Bad Situation and I Need Your Opinions; Law Enforcement and Lawyers Please Respond?
Question by Shawn: Bad situation and I need your opinions; Law Enforcement and Lawyers please respond?
Situation:
My father was killed in a motorcycle accident almost a year ago. Since that happened my mothers nerves have been a wreck. She finally began hanging out with friends again and has since met a new group of friends that she spends most of her time with. Around October 2011 she met a man and began hanging out with him exclusively. I was very proud of her for this because she would tell me how this guy is an aspiring pastor and that he’s very religious and that he has a good job. So to this point I’m satisfied with the situation and my younger brothers are as well. Around the beginning of the year she expresses to me that her, now boyfriend, will be moving in with her. I told her that whatever makes her happy I’ll support. My statement of that does have limits though.
A few weeks back my brother’s fiance is looking around in my mom’s room for something when she discovers a smokers pipe (obviously for recreational use) and a spoon with burn marks on the bottom. She immediately takes her camera and snaps a pic of the findings but she’s young and she didn’t know what to do. She eventually broke down and told my younger brothers and I. She is worried that my mom is using drugs and that her new boyfriend is a large reason for it. She also explained to me that my mom has been wearing long sleeve shirts everyday which is abnormal for her and that she has been unusually moody lately. Possibly to hide any track marks? In addition, she told me that there has been a lot of new people visiting the house lately, however, they didn’t stay for very long and that my mother has been paranoid about police. To me this is classic drug use activity and behavior.
Some background info:
Both of my younger brothers still live at home. The older of the two lives there and is married with an infant child. The youngest lives there with his fiance. I do not live there nor do I live in the same state. I am active duty military with a special operations background and have been living away from the house for well over a decade. One of my brothers approached our mother about this and she remained silent and for me there is truth in silence.
We need this guy gone and he needs to leave with the fear of God in him. He needs to realize what I do for a living and how I will pursue him at all costs if he dares to contact my mother or any of my family for that matter. Something particularly interesting is that every time I decide to visit he takes off. My mom said that he’s working out of town. Sadly the dude doesn’t even have a job. He’s obviously mooching off of my mom. So now I feel that I’ve been lied to so trust is out the window and this is obviously going to put a strain on my relationship with my mom when I go down there and blow the roof off of the situation.
Here’s my plan of action:
I want to avoid having my mother taken to jail but if it happens then so be it. At the very least she won’t be using drugs. I would prefer to enroll her in some type of rehab center though. I am secretly coming down for a visit in the near future and as soon as I walk in the house I want to deal with this situation. I am planning to do a citizens arrest of her boyfriend. I want to detain him until I am able to take him to the local police department. So my question here is can I use zip ties and flex cuff his wrists together in order to restrain him? This will be Georgia law by the way. My next plan is to do a thorough search of the house and look for any drugs or paraphernalia. So that I may document the location for law enforcement if I decide to do that. I realize my mom will get into trouble also but again this is tough love and all I want is for her to be safe and healthy anything else I could really care less about. I am having my brothers disconnect our mothers car battery prior to my arrival so it will eliminate the possibility of them getting away and my brothers fiance is going to rid the kitchen of any and all knives.
My ultimate goal is to run this dude off forever without having my mother do any prison sentence. So I would prefer to not include any law enforcement immediately because if I can avoid her going to jail I will. I know it seems like a tough situation but it really isn’t I just want some opinions and some legal advice. I plan to give her the choice of rehab or jail that’s why I need her boyfriend detained initially so I am able to actually discuss this with her without his interruption be it vocal or physical.
Thanks in advance to all serious respondents. And please if you don’t actually have a clue about anything legal don’t answer.
Best answer:
Answer by drdr
Attempting to do a citizen’s arrest is a very bad idea. You could end up dead, and/or you could be committing a criminal act if your actions are not supported by state law.
You should discuss it with the local police, if drug trafficking is suspected, they may be interested in obtaining a search warrant. This would be dependent upon fresh information and the previously taken photographs. If you can obtain identifying information on this man, the police can conduct a criminal records check that may add to probable cause for a search.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!