Noisy Domestic Dispute - Call Number 10072023

[M. Price]

SHERIFF 2+ UNITS - RESPOND TO 2776 13TH STREET NORTH, FORT SHANNON, NEIGHBOR IS REPORTING A DOMESTIC DISPUTE

Quote

 

CALLER STATES HER NEXT DOOR NEIGHBORS ARE GETTING INTO A HEATED ARGUMENT OVER VARIOUS STUFF

CALLER STATES THAT THEY HAVE BEEN VERY LOUD IN THEIR ARGUMENT

MAN IS ACCUSING THE OTHER MAN OF CHEATING ON HIM BY GETTING A GIRL PREGNANT

OTHER MAN IS COMPLAINING THAT HIS CIVIL WAR COLLECTION INCLUDING A RIFLE USED AS WALL DECO IS GETTING EXCESSIVE

MAN IS STATING THAT OTHER MAN'S SPORTS COLLECTION IS ALSO GETTING EXCESSIVE

A FOOTBALL AUTOGRAPHED BY JOE NAMATH HAS BEEN POPPED

A BASEBALL SIGNED BY HANK AARON HAS BEEN TOSSED OUTSIDE THROUGH A GLASS WINDOW

A SIGNED MICKEY MANTLE ROOKIE BASEBALL CARD HAS BEEN RIPPED UP

A CIVIL WAR ERA AMERICAN FLAG HAS BEEN TOSSED INTO THE FIREPLACE

 

 

[J. Allen]

Hearing this come over the radio, I decide to key up the mic since I'm close enough. Checking my MDT notes, this seems almost like something out of a comedy show.

"201 ERT, show me enroute."

I flick on my lights and activate Wail as I drive out of the parking lot I was at, beginning to make my way over to the call with haste. I start constantly pressing the airhorn as to help clear traffic on the way there.

[P. Wentz]

After getting into the rig, I hear a call come in. Well, might as well get his feet wet.

"Come on rook, we've got a call." I say, keying the mic up.

"ERT, 214 en route from headquarters."

[E. Hawke]

"ERT, 206, show me responding"

Letting go of the mic I start making my way to the scene as I take quick glances at the notes.  If this dude has a civil war era rifle he probably has cavalry sabres as well and a bayonet to go with that rifle.  Let's hope he's never studied the blade or can't thrust worth a damn.

"ERT, 206, can you tell me what weapons they might have in the house?"

[M. Price]

"Copy 201, 214, 206.  Marking you responding"

Marking those units responding I hear 206's request about the weapons the arguing pair might have in the house.  Good thing my call with the caller hasn't ended yet.

'Ma'am, can you tell me what weapons your neighbors might have in the house.'

'No idea, never been inside their house and I don't know them well enough.  Didn't even know they had that musket til they yelled about it.'

'Ok ma'am, thank you.  Please stay on the line.  The Sheriff's Department is en route.'

Muting the call I get on the radio to inform 206 of her question.

"206, ERT, all that is known is just a musket.  Unknown of others weapons in the house."

[P. Wentz]

A musket? I thought we ended that war a couple hundred years ago. Christ.

"Alright, so a musket might sound like a joke, but it means there's probably gunpowder.and a good chance we've got other weapons too, so be careful when we get there. Hyper aware. One of the other TOs has a bunch of rules. One of em is don't shoot. Remember that today. Waaaay too much paperwork."

[M. Hill]

He looked at him and shrugged “If he aims at me or you I’ll take him down. But if you want to risk your life over less paper work, you do you.” He said, a little unimpressed that he didn’t want to defend himself

[J. Allen]

I cut my sirens as I begin pulling up to the listed address. 

"201 ERT, show me on-scene"

Guessing what's about to come, I put on my vest and swing open the driver's side door of my car as I hop out, closing the door. I make my way over to the door with my right hand on the holster as I knock loudly before yelling loud enough so they can hear it.

'SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT. OPEN UP.'

One of the men involved in this incident, a white male standing at about 5'9" tall, wearing a black AC/DC shirt with jeans, opens up the door. Just as he does so, he looks back to shout over to the other man. 'Shut up!'

'It's all this guy's fault with his stupid Civil War collection. I can't stand this cheating shithead any longer!'

[P. Wentz]

“If he aims at me or you I’ll take him down. But if you want to risk your life over less paper work, you do you.”

"You absolutely will not. I don't know what the military's rules of engagement were, but you better be ready to articulate to the District Attorney you had imminent danger to your life that you could not handle any other way than killing a civilian. There's deputies in this department that have never drawn their weapon in the line of duty. If your attitude on a first call is going to be to shoot a civilian, you're going to have a hell of a time. This isn't an enemy combatant or a video game, and it's not about paper work, this is a civilian you're non-chalantly premeditating to kill." I take a breath and catch myself before I eat the kid alive. "You keep your gun holstered unless I explicitly say to draw it, or I'm dead on the ground. You understand that?"

I get a nod as the radio comes alive "201 ERT show me on scene"

"Good" I say, pulling behind 201 and parking our unit. I key the microphone. "ERT, 214, we're on scene backing 201." 

I look up and see the backside of Allen knocking on the door, and getting an answer as I unclip my seatbelt.

[E. Hawke]

Arriving on scene behind Wentz I park my vehicle behind 214 and get out.  Heading on over to the other deputies I key up my mic to announce my arrival just as the door opens up for Allen.

"206 on scene"

'It's all this guy's fault with his stupid Civil War collection. I can't stand this cheating shithead any longer!' - AC/DC guy

I overhear the guy in the AC/DC shirt say as I step up to the porch.  As I peer inside I see another man pop out into the hallway.  He's wearing a Gettysburg t-shirt and holding a hockey stick.

'Oh, I'm the one who cheated?  That's rich coming from the guy who met a tart at a bar and knocked her up' - Gettysburg guy

After he says that he snaps the hockey stick in two and tosses both broken pieces in  our direction'

'FUCK YOU TODD!  THAT STICK WAS SIGNED BY MARIO LEMIEUX! IT'S WORTH ALOT! - AC/DC guy

I hear the AC/DC remark in horror as he storms down the hallway and pushes himself by Todd as he enters the living room.  Following him in I see him grab what appears to be a confederate uniform off a mannequin and toss it onto a fire going in the fireplace.

'DAMN YOU STEVE! THAT UNIFORM TOOK ME A LONG TIME TO MEND! IT WASN'T CHEAP EITHER!' - Todd

'Yeah, I know and I don't care' - Steve

Steve then appears to pull a picture of Lee surrendering to Grant of the wall before smashing it to the floor.  With that I turn to the others deputies.

'Ok, let's get these two apart and someone get a fire extinguisher before that becomes a big fire.'

Might be nice to work the same scene with Mark and his station but maybe not tonight.  Moving into the living room I put my hand on Todd's shoulder and start pulling him backwards cause he was the closest to me.

'Hey Todd, Corporal Hawke, Sheriff's Department, how about we going into another room, yeah?  Maybe not break anymore stuff and let's talk?'

There's some resistance from Todd but I've got a good grip on his shoulder so I'm not letting him go anywhere but out of the living room.

 

[P. Wentz]

'Ok, let's get these two apart and someone get a fire extinguisher before that becomes a big fire.'

"Hill, in the back of the rig, there's an extinguisher. Grab that." While I explain to Hill where to go, I see Steve look a little irate that Hawke grabs the other party first. 

"Hey, over here. Sir, I'm Corporal Wentz, come with me, we're going to have a good little chat about what's happening. Now."

The firm now, and my larger size than Hawke gives him a little idea of how this is going to work. 

"Alright, let's go over here and figure out what kind of mess this is."

[M. Hill]

I unbuckle my seatbelt and exit the vehicle. I head towards the back and open the trunk, unlatching the fire extinguisher and taking it out. I head towards Wentz and sigh lightly, looking around to get a good image of the scene.

[J. Allen]

I reach into my vest as I put my gloves on, beginning to inspect the damage dealt as I take pictures of what I saw being damaged and taking note of the items and potential charges.

• Gettysburg shirt, Todd
• Mischief, hockey stick
• Potential unreported additional damages

 

• AC/DC shirt guy, Steve
• Mischief, burning civil war uniform
• Mischief, smashing portrait
• Potential unreported additional damages

After finishing my notes, I head over to Cpl. Hawke with my notes and handing her over a copy of both of their offenses. I also do the same thing for Cpl. Wentz. Afterwards, I leave the room as to not stir up the scene any more than it already is.

[E. Hawke]

Thankfully Todd stops with his minor resistance the further we get out of the room cause I get no help at all with him.  Bringing him into what appears to be the dining room I stop and stand put in the doorway to the room.  Facing Todd I wait a little bit until he appears calm enough to have a proper conversation.

'Ok, Todd, is it?'

'Yes, it's Todd, Todd McBride.'

'Alright Todd McBride, I need to find out what happened tonight, find out why you and Steve were in such a heated argument that we needed to be called.  So I need to ask you some questions.'

As I say this I pull out my notepad and pen.  Todd sighs and takes a seat on one of the dining room chairs.

'Okay, we were just about to start cooking diner when Steve gets a call from some woman he met at a bar.  He leaves the kitchen to take the call but I can still hear their conversation in the hallway.  Bastard didn't have the sense to go outside or take the call off speaker mode.  Anyways, the woman who called wanted to let him know she was pregnant with his child.  So of course I get mad and confront him about it and then he gets made about my collection of Civil War stuff.  Like I can't help it, right?  I'm a history professor at Crescent Falls University.  History, especially the Civil War, is just something I'm into.  Well, hearing that I just can not help but remark that his sports stuff is getting a bit big.  Things were said and I guess I just got so mad that I grabbed one of his footballs and deflated it.  Then he gets mad and rips one of my antique American flags off the wall and throws it in the fire.  So I respond by grabbing one of his baseballs and throwing it out the window and tearing up one of his most prized baseball cards.  We only yelled at each other more until you arrived and you saw the rest.'

Writing all that down I maintain eye contact on him as Allen comes over with a note on all the damage done.  As Allen walks off, presumably to give the same note to Wentz, I look back at Todd.

'What was said that made you so upset that you deflated the football?'

'Steve is convinced that I'm cheating on him when I am not.  I've never had relations with any other man while I've been together with him.  After I mentioned his sports collection was getting big he accused me of cheating on him again and called me a slut, a whore, a tramp, etc... well, I just had enough of the accusations.  It was just too much.'

Noting all that I ask one possible final question.

'Has Steve at all, in any way, been abusive towards you?'

'No, he has never hit me nor called me those words before.  This is the first time I've seen him being destructive.'

'And he never hit you today?'

'He never even laid a hand on me during the argument.'

'Alright, can you give me an estimate on the property of yours that he destroyed tonight?'

Seeing Todd sigh after that question I can only guess that he's doing the math in his head.

'Well the flag was old, it was hand sewn back in 1862, it was probably worth around $20k, the Confederate uniform could probably be worth $1000 after I had fixed it up.  To be honest I'm not sure about the uniform.  The photo, the photo is worthless, not worth much.'

'So the only thing of absolute serious value was the flag?  Alright, and do you want to press charges for the damage that would follow under Criminal Mischief?'

'If I can press charges for that, does that mean he can press the same charges against me?'

'Yes, he can press the same charges as well.'

'Well then, if he presses charges then I'm going to press charges too.'

Hearing that, I mentally sigh and turn my head to see if I can catch Wentz with Steve in the other room.  Just to see how they are progressing.

[P. Wentz]

As Hawke leaves with Todd, I get Steve to talk. 

"Alright, so let's hear what happened. There was some helluva fight when we got here." I notice Hill extinguishing the little in-house bonfire that was started before he rejoins us. "Let's get the rights of this."

"Ugh, listen, it's just hard sometimes. Todd gets. Well, you know, roommates." Hmm... "It's hard living alone, especially in this economy, so you need a roommate. But like, sometimes things just get heated is all."

"So what was this yelling about you cheating?"

He reddens and looks around the room for a minute. "It's. I don't know. Like I said, Todd just gets that way sometimes. I don't know what he was upset over, it just boiled."

"It did more than boil. This is, well,it's definitely expensive." Almost on cue, Allen delivers a note to me, and a list of items. "Jee, so far, I'm figuring this is definitely enough to nail you both on criminal mischief, if you press charges. Yikes, Deputy Hill, I know you just got out of the academy, so you'll have this fresh in your head, what's criminal mischief land you now, what, up to a year in prison? And of course! There's the court cases. I'm sure the judge will have a few more questions, especially about this cheating accusation Todd was making."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute." Steve says. "Maybe we're more than roommates."

[E. Hawke]

Seeing Allen in the hallway I wave him over.

'Keep watch on him, I'm going to see how Wentz and the new guy are doing.'

Leaving Allen to make sure Todd keeps being peaceful, as he has been, I wander over to Wentz and Hill.  They seem to be still talking with Steve so I remain silent and listen in as I look back to the dining room where Allen and Todd are.

[J. Allen]

'Keep watch on him, I'm going to see how Wentz and the new guy are doing.'

Hearing Hawke, I nod and head inside the room she just left as I keep watch over the guy, holding onto my belt and remaining quiet for the time being.

[P. Wentz]

I finish with Steve when I see Hawke come in. 

"Alright, you stay here. I'm going to go speak with Corporal Hawke. Deputy Hill will be here, answer any questions he might have."

Walking away and in a hushed voice, I say, "Alright Evelyn, what are we looking at? I've got this guy saying they're roommates and it was just a squabble. He's probably content to not press charges though. I mean, my bank is he's gay and deep in the closet. But he hasn't confirmed that yet. At least to me. I think jail scared him gay. What do you got?"

[E. Hawke]

Leaving Deputy Hill with Steve, we move into the hallway and I listen to Wentz's words.

'Well, that's sort of align with what Todd was saying.  Todd mentioned that these two are dating but Steve seems convinced that Todd is cheating on him.  Todd also mentioned what started all this was a call from some girl that Steve slept with and knocked up.  Todd admitted to destroying the sports memorabilia that was torn and said that Steve was responsible for destroying the Civil War stuff.'

Looking back at Todd in the dining room and then at Steve in the living room I turn my attention back to Wentz.

'The stuff Steve destroyed might be worth $21k but Todd says that he's not going to press charges unless Steve does.'

[P. Wentz]

'The stuff Steve destroyed might be worth $21k but Todd says that he's not going to press charges unless Steve does.'

"I never understood collectors. 21 thousand for some stuff. Man oh man. I'd say Steve is getting a good scare from Hill about the cost of pressing charges right now. Hard to stay in the closet when you're in jail for a domestic with your male partner."

[M. Hill]

Max would just stand there, listening to the talk from Steve and only giving answers he knew from heart from academy training and the penal code that might give information but also informing him about the consequences of pressing charges.

[E. Hawke]

'Well, I guess we better go see what Steve wants to do then'

Motioning my hand to go back in the living room I follow Wentz behind him so we can figure out how we're going to handle this situation.  It's all up to Steve on whether we are making arrests tonight or not.

[P. Wentz]

"Alrighty Steve. So now that you've had a chat with Deputy Hill over here, you've got some choices to make. Corporal Hawke has informed me Todd will not press charges if you don't either. That's call cross complaint. If you bring charges, you're both getting them, and that means all of this comes out in court. But if you're safe and confident you can control yourselves without involving us in the future, you can avoid charges. What do you think?"

"Um, yeah, okay, I'll keep my mouth shut."

"I'm sorry, does that mean you will not be laying charges against Todd?" He nods. "Alright. So that means keeping things under control too. Next time we get complaints, that means we're coming back and laying charges. "

I look over at Hawke and give a shrug, if she's good I'm good. 

[E. Hawke]

Hearing the conversation between Wentz and Steve I nod in acknowledgement to charges not being pressed.  Turning back I head into the dining room to talk with Todd.

'Alright Todd, we talked with Steve and he has agreed to not press charges.  So now I just want to check if you are standing by your words that you will not press charges either.'

'No, I'm not, if he is not pressing charges then neither will I'

'Alright, with that settled I have to mention to try and keep things calm from here on cause if we have to come back out again then charges will be filed.  Understood?'

'Yes ma'am, I, or we'll try to keep things civil from here on in our relationship.'

'Ok, good'

Turning back I look at Allen who has been keeping watch.

'Well, we're good to go so let's clear and get back on patrol'

With that said I leave the dining room and head out of the house.  Getting back in 206 I start up the engine again and key up the radio.

"ERT, 206, both parties agreed not to file charges, show me clear and back on patrol."

Letting go of the mic I drive off and leave the scene.

[M. Hill]

I would walk over to the cruiser and would stand beside it. “Fire Extinguisher is in the back of the car already. I used about half of it so we should be fine but that’s up to you if you want to go back and grab a new one” I say and figure that half should be enough to get through any fire they might encounter that doesn’t require FD.