more on the story of George

[threeplusfire]

http://www.kxan.com/Global/story.asp?S=7690935&nav=0s3d

http://www.keyetv.com/content/news/topnews/story.aspx?content_id=dfa107af-92ee-475c-afb3-a10e9678ab16

Hey, alteredhistory! Looks like this happened in your neck of the woods.

You know, I feel sorry for George's friend. His fence got knocked down, and his cats were probably freaked out by the flashbang. But I'm sorry, he is wrong to be mad at APD. They were trying to serve a warrant and tried to peacefully contact George for an hour before that. If anything, he should be mad at George for being so completely idiotic as to be hiding in the house from the police. Yes, being arrested sucks. yes, if you believe you are innocent and being persecuted, it is doubly worse. But hiding out in the house isn't going to make a damn bit of difference except to annoy law enforcement and make them throw flashbangs. If anything, this guy needs to be pissed at George for prolonging the situation to that point. What, did he think they would just go away? It's indicative of the immature and self-centered of George's thinking that things ended up like that.

Comments

[xiuzan.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I don't understand why he let things go on for that long.

What I do know is that this is for the same arrest as before. His mom & step-dad are getting divorced and his step-dad decided he wanted the money back that he'd put into the original bond. So, he had the bond reversed. I didn't even know that was possible, but whatever.

Anyway, because of that, they reissued a warrant. George was in the process of working with his bondsman, lawyer, and aunt to do a walk-through arrest this week in order to take care of the new warrant.

I guess APD/Kendall County decided to go ahead and do the arrest before he got there. So, rather than immediately come out, George called his lawyer, bondsman, aunt, & his roommate to try to figure out what to do. Seems to me, the lawyer would have just said to open the door, but I guess I don't really know what all went down.

Whatever the case, it does seem that 2 hours is excessive. I dunno. I do think the tank was also a bit crazy. Eh... it's all crazy.

So glad I'm not involved in all that. Makes my head spin.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

I think something that might have driven the arrest is the high profile issue of crimes against minors. Having someone with a felony warrant for that type of crime walking around the neighbor is potentially a nightmare for APD not only on a PR level, but a public safety one. (Regardless of guilt or innocence, perception of that kind of charge.)

I suppose I tend to sympathize more with law enforcement because they have no idea if a person will react in a sane manner. having worked with law enforcement and realizing the crazy shit they deal with, I probably give them more latitude in their response.

[alteredhistory.livejournal.com]

I saw the story. I wasn't aware that the SWAT team had closed off access to my house that night because I was busy being sick with food poisoning. Reading the story, I tend to agree with your analysis: George's friend should be mad at George, not APD. On the flip side, George is lucky to have a friend like this -- if he is innocent, he's going to need folks who stand by him, because most people won't with charges like the ones in the warrant.

[abbismom.livejournal.com]

I'm with you, Amanda. I've been part of hostage negotiations before, and lemme tell you they are a nightmare. I've spent hours debriefing officers who had to enter into houses where the guy has killed himself and they are torn up about it. On every one of those cop's minds is that: how can I get this guy out safely? George's friend needs to be angry at someone right now, and it's safer to be mad at APD, rather than George. But ultimately, the responsibility lies squarely on George's shoulders for hours of wasted time, energy, and emotional drain. My ultimate hope is for George to get healing and start making healthy choices.