I have to set the cast of characters here, hopefully to avoid confusion.
MillerMan (my quadriplegic friend)
MMMom (mother of Millerman)
Mike (brother of Millerman)
Mikewife (wife of Mike)
LPN (nurse of Millerman)
Delinquent couple
On June 23rd, Mikewife, who works for a cash lending establishment, heard from her husband that a delinquent customer of hers, with multiple excuses for not paying, was entering a tanning salon that evening. Mikewife immediately calls the home of delinquent person leaving a message, that if they can't afford to make their payment to her, how can they afford tanning sessions and daily golf fees? When delinquent man gets message he immediately calls Millerman and gives him a verbal tongue lashing and diatribe, for which Millerman had no idea of what he was talking about. Millerman hung up on delinquent person and immediately made a police report of harassment. Apparently delinquent person also made calls to Mikewife and gave a verbal tirade also.
On June 28th, the entire clan (9 people) mentioned above (minus delinquent couple) were leaving for a vacation to Ocean City, Maryland - taking 2 vehicles, Millerman's handicapped accessible van and his mother's Chevy. They left as planned around 6 am on that Saturday morning - and at approximately 12:30 pm, both vehicles were pulled over in Howard County (near Baltimore), on the premise of SPEEDING! After some initial small talk, all the passengers (except for Millerman) were told to exit vehicles and produce ID. The officer informed them that they had received an anonymous tip that they were transporting 50 pounds of marijuana from Ohio to Maryland. Mike produced under an ounce of weed that he had for personal use, and unfortunately, his wife had a bag of 20 Vicodin, with no prescription, which Mike claimed as his. He explained that having to lift his brother in and out of chair and into bed, takes its toll on his back and knees, thus he had the Vicodin for pain. This is quite true by the way - Millerman is no small person.
Millerman was left in the van with NO air-conditioning, the lift could not be put all the way down as they were to close to the guardrail. He asked the cops for water and to turn on the air - as he does not sweat and could pass out - the reply was "LATER!" Cops also tried to move van with door and lift partially open, causing more damage.
All the women were strip-searched on the highway with male officers looking on (search done by a female), breasts exposed - very traumatic. Mike's daughter is 14 and has breast prosthetics, which were dumped out of her bra, and no parental consent was given - she is still devastated. In total there were 9 cop vehicles, bear in the air, 2 K-9 units, and nothing else was found. The van was destroyed inside, cops told them they would have to put everything back into van themselves, a complete asshole situation.
Mike and LPN were arrested (LPN had a one-hitter). Mike charged with possession of marijuana and vicodin...LPN charged with marijuana possession and paraphernalia. All charges are misdemeanors - they were held in jail for 7 hours and finally released on their own recognizance. This made for a miserable vacation week. (Court appearances in Maryland are scheduled for Aug. 26th).
MMMom has been a basket case, worrying that her son may face jail time, although local attorneys have assured her that a fine is all that is involved. She can think or talk of nothing else. Granted, I told her that her son Mike was an idiot for having the stuff anyway - but all this is workable. I have no sympathy for the LPN either, they are adults and should have known better.
The story does not end with the arrest and charges though. Apparently while they were in Maryland, phone calls were made to MMMoms place of employment, saying that SHE was arrested in Maryland for marijuana - but stupid caller must have forgotten that she has worked for this employer for 32 years and it is her family as owners. Of course they asked her about the call and an explanation was given - her job is not in jeopardy at all. Calls were also made to Mikewife's employer and the employers landlord - trying to get her fired as well. Needless to say, she has the backing of her employer and the employer's attorneys are getting involved. Mike's sons car had scratches and damage done as well, while they were away.
One would have to understand that Millerman and his family DO NOT have any enemies, so eliminating suspects to all these acts was an easy task. **Note: delinquent person USED to be a good friend of family, till he took advantage and started stealing from them.
Millerman and family returned home on July 5th, and amazingly enough, delinquent person and wife left that day for a vacation to Niagara Falls and NYC - hmmm, can't make payments but can afford vacation - very interesting.
The Sheriff's department was contacted about the harassment and possible vandalism, and made contact with delinquent person to meet with him at the local police department last night. The Sheriff called MMMom and informed her of the meeting and also advised her that delinquent person was VERY HOSTILE! Before scheduled meeting at PD, we were all sitting on the deck, and delinquent person drives by (which he NEVER does), smirky grin and waving, on his way to PD.
One must remember that the Sheriff was questioning him about the harassment, and the fly on the wall told us, that immediately, delinquent person told Sheriff that Mikewife had made arrangements to buy a half pound of weed off his brother the night before their trip and they also gave weed to their son and daughter. WOW!! this delinquent person is a real goof - he narced his brother to the cops and basically inferred he was the anonymous phone caller. Thank God for dumb criminals. Like I told Millerman, the Sheriff was good, he just let delinquent person run his mouth and dig a hole. Papers are supposed to be filed with the Prosecutors office today, in order to obtain some form of restraining order.
After the scheduled court date in Maryland, MMMom and Millerman have been advised by Federal Judge (friend) to file a claim for civil rights violations by the Maryland officers. ** Strip searching on a highway in the open (breasts exposed), no parental consent for search of minors, jeopardizing a quadriplegic's health (they also opened all his sterile supplies and left strewn on highway) and other charges.
And to me - the best of all!! NO SPEEDING TICKETS WERE ISSUED! (I am not buying that that is allowed for PROBABLE CAUSE.)
I doubt that this situation is over by a long shot, but at least they are taking the proper legal steps and not doing anything rash. Amazing how much damage can be caused by ANONYMOUS PHONE TIPS! I am sure there are incidents of good handled by anonymous tips, but this goes beyond the scope.
Thanks for listening - it has been bothering me since this all started and we will see how it progresses.
