many of them have heard that I went to jail for robbing a house? The owner of the house is thinking I did it. Hell, the "cops" told him I did, Why would they lie? What about my job? Do the people I work for know that I'm not stealing from them? What If I lose my job? Not directly related to me going to jail but, what if they start writing me up for every morning that I'm 2 minutes late or fire me for some little bullshit, just because they need a reason to fire me because they can't trust me anymore. How far is this going to go? For an hour in my mind I'm trying to settle my self with the thought that I might end up in jail, might not get to see my friends and family for a while, might just have my life seriously altered from what I had planned. I'M MENTALLY ******* BREAKING DOWN!!, and all you can say is "oops, wrong guy."??

But what can I do? What should I do? Some people say "get a lawyer, sue the **** out of them!" How far would that go in court? In all honesty I'm just glad I didn't go to jail. But does it stop here? Right now its just a pebble tossed into a pond but are the ripples gonna scare off any future friends/customers. I look forward to being a well known, trusted guy that people bring there cars to when they have a problem, but who the hell is going to bring their car to the guy that might rob you blind? Word of mouth is how you become "known"! It's how people in another state find out your a great land cruiser mechanic, It's how people find out your a good friend that you can trust, It's how people exceed and become more than just average, and apparently it's how people end up in jail for something they didn't do.

trever1t

iTrader: (14)

Were you arrested? Did they read you the Miranda (your rights) or were you just questioned.
If arrested, and wrongly so, I would find a good laywer and sue the **** out of them. If only questioned there's no recourse.

LilRick

When they sat me down in the little room, i was read my rights and had to sign a piece of paper saying that I understood them. I got the whole everything you say and do can and will be used against you in a cout of law, but I wasn't read them until I got there. But he asked me to get into the car with him, he didnt take me and put me in the car. I did it willingly, hell I thought I'd just say I was at work, ask my boss, and then thats it, answer a few questions and then they'll bring me back. WRONG!!

slowprocess

iTrader: (9)

Check your myspace for the answer I gave you.........

LilRick

ha ha, you should've said on myspace "check PT for the answer I gave you." Thats some funny duke boy ****.

ByuTrukr

Sue em and then make sure there isn't an arrest on your record

SSlow 4.8

iTrader: (4)

ya... making sure this doesnt go on your record is a BIG DEAL... also like a few months from now, check on this again.

ya its bullshit about you getting aressted, but in court they would say there was reasonable evidence that you were even considered. Now, the Only thing they did wrong was, they should have let the thieves identify the suspect(you) and that would have saved everyone a lot of time... so unless you have a lawyer that thinks he is postitive he can make a case out of that, than i wouldnt pursue it and just keep this one as a story for your grandchildren, lol

but what i dont get is, you have how many alibis? like your whole damn work place? why didnt they take that into account? sounds like the greenville police are watching too much law and order and wanted to be big dogs... sorry to hear what you went through... if you have a lawyer, might want to talk to him about this. I know some lawyers will charge for you to even talk to them, mine is alright with that, i can call him for legal advice all the time, idk if you have someone to talk to like that or not

dirt track racer 81

iTrader: (45)

ive delt with the legal system and a its a big corrupted system, dont even waste your time or your money with this, ive been fighting a problem for two years now that had my cousin nearly killed, no breathing of no pulse for over a minute, all they did to the guy was give him 2 years probation, no charges of attepted murder "because he didnt mean to", unless you can find a damn good lawyer and have alot of money and plan on getting a lot of money, its alot of stress also..by the way my buddy that is a cop said they dont have to tell you your rights at the scene of being arrested

BradS

Congratulations on loosing your virginity 1st of all.


















Now on to the serious **** --- if you were arrested it will stay on your record a while. I was arrested in 89 and I know in 97 it was still on my record as an arrest even though all charges were "dropped". Make sure its not on your record. You can go to the courthouse and get a copy of your "rap sheet"

95ImpSS

iTrader: (2)

Get an attorney to get the arrest purged. Otherwise, it will show up every time someone runs an inquiry on you. If you OWN a car, and get pulled over, you'll get labeled before the officer sets foot outside of the cruiser. Worth the lawyer fees.

Good luck!