What is the name of your state? Ohio
Hello everyone, this is very long and I'm not sure I'm posting in the right place. Could a moderator please move it if it's in the wrong place?
I have a question as to what my legal options are regarding this manner. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
I am currently in Germany until the end of October. On the day before I left for four months (This occurred on June 27th) I took my laundry to my apartment complex_s laundry room, so I could pack afterwards. There are four washers in the laundry room. One was broken and two had laundry in them, but were finished. I have lived at this complex since December, 2000. I removed the laundry and placed one load on a table and one load on a rack above the table, as I have done countless numbers of times. Then I added my laundry to the three now empty, but functioning machines. I left the laundry room.
When I returned to the laundry room, two girls were waiting for me. They were upset that I had taken their laundry out of the machine. I told them that they should have come and gotten it when it was done. They said that they were just at the pool and that I should have put their laundry in the dryer. I told them that it wasn_t my responsibility to do their laundry for them. They were very upset and kept raising the tone of their voice. I maintained my position that I wasn_t going to do their laundry for them. At one point, I told them I was leaving and one of the girls pushed the door closed and told me that I wasn_t. She began yelling, _You don_t want to f*** with me! You don_t want to f*** with me!_ I honestly was not worried up until she refused to let me leave. I thought it was nothing more than a verbal argument. Both girls were much smaller than I am and about seven years younger. (I will be 30 next month and am a 6_0_ female.) However, after she yelled this, she reached around and punched me in the side of the head. I lost my balance and fell into the small space between the last washing machine and the wall next to the door. She continued punching me while I was on the ground. I reached up and pulled back on her hair to try to get her to back off. At that point, her friend screamed, _Let go of her hair!_ and began punching me as well. At some point during this, I found one of their hand_s in my face so I bit it as hard as I could. They hit me harder and demanded that I let go of the hand. After I let go, they still continued to hit me repeatedly. At some point my brain kicked in and I realized that they were not stopping, so I began screaming as loudly as I could. After I had been screaming for quite some time, the apartment complex manager came to see what was going on. (The management building and laundry room are attached.) At this point the girls stopped and the manager let them walk away.
I was incredulous. I told her not to let them walk away, that I was calling the police and that they were going to jail. She said that they were residents and that she knew who they were and let me call the police from her office. I also called my boyfriend, with whom I live, and he came home from work immediately.
The police came and I told them what happened. They had to chase the apartment manager down, because she had gone to show an apartment. They made her come back and talk to them, but I did not overhear the conversation and she did not give a statement as far as I know. Because I was bleeding from the top of my nose and had scratches on my face, they called an ambulance. X-rays were taken, but my nose was not broken. (The hardest punch landed squarely between my eyes.) Later, two black eyes developed and I was bruised on the front and sides of my forehead. I also had scratches on my cheeks and a cut on my lip. My boyfriend took pictures of all of this.
When the police officer arrived at the hospital, he told me he was fully prepared to arrest these girls until he got to their apartment and saw that they too had injuries _ mainly the bite marks on the first girl_s hand. Furthermore, she also had a broken nail and scratches on her neck. I told him that the broken nail probably came from when they were hitting me. I also told him that, although I did pull her hair, I could not have scratched her neck, since I never have fingernails. I showed him. He told me that all that mattered was that there were scratches on her neck and that he had taken pictures. I asked him to take a picture of my hands to prove that I have no fingernails (I bite them) and he refused.
He said that his ultimate conclusion was that this was a mutual fight that just got out of hand. Furthermore, he had two witnesses (the girls) say that I started the fight and only one (me) who said that they did. This means that it_s my word against theirs. Since there were two of them, their word is more valid. (Although, you will see that their statements contradict each other.) Therefore, he was not going to arrest them. He also told me that I could still press charges if I wanted, but the girls told him that if I pressed charges they would press charges against me. (Isn't that blackmail?)
He left me at the hospital to fill out my statement and told me to call when I got home and that he would come pick it up. When he came to pick it up, he asked me if I had decided whether or not I would press charges. I told him that I had called the apartment manager to see if she would evict the girls, however it was after office hours and her answering service told me she would call me back. She never did call back. (The manager told my boyfriend, who had stayed behind to get my laundry while I went to the hospital that she was going to evict them and that they_d only lived there for six weeks.) I told the officer that if she was going to evict them then there was no need to press charges, since I was leaving for Germany for four months and they would be long gone when I returned. He told me that I had two years to decide whether or not to press charges, but that acting quickly made my case look stronger.
My boyfriend and I were very upset that the officer would believe that my two pitiful acts of self defense would be considered a mutual fight. I called my brother in another state, who has friends that are police officers would know what to do. He told me to call the Sergeant on Duty and the Prosecutor. I called the Sergeant and the police dispatcher told me he was on a call and would call me back when he got in. He never called me back. My boyfriend called the prosecutor for me, since I had to leave the next day and it was already late at night when I returned from the hospital. The person he spoke with at the prosecutor_s office told him that the prosecutor does not speak to people.
My boyfriend also spoke with the rental office and the manager maintained that the girls would still be evicted, stating that when she got there, she saw the two girls running out of the building and me slumped on the floor in the corner and that was enough for her.
Hello everyone, this is very long and I'm not sure I'm posting in the right place. Could a moderator please move it if it's in the wrong place?
I have a question as to what my legal options are regarding this manner. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.
I am currently in Germany until the end of October. On the day before I left for four months (This occurred on June 27th) I took my laundry to my apartment complex_s laundry room, so I could pack afterwards. There are four washers in the laundry room. One was broken and two had laundry in them, but were finished. I have lived at this complex since December, 2000. I removed the laundry and placed one load on a table and one load on a rack above the table, as I have done countless numbers of times. Then I added my laundry to the three now empty, but functioning machines. I left the laundry room.
When I returned to the laundry room, two girls were waiting for me. They were upset that I had taken their laundry out of the machine. I told them that they should have come and gotten it when it was done. They said that they were just at the pool and that I should have put their laundry in the dryer. I told them that it wasn_t my responsibility to do their laundry for them. They were very upset and kept raising the tone of their voice. I maintained my position that I wasn_t going to do their laundry for them. At one point, I told them I was leaving and one of the girls pushed the door closed and told me that I wasn_t. She began yelling, _You don_t want to f*** with me! You don_t want to f*** with me!_ I honestly was not worried up until she refused to let me leave. I thought it was nothing more than a verbal argument. Both girls were much smaller than I am and about seven years younger. (I will be 30 next month and am a 6_0_ female.) However, after she yelled this, she reached around and punched me in the side of the head. I lost my balance and fell into the small space between the last washing machine and the wall next to the door. She continued punching me while I was on the ground. I reached up and pulled back on her hair to try to get her to back off. At that point, her friend screamed, _Let go of her hair!_ and began punching me as well. At some point during this, I found one of their hand_s in my face so I bit it as hard as I could. They hit me harder and demanded that I let go of the hand. After I let go, they still continued to hit me repeatedly. At some point my brain kicked in and I realized that they were not stopping, so I began screaming as loudly as I could. After I had been screaming for quite some time, the apartment complex manager came to see what was going on. (The management building and laundry room are attached.) At this point the girls stopped and the manager let them walk away.
I was incredulous. I told her not to let them walk away, that I was calling the police and that they were going to jail. She said that they were residents and that she knew who they were and let me call the police from her office. I also called my boyfriend, with whom I live, and he came home from work immediately.
The police came and I told them what happened. They had to chase the apartment manager down, because she had gone to show an apartment. They made her come back and talk to them, but I did not overhear the conversation and she did not give a statement as far as I know. Because I was bleeding from the top of my nose and had scratches on my face, they called an ambulance. X-rays were taken, but my nose was not broken. (The hardest punch landed squarely between my eyes.) Later, two black eyes developed and I was bruised on the front and sides of my forehead. I also had scratches on my cheeks and a cut on my lip. My boyfriend took pictures of all of this.
When the police officer arrived at the hospital, he told me he was fully prepared to arrest these girls until he got to their apartment and saw that they too had injuries _ mainly the bite marks on the first girl_s hand. Furthermore, she also had a broken nail and scratches on her neck. I told him that the broken nail probably came from when they were hitting me. I also told him that, although I did pull her hair, I could not have scratched her neck, since I never have fingernails. I showed him. He told me that all that mattered was that there were scratches on her neck and that he had taken pictures. I asked him to take a picture of my hands to prove that I have no fingernails (I bite them) and he refused.
He said that his ultimate conclusion was that this was a mutual fight that just got out of hand. Furthermore, he had two witnesses (the girls) say that I started the fight and only one (me) who said that they did. This means that it_s my word against theirs. Since there were two of them, their word is more valid. (Although, you will see that their statements contradict each other.) Therefore, he was not going to arrest them. He also told me that I could still press charges if I wanted, but the girls told him that if I pressed charges they would press charges against me. (Isn't that blackmail?)
He left me at the hospital to fill out my statement and told me to call when I got home and that he would come pick it up. When he came to pick it up, he asked me if I had decided whether or not I would press charges. I told him that I had called the apartment manager to see if she would evict the girls, however it was after office hours and her answering service told me she would call me back. She never did call back. (The manager told my boyfriend, who had stayed behind to get my laundry while I went to the hospital that she was going to evict them and that they_d only lived there for six weeks.) I told the officer that if she was going to evict them then there was no need to press charges, since I was leaving for Germany for four months and they would be long gone when I returned. He told me that I had two years to decide whether or not to press charges, but that acting quickly made my case look stronger.
My boyfriend and I were very upset that the officer would believe that my two pitiful acts of self defense would be considered a mutual fight. I called my brother in another state, who has friends that are police officers would know what to do. He told me to call the Sergeant on Duty and the Prosecutor. I called the Sergeant and the police dispatcher told me he was on a call and would call me back when he got in. He never called me back. My boyfriend called the prosecutor for me, since I had to leave the next day and it was already late at night when I returned from the hospital. The person he spoke with at the prosecutor_s office told him that the prosecutor does not speak to people.
My boyfriend also spoke with the rental office and the manager maintained that the girls would still be evicted, stating that when she got there, she saw the two girls running out of the building and me slumped on the floor in the corner and that was enough for her.
She had no power to confine the girls.