Can she be arrested?

[Blindrift]

What is the name of your state? NJ and Pa
I've been having problems with my ex in the form of phone calls and emails. I saved the emails and in the last email she threatened to shoot me. I immediatly went to the police to file a complaint but they said it was just harassment and that there wasn't much they could do. I left without filing anything, intent on speaking to an attorny. My lawyer told me that she had commited an act known as "Terroristic threats" and in NJ this is a felony of the 3rd degree. (This happened in NJ btw.) So I went back to the police to inform them and they told me that a detective would have to handle this matter but he wasn't in and I'd have to wait for his phone call. Two days later I still hadn't recieved a call and I was at a friends house in Pa and we were walking towards his house after parking his car when my ex pulls up with a friend. She tries to talk to me but I ignore her, that's when she shows us she has a gun. She proceeded to cuss me out then they drive off. Shaken me and my friend go into the house and ponder my next move.

My question is this; Can she be arrested? I don't want to try filing another complaint only to be told I can't, or worse, just get her brought in for questioning and released, thus upsetting her and posssibly getting me shot. I'm really worried. I'm being told to go for a restraining order in NJ but to file the complaint in Pa. Is that right and can I get an order against her, does it protect you?

[Kane]

I'm not from NJ or PA, but if she has a gun and is threatening to shoot you, she's almost certainly committing a crime, whether the police want to do anything about it or not.

You can get a restraining order, and if she violates it she's committing another crime. But again, the police have to actually do something about it. (And even if they do, she may make bond, in which case she'll be out of jail, and just as pissed off as ever.)

I'd suggest going waay out of your way to avoid her, and investing in some security (floodlights, security locks, etc.). In the meantime, keep going down to the police station, and keep asking them to take a report, until they do.

[CdwJava]

Whether she "CAN" be arrested or not depends on whether the police can develop probable cause. If you have a witness to the gun incident and the threat, that would seem sufficient cause to justify an arrest or at least to seek an arrest warrant. The e-mail threats would be a tad weak for a felony threat charge, but if coupled with the later threat with the firearm, it could well be raised to a felony from what is likely a misdemeanor or not a crime at all.

Report each and every such incident to the police. And, as Kane suggested, stay out of her way and take whatever preparations you can to make yourself safer.

- Carl