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Police Questioning... should I seek legal advice?

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WIinNC

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? North Carolina


About two months ago I had property (value of $2500) stolen from my new residence that my wife and I had bought recently. There was no sign of forced entry and no video evidence of someone taking said property. I filed a police report. Fast forward to the present. Someone dropped the property off outside our front door in the middle of the night. My wife and I were thrilled. I call the police to notify it has been dropped off. One officer comes down to talk and see if there is any video. There is not. After talking to the officer for ten minutes, he says since property is returned and there are no physical leads and I have no leads I can think of... he says he's going to go get a document for me to sign saying that they will no longer investigate this case. I agree to it since the property was returned, I had taken all precautions to secure my home after the incident, and I don't want any open ended police cases involving me. He comes back to my home with another officer and the document. He says first the other officer wants to ask me some questions. The other officer starts making indirect threats about filing false police reports and being charged with a misdemeanor and going to jail. He did this for about 2 minutes. I said I feel like I'm being attacked and I inquired if they felt I should call a lawyer. They backed down after I explained the whole story to the other officer and made it clear that I was the victim and in no way was this a false report on my part. They were more cordial, but there was tension since I was clearly upset with them. I signed this document saying that I want them to cease investigating this case. I'm angry with myself because I did not take a cell phone picture of the document.

My question is... Is this document real? Or is this some ploy? They said they aren't going to investigate the case any more once the document is signed. Should I go talk to a lawyer? I understand how things look odd and the best guess I can come up with is it was a prank gone bad. However, I am 100% innocent and if I'm going to be charged with filing a false police report I want legal advice ahead of time. I appreciate any suggestions.
 


WIinNC

Junior Member
The document looked official to me. All they did was fill in my name and the date on it. I figured they needed me to sign it since I was the person that filed the original report. Are you saying they are messing with me? I would like to know if I should get a lawyer or if this is over. Thank you.
 

dave33

Senior Member
The document looked official to me. All they did was fill in my name and the date on it. I figured they needed me to sign it since I was the person that filed the original report. Are you saying they are messing with me? I would like to know if I should get a lawyer or if this is over. Thank you.
The police do not need anything from you to stop an investigation. I would guess the document could be used to show you did not want an investigation, hence, making you look guilty. Do not be surprised if criminal charges are brought.
At the very least something strange is going on here. They may bring the signed document to the d.a. in order to convince them to bring the charges.
 

Proseguru

Member
The document looked official to me. All they did was fill in my name and the date on it. I figured they needed me to sign it since I was the person that filed the original report. Are you saying they are messing with me? I would like to know if I should get a lawyer or if this is over. Thank you.
The deed is done....I wouldn't do anything (if you wish to find a lawyer that's fine)......what you gonna do if they call on you a second time???

Don't answer the door is the correct answer.
 

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