What Goes Around Comes Around
A while ago I was arrested at work in front of my boss and co-workers. It was the most humiliating thing I’ve ever experienced. I later learned at the station that I was being charged with multiple felonies. This came as a huge surprise.
Luckily I was able to keep my wits and lawyer up instead of speaking with the detective. For $13,000, which completely wiped my savings, I was able to retain a defense attorney.
It cost me everything and I was unable to pay my bond. This resulted in me staying in the slammer a total of 54 days. At a status hearing, my attorney presented video evidence of me gassing up my car three hours away from where the incidents took place and I ended up having all my charges dismissed.
When I finally got out, I came to some horrific realizations. I learned that I had lost my job, was in the process of being evicted, and my son was in the state’s care. His mother is an addict and I haven’t spoken to my own parents in nearly 15 years.
They wouldn’t let him go to my girlfriend because they didn’t consider her family. Since my release, I’ve learned that I can’t sue the government and no one cares that I was locked up for 54 days because the detective did poor investigation work.
I’ve gone to the local press about this and was told that what happened to me happens quite a bit. They took down my info but never followed up. So what I did was create a website sharing my story. I also uploaded the official report and some other documents from the discovery.
Literally, the only reason why they took me in was that an eyewitness said they saw me. If the detective had done his job, he could have verified that I wasn’t even in town on the day the incident took place.
This is what ticks me off the most. My life was ruined because of a lazy employee. I’m writing this now because my website is now ranked #2 on the first page of search results when you type in my town’s name.
I live in a touristy town and we attract a lot of visitors over the summer. My web traffic has more than quadrupled, and apparently, it’s gotten someone high up’s attention.
I received a cease and desist letter recently, which I showed to my attorney. He said sharing my experience online isn’t wrong and that everything I had stated was a fact or my own opinion, protecting me from a defamation lawsuit. Then I got quite the surprise.
Yesterday I received a visit from two officers and the detective who detained me. He apologized, stating “mistakes can happen.” They then talked to me about my website and asked if I could remove it. I said I would delete it on the condition that the detective leave his job and never do work in that field again.
Suffice to say, that isn’t happening. After the visit I received, I’m more angry that the only reason the detective apologized to me was to get me to take down my website. I don’t plan to and the only one supporting this is my girlfriend.
My friends think I’m being spiteful, and have suggested that I just delete it. Story credit: Reddit / AnonymousMeese