Any Lawyers in the house?

[jwenthold99]

Ok, Stressful afternoon, story is as follows:

My wife was recently looking to purchase a Yamaha electric violin. The store she initially went to changed what was required for financing several times. So she went elsewhere and put a deposit on the violin to have it ordered. This was on 3-15-09.( and we have a receipt for the deposit) On 3-18-09 the violin that was at the store she first went to was apparently stolen late in the evening. The Glendale Wi police showed up at my door today accusing me! of stealing the violin. When my wife was there several days before the theft, she had bought a couple of items. They used this information to do a google search, found our families blog, and found a picture of me which they apparently showed to the store employees. They printouts from the store security camera with them showing a male with blond hair holding the violin with the time stamp.. etc.

The last time I was in that store was in Jan. of '07 when I bought a guitar. I have not been back since. The whole situation is simply absurd to me. The threatened to arrest me on the spot if I didn't admit to taking the violin, and now they want me to stop by the station tomorrow to be photographed etc...

The person in the security footage looks nothing like me, but both officers seemed dead set on convicting me on the spot. I am really confused as what to next as I have never had as much as a speeding ticket. The whole thing is absurd.

What the heck do I do?

 

[Adam]

Woah. I'm not a lawyer, but I just wanted to offer my best wishes to you on this. It doesn't sound like they have a leg to stand on.

 

[markw]

And Dylan says, "you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows".

I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV but my spidey-sense tells me you should look locally for a lawyer. ...fast! Ask him if you can sue them for harrassment and/or false arrest.

With that in mind, I certainly wouldn't go to the station. I'd tell them to either arrest me or get off my case.

...but that's easy for me to say.

 

[jwenthold99]

Thanks... The whole thing is just so ridiculous the thought of spending money for lawyer pains me... It was literally like barney fife on steroids...

 

[dronezero]

I'm not a lawyer either, but I would definitely not go into the station. Also do not answer any more of their questions. I would not say a word to them, other than telling them that you are not answering any more questions.

Here is a good video explaining why you shouldn't talk to cops if you are a suspect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8z7NC5sgik

 

[jamie2112]

Do not go to the station. Call and get a free consultation and see what the lawyer says. I would find out about a lawsuit on the store as well.There are plenty o lawyers that would tell you on the phone if you have a case or not...Do not get photographed and don't talk to the police again. I would talk to a lawyer tomorrow though......they have no right making you come in and be photographed. Either charge me or F-off is what I would say bluntly. And then be ready for a lawsuit I would also tell them........IMO of course.....it sounds wwwaayyy too shady to me(not you ,what the store and cops are doing)....best of luck.

 

[Alex2507]

Just admit you did it and do your time.
In jail the food's not that good but the sex is okay once you learn to relax.

I'm no lawyer either. I'm with the guys who say not to cooperate on this one. These cops want to convict you without proving you did it. Be very careful and good luck.

 

[adwilk]

Also not a lawyer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...

Yeah, definitely dont go to the station. They cant make you unless they arrest you.

Seriously though, good luck with this whole ordeal.. that sounds awful. Let us know what happens....

 

[mike c]

so basically, they have ZERO evidence you stole the violin.

even IF they say that you were in the security camera holding the violin, that doesn't mean you stole it.

i say, let them arrest you (if they want), then cash in. (of course, that's assuming your jails are nicer than ours)

 

[the grunt]

I’m not a lawyer either but I was a retail security manager in Madison. As others have said say nothing more about the matter to the police. Even though you are innocent, as jamie 2112 and others have said contact a lawyer, you can probably get free advice that’s appropriate to your jurisdiction. Getting legal help immediately will nip this in the bud which is what you want’

Unless someone observed you leaving the store with the item or they can prove exclusive opportunity (i.e. you had it with you while you walked out of sight, the item disappeared and you left the store and the item was nowhere to be found and you could not possibly have given it to someone else, it‘s a stretch but I‘ve made it work but only when I caught the person with possession of the item later). So as was said above they don’t have a leg to stand on.

FYI here is the Wisconsin retail theft statute:

Wisconsin

It’s pretty tough to sue a retailer or the police in Wisconsin if they are acting in good faith but that will all depend on what was said and/or done by various parties. So far no one has detained you so based on that and the limited info you have it doesn’t sound like either the police or the store have crossed the line but a local lawyer is the way to go on this.

Good luck and keep us posted on how things go.

Cheers,
Dean

 

[jwenthold99]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, even though you are not lawyers

I did speak to a lawyer tonight, and had the same advice as all of you.
I will be talking to another lawyer in the morning, and go from there.

After thinking about for a few hours and going from pretty freaked out to really pissed off, there are a LOT of weird things about this.

They basically ended up with me because my wife looked at the violin and bought something at the store. They got her name off the receipt, did a google search, found my picture and though "he's a white guy like the guy on the security camera" and came to "question" me at my home, on a Sunday afternoon. AND they were out of their jurisdiction as well. They were from Glendale, I live in Milwaukee. They were rude and belligerent, basically playing good cop bad cop, and repeatedly accused me of taking it, and that it would be so much easier if I just admitted it blah blah blah. I am now wishing I would have known where it was going when they first showed up because I wouldn't have said a word to them. And then they threatened to arrest me, which they couldn't do, because of jurisdiction.

So, I like jamies idea, and that will be there message in the morning.

Once again, thanks for hearing me out, and responding... I have never even been pulled over for speeding, so this was a little nuts for me!

I will keep you all posted on what (if anything) happens next.

P.S. Oh yeah, I haven't even been in the store since January of 2007, when I bought a guitar. A day I will never forget because we found out we were expecting our daughter! (and I will never be going to that store again)

 

[jwenthold99]

Oh, and alex, you make it all sound ok if I do get railroaded!

Thanks for the smile!

 

[craigsub]

Ok, Stressful afternoon, story is as follows:

My wife was recently looking to purchase a Yamaha electric violin. The store she initially went to changed what was required for financing several times. So she went elsewhere and put a deposit on the violin to have it ordered. This was on 3-15-09.( and we have a receipt for the deposit) On 3-18-09 the violin that was at the store she first went to was apparently stolen late in the evening. The Glendale Wi police showed up at my door today accusing me! of stealing the violin. When my wife was there several days before the theft, she had bought a couple of items. They used this information to do a google search, found our families blog, and found a picture of me which they apparently showed to the store employees. They printouts from the store security camera with them showing a male with blond hair holding the violin with the time stamp.. etc.

The last time I was in that store was in Jan. of '07 when I bought a guitar. I have not been back since. The whole situation is simply absurd to me. The threatened to arrest me on the spot if I didn't admit to taking the violin, and now they want me to stop by the station tomorrow to be photographed etc...

The person in the security footage looks nothing like me, but both officers seemed dead set on convicting me on the spot. I am really confused as what to next as I have never had as much as a speeding ticket. The whole thing is absurd.

What the heck do I do?

Let's call store number 1 "Acme".

The police in this case have to be taking their marching orders from ACME, who wants to press charges against you.

Call a good local defense attorney, and have this individual contact the store's attorney.

The basic conversation from your attorney to ACME's attorney should be to describe what happened (as you posted here). Your attorney should demand an apology letter, a release from any further attempt to pursue you, and payment of all attorney fees you incur.

Your attorney should also make it clear that for now, you are seeking no further damages.

However.

If they still elect to go after you, all gloves will be off, and you will seek damages. LOTS of damages.

 

[highfigh]

Ok, Stressful afternoon, story is as follows:

My wife was recently looking to purchase a Yamaha electric violin. The store she initially went to changed what was required for financing several times. So she went elsewhere and put a deposit on the violin to have it ordered. This was on 3-15-09.( and we have a receipt for the deposit) On 3-18-09 the violin that was at the store she first went to was apparently stolen late in the evening. The Glendale Wi police showed up at my door today accusing me! of stealing the violin. When my wife was there several days before the theft, she had bought a couple of items. They used this information to do a google search, found our families blog, and found a picture of me which they apparently showed to the store employees. They printouts from the store security camera with them showing a male with blond hair holding the violin with the time stamp.. etc.

The last time I was in that store was in Jan. of '07 when I bought a guitar. I have not been back since. The whole situation is simply absurd to me. The threatened to arrest me on the spot if I didn't admit to taking the violin, and now they want me to stop by the station tomorrow to be photographed etc...

The person in the security footage looks nothing like me, but both officers seemed dead set on convicting me on the spot. I am really confused as what to next as I have never had as much as a speeding ticket. The whole thing is absurd.

What the heck do I do?

Call the PD and ask to talk to the chief- he's a very reasonable guy. Make sure you have the names and badge numbers of the officers and get a copy of their reports. As mentioned, don't go to the station and if you call, use *67 to block your phone number. If your cell phone won't work with this, use a land line.

Also, call the store and get in the manager's face. I'll be talking to the store owner's brother in a couple of hours and I'll mention this situation to him.

 

[Swerd]

jwenthold99

It sounds like you've already talked to a lawyer, but if you need to talk to more, try this. In most towns, the local bar association operates a free lawyer referral service. I did a quick google search of "lawyer referral Milwaukee" and found this:

http://www.milwbar.org/legalresources/lris.htm

Good luck.

 

[highfigh]

Unless someone observed you leaving the store with the item or they can prove exclusive opportunity (i.e. you had it with you while you walked out of sight, the item disappeared and you left the store and the item was nowhere to be found and you could not possibly have given it to someone else, it‘s a stretch but I‘ve made it work but only when I caught the person with possession of the item later). So as was said above they don’t have a leg to stand on.

FYI here is the Wisconsin retail theft statute:

Wisconsin

It’s pretty tough to sue a retailer or the police in Wisconsin if they are acting in good faith but that will all depend on what was said and/or done by various parties. So far no one has detained you so based on that and the limited info you have it doesn’t sound like either the police or the store have crossed the line but a local lawyer is the way to go on this.

Good luck and keep us posted on how things go.

Cheers,
Dean

The problem with this situation is that the store decided to do its own detective work and by "deciding" that he was the one who took it, they became Judge, Jury and executioner. This store is hit on a fairly regular basis and the person in the video doesn't fit the description of a typical suspect. Don't take that as bigoted or prejudiced, but it is a fact.

Good faith doesn't seem to have been involved here. If the employees had any doubts, they should have declined to ID anyone but that store has had a pretty high turnover recently and I doubt the ones who were involved have much retail experience, other than the owner and possibly the manager.

 

[jwenthold99]

Call the PD and ask to talk to the chief- he's a very reasonable guy. Make sure you have the names and badge numbers of the officers and get a copy of their reports.

Also, call the store and get in the manager's face. I'll be talking to the store owner's brother in a couple of hours and I'll mention this situation to him.

Thank you for the feedback... I will thinking about doing this. I am a little wary of contacting the department again based on what has happened so far, as you can imagine. I will be talking to my lawyer again though, see what he thinks about the whole situation.

I also took the time this morning to write up and document yesterdays event's while they were still fresh. After completing that and doing a little research, the following is what has me upset the most:

Through the entire time, they were extremely condescending, rude and unprofessional. They also lied several times:
1. The fact that it would be a felony charge – it wouldn’t, the value of the violin was under $2,500.00,
2. The fact that they were going to arrest me on the spot – they couldn’t, because they did not have jurisdiction
3. The statement that they didn’t need a warrant to enter my house

 

[jwenthold99]

The problem with this situation is that the store decided to do its own detective work and by "deciding" that he was the one who took it, they became Judge, Jury and executioner. This store is hit on a fairly regular basis and the person in the video doesn't fit the description of a typical suspect. Don't take that as bigoted or prejudiced, but it is a fact.

Good faith doesn't seem to have been involved here. If the employees had any doubts, they should have declined to ID anyone but that store has had a pretty high turnover recently and I doubt the ones who were involved have much retail experience, other than the owner and possibly the manager.

Wow, you have some great insite, and info on this store. Based on my wife's experience, I would agree completely with what you have stated.

 

[highfigh]

Just admit you did it and do your time.
In jail the food's not that good but the sex is okay once you learn to relax.

I'm no lawyer either. I'm with the guys who say not to cooperate on this one. These cops want to convict you without proving you did it. Be very careful and good luck.

This is Glendale, Pop. 14000, not the mean streets of Milwaukee (although the store is less than 2 blocks from the border).

 

[jwenthold99]

This is Glendale, Pop. 14000, not the mean streets of Milwaukee (although the store is less than 2 blocks from the border).

Exactly, I actually live in Milwaukee, the nice part though, and Glendale is only five miles away. and I used to like the community!