wrongly arrested

[singlemommy24]

What is the name of your state? tx

it was me, shana( my twin sister, driving), sean, daniel and michael.. we left the house and saw the cop car right down the street. i swear they were waiting. then they pulled us over not 5min down the road. told her she dindt use her turn signal. though i'm pretty sure she did. and so is daniel. asked for our info and we gave it to them. then we sat and waited. then they took shana out of the car and was talking to her. then they started taking everyone else out one by one. they kept asking us if we had garnades or bazucas (sp?) in the car. we kept telling them no. and everytime they would take someone out they would ask that. like we would be carring around heavy firearms?? then they started patting us down and searching us. i dont think we even gave them reason to search us...dont they have to have cause?? this was just a traffic stop? then they arrested sean. and started searching us even more. they had to call in the female cop to search me and shana. (the one that arrested me) at this point i was bawling and i told her i didnt want to be searched, that i was abused as a child...she still searched me. then they started searching the car. so we sat on the sidewalk while they did all this. then the female cop asked me to get up and go over to her. told me to turn around and put my hands behind my back. and pulled out the cuffs. i asked her if i was under arrest and she said yes. i asked her for what..and she said unpaid tickets. i told her i didnt have any. and said i was a single mom, that i dont have anyone to take care of my baby...whats going to happen to my baby? (i was crying by now) she said the courts will deal with it and kinda blew me off and was being total bitch. i was yelling to shana to call my dad and to take care of aiden..to make sure my baby was ok. (the other people that we with us witnessed all of this) then they put me in the car. sat there for i dont know how long. then when they got me to the station she brought me in and asked for confermation from someone...i dont know who..the dispatcher maybe?? he said yes, for shana prusinowski. then she said that she had her sister, laura, that she arrested the wrong person. (they didnt have confermation when they arrested me) then she took me back outside and took the cuffs off. the other P.O (the ones that pulled us over) asked what was going on. she told them that they arrested the wrong person. thats when i told them they made a big mistake, that i was going to tell you and call a lawyer. they told me it was up to me. so she put me back in the backseat of the car and shut the door. (car not running..talk about hot in there) while she went inside. i had one of the other cops out there watching me and i was bawling in the back seat and he opened the door and asked what was wrong. i told him i was closterpobic (sp?) and the small space was getting to me and i was upset and scared for my baby. he asked how old he was and i told him 16 months. by this time the female cop came out and asked me where i wanted to go. i told her i wanted to go where my baby was. she asked baby as in boyfriend or baby as in child. i told her baby as in child like i said when she arrested me. on the way i told her to call my dad so he wouldnt go up to the station. she told me she wasnt going to arrest shana as long as i told her to get her tickets taken care of. i said ok, i'll make sure she knows. thats when she dropped me off at the house and kept me in the car while she talked to shana. she let me out and kept talking to shana for about 5-10 min and then shana called over to us to get her suff as the cop was cuffing her. then they took her away. the officer never read me my rights during any of this. not once. after i still cant sleep, to this day i still freak out when i see a cop afraid it will happen again, i am still afraid to drive. is there anything i can do?

 

[CdwJava]

What do you want to do? What you describe sounds like it coule be quite reasonable and lawful. Mistaken identiy does happen - and when it relates to twins, it is likely to happen more than otherwise. Without knowing all the details it is impossible to say whether the officers were making a reasonable effort through all this or not.

If you think you have a lawsuit, speak to an attorney. If he tells you that he wants money up front, you don't have a good case.

Oh, and tell your sister to clear up her warrants.

- Carl

 

[singlemommy24]

but they knew were were twins, we were both there. and when they arrested me they didnt have confermation yet..dont they have to have that first? and what about the search? when i told her i didnt want to do it? (not that she asked me first anyway..cause she didnt)

 

[CdwJava]

but they knew were were twins, we were both there. and when they arrested me they didnt have confermation yet..dont they have to have that first? and what about the search? when i told her i didnt want to do it? (not that she asked me first anyway..cause she didnt)

They have to make reasonable inquiry. it could be your sister identified herself as you - or your friends said you were her, it's hard to say.

And she does not need to ask you for permission to conduct a pat-down for weapons, and if you are under arrest she can search you extensively. However, since the remedy for an unlawful search is generally the suppression of the evidence, there may be no such remedy available.

Again, you would need an attorney to review all the reports to see what the police based their decision on. If it comes out that the people in the car were dinking them around, and/or that you or your sister were passing off false ID to the cops (verbal or otherwise), then there would be no avenue against the officers. As it stands, you MIGHT have a small claim against them for false arrest if they failed to make reasonable inquiry. But, you have no significant damages as you were only inconvenienced, so it is very likely that an attorney will ask for money up front anticipating that this is not going to be a money maker.

Consult local counsel.

- Carl