When a Sheriff's Department attacks.

The average citizens view of Law Enforcement, and the Court Systems is framed. There is an underbelly to it that now literally has me scared for the safety and freedom of myself and my whole family.

The pieces to this puzzle started falling into place long before I ever considered Journalism or writing, even as a hobby. This “beginning” goes back in time quite a long way, to an incident that I witnessed when I was just 16 years old. The implications to this never really stood out until another, much more recent unfolding of events. Now, I can't unsee my friend as she began shaking, then ran screaming from our house the second our neighbor walked through the door. The only think my friend could say at the time once she began to calm was “She is a murderer” and “She killed my brother” as this was clearly in the middle of what I now know to be a PTSD related Anxiety attack. When she began to calm, she started telling me of how her little brothers mysterious death wasn't even really investigated, because in her words “Your neighbors father is a homicide detective, he covered up my brothers murder !” My only response was a blank look, it was a cue she rightfully understood to be my curiosity being piqued, while also being utterly shocked, so she began to fill in all of the now much needed details.

This had all started about 8 years prior to that day, she began her story slowly, and in great detail. My mom had begun bringing my brother to the Dr. Over and over because he kept having “episodes” as the Doctor had begun calling them. Her brother was a few years younger than her, and at this point he was only about 2 years old. The “episodes” she explained was when her brother started having fevers that were so extreme her mom would have to go to the ER because they couldn't break the fevers with standard medicines. Not only did he have a very high fever, but he would also be delusional while it was happening, and having violent outbursts. Those things as side effects aren't uncommon with fevers over 103°F, but this thing was happening to him every few days. Then after these fevers ended he would improve, but still remain a bit lethargic for a few more days usually until it happened again. The oddest part she began crying as she continued, is that within 48 hours of it each time it started, he would be almost or from what we could tell anyways, completely back to normal, smiling, and laughing but just exhausted.

The doctors tested him for everything they could think of, from food poisoning, to allergies, and ear infections, plus a whole plethora of other common and uncommon illnesses. They found nothing in the results to tell them why this thing was happening to him, and it was happening over and over again. They ran blood tests, and scratch tests, and took poop samples, they all showed nothing. They even had people come to their house to check for dangerous mold, and other possibly poisonous fungi. Again sample after sample, test after test .. just nothing.

They decided on a new tactic, this time they asked her mom to change his diet, to start by going back to soft baby foods only, and monitor him for about a week making sure he ate nothing else. They suggested to her to try only one type per day. Her mom wasn’t taking any chances with her son's health, so she took time off from work to stay home for a week with him. This was just to make sure it was done properly, she didn't trust the sitter or a daycare center to be as thorough as she would be. His health began improving after 2 days, not only was he smiling and laughing again, but he had begun having energy, he was bouncing around like a normal toddler again by day 4 and 5. They were ecstatic, finally after months of Doctors and Specialists prodding and poking they had figured it out.

They invited a few family members over, along with the sitter, and a few other neighbors to share the good news. She had explained to me that she also did it to make sure that anyone that would regularly be around him was aware of the reactions he was having, and how he was on a very strict diet now. Everyone there was so happy they had finally figured out what was wrong with him. That week and weekend had passed, and her mom went back to work on Monday. Their family that had come into town to help them, was there for another few days, so they stayed at the house with the kids rather than paying the sitter, the time her mom had taken off wasn't exactly paid time off, so it helped her catch back up a bit financially also. This is when they started noticing some very odd behavior from one of the neighbors.

Through the process of telling me all of this, no more than an hour had actually passed, but I was captivated in such a way that it seemed to me that those whole months of her families worry and angst had been my own within that blip of time. She had stopped crying at this point in her story, and had moved on to having other visibly apparent emotions plastered across her face. I could now see an obvious mixture of confusion and fear. As she began telling me the rest of the story, the reason for that fear became the focal point.

My neighbor came by the first day my mom went back to work, when they were playing in the front yard she had approached them and gave them a brand new pair of shiny leather shoes that were just her brothers size. These were clearly not a cheap pair of shoes, and this neighbor had a corner store that did a great amount of business so she could afford them, they thanked her and thought nothing more of it. The shoes were not the kind you would wear to play in the yard, they were more of a dress shoe, so they put the box up waiting for the proper occasion. A few days later on Wednesday they were out in the front yard playing again. This time it was the same neighbor lady, she came by and asked them how he was doing. Her family told her he was doing much better, and that he had been free of the episodes and hopefully it was for good. The next few things she said set off some alarm bells, ones that couldn't be ignored.

The neighbor then asked them why they hadn't even tried the shoes on her little brother yet. In itself I guess it could be a mildly innocent question. When they answered her with “we just haven't gone anywhere fancy yet.” the neighbor just nodded. Then she asked them to go get the shoes, so she could at least see them on him once. The old neighbor ladies demeanor had visibly changed by this point, it was almost demanding. They also noticed that she had begun fidgeting and started edging further away from them and toward my friend and her little brother. The alarm bells were starting to ring. Immediately her relatives knew that this neighbors odd behavior was significant. They had to get the kids away from her and into the house, but didn't want to let her know that they had picked up on the creepy vibe. They made up some excuse to go inside, and told her that later when their mom had returned from work, they would probably do just that and snap some pictures with the whole family before they left town in a few days. They assured her they would come and get her when they did, so she could see him wearing the shoes. She agreed, but before she walked away, she pulled a pacifier from her pocket and said that he had left it at her house the last time she watched him. She started to walk toward him with it, closing the remaining few paces and was lowering it like she was going to pop it into his mouth. Just as this was happening she told me her relative beat her to him and scooped him up, and then went to grab the pacifier from the neighbor. Her swift action had clearly startled the old neighbor lady, who quickly retracted her hand and dropped the pacifier back into her pocket, turned without another word and quickly walked back in the direction of her house. They knew seeing this something wasn't right. They just had no idea how correct they were at the time.

They found out just a few hours later when her mom got off of work just how much stranger it was, than it actually appeared at the time it was happening. You see, there is a significant detail buried in that whole event that let her mother know now almost exactly what happened to her son that was causing the fevers. When the relatives were telling her mom she began crying, then shaking and moved through that to anger. Her son had NEVER used a pacifier. She repeated it multiple times, “My son has never used a pacifier” her mantra continued. The puzzle pieces were falling into place. The neighbors first visit with the shoe delivery, then the return visit two days later asking about them again was all just a ruse. They knew they had to call the police and report this.

The story doesn't end here with some happy twist, I assure you it's only just begun. The call to the police was only one step, they also wanted to go back to a Doctor and ask if she could have been poisoning him with something, and if so could they possibly test for it. She wanted to bring proof when she went to the police. These were things that would be considered damning evidence in most cases, even circumstantially. She went to his doctor who sadly informed them that there were no detectable traces of any known poisons they could see, they let her know that after the first fever it was one of the things they were already watching out for, but given what she had told the Doctor, he suggested they immediately report it. Her mom did just that, she called the non emergency line to the sheriff's department and requested to speak to a detective. Within the hour there was a detective at their house, they invited him in, and the whole family began telling him about everything. He sat there diligently and rapidly taking notes as they spoke, and as they went he inquired about a few things for clarity. As they were talking hours had passed. They got to the part about the shoes, and her return visits. The detective stops them for a moment and asks if they still have the shoes or any other items she may have given them. They confirm that they did, and went and got the box the new shoes were still in. He got an evidence bag from his car to put the whole box in. At this point my friends confusion is turning to anger, I can see her eyes are starting to fill with tears.

The look on her face makes me ask her .. “Are you sure you want to continue, I do want to hear this but if it's to hard to talk about.. “ she holds her hand up and shakes her head to silence me. “I'm finishing this story .. I have to.” She said that, and I just nodded yes. She did continue her story from here, but she warned me, “the next part it sounds unreal”. She wasn't wrong at all, it did sound a bit crazy, but not so outlandish that it was unbelievable.

Her story takes a turn here that makes my skin crawl in retelling it, especially given what I know now. It's something I didn't learn until at least 2 years after her telling me all of this… but that's for later. Back to her story. . .

The detective that took their statements, and the shoes in an evidence bag just before leaving handed them a pager number on a piece of paper from his notebook. He assured them they would look into this, but told them explicitly not to tell anyone else. Stating that they didn't want anyone to tip her off to the fact that she was being watched or investigated. They understood, but were fairly sure the unmarked car out front for a few hours and the previous turn of events with the neighbor the day before had already started the rumor mill. They were correct. The neighbor became immediately reclusive, she stayed in her yard trimming and transplanting parts of her landscaping, but it was also quite clearly a ploy for keeping an eye on all of the neighbors. She had always done her yardwork in the AM hours and now for almost 3 days straight, she was out there in the front yard inventing things to do.

The detective came by a few days later with a false sense of security for them. He said that just for safety they were going to process an order of some type either a restraining order, or order of protection to make sure she stayed away from them. By this point they had also figure out that his episodes were probably not diet related, after the pacifier incident her mother figured that another way to be sure would be to introduce some normal foods to him slowly. He was fine. The only difference now, was the neighbor wasn't the sitter any longer. He hadn't had an episode in almost 2 weeks, they figured it out. The neighbor was being investigated, and there was a protective order until then. They were finally able to breath and just live, and be a family for the first time in months. No more doctors visits. They just had to keep the kids out of the front yard if the neighbor was home. Easy enough for now.

My friend tells me this part makes her personally feel responsible for what follows. It was a weekend and they were sitting in the living room saturday morning watching cartoons when she sees the neighbors car go by. She asks her mom if they can go outside, her mom saw the car go by also and told her yes but to wait a second. Her mom went to finish what she was doing first, she had been folding laundry at the dining room table she picked up the stack of folded clothes and went to disperse them into the proper bedrooms first. A task that took less than 2 minutes. While she went to put the items away my friend decided to go outside before her mom, she left her little brother at the front door. She went out back to drag a few things to the front yard to play with. Another task that took less than 2 minutes. In that brief two minute window their whole lives would flip.

She was dragging a slip and slide or something on the second trip around front when she heard her mom yell “Nooo !” that's when she looked up and saw it. Her mom had finished putting the laundry up and came out of the hallway into the dining room, when she did she could see her son through the living room window with the neighbor standing right in front of him at the sidewalk in front of their house, the front door was completely ajar. Her little brother had opened the door and walked out front, while she was getting some toys ready. The neighbor walked over and stuck a pacifier in his mouth in the few seconds that nobody saw him. Her mom screamed no just after it happened. The neighbor was already back in her own front doorway by the time her mom made it out to him and pulled the pacifier out of his mouth. From the time she saw them standing there, to the time that she pulled the pacifier out of his mouth was no more than 7 seconds. The neighbor was already back in her own house by then. Her mom immediately ran inside and called 911. She tried to tell them that she was fairly sure the neighbor just poisoned her kid and she was hysterical to the point that she knew she wasn't making much sense in her delivery, but the operator heard enough that she assured her that there was an officer and emergency responders in route.

Just as the sirens were becoming audible, they could see the neighbor standing in the window watching them. Her car then comes around the corner with someone else driving it and pulls into her driveway. The second it does she comes out of her front door, and jumps into the passenger seat, then it pulls off down the street. It's not a whole 3 minutes after her car is out of sight that a sheriff and right after that an ambulance show up. She tells them what happened and about the previous incidents, she's panicking while trying to get the info out to them in a coherent manner. The paramedics are looking at her son, she's talking to the deputy and my friend is crying already blaming herself for the calamity she didn't even know was coming yet, nobody did. The deputy a few minutes after taking her statement walks to his car, he tells her he's going to check to see if the protective order that she had said the other detective had started was in effect, and see if he could get a description of his report. When he is walking back, the look on his face has changed. They know something isn't right when he utters the first phrase, as he does her heart skips a few beats.

“Ma'am we have no report of you talking to a detective, or a restraining or protective order of any kind. “ Her vision goes fuzzy, and she kneels and starts slow steady breathing, she's looking at the detective talking to her, but it's not getting through, all she can hear is her own heartbeat, and at this moment it's roaring like the oceans waves crashing in a storm. Whoosh, whoosh, it starts to slow and she can slowly hear his voice again breaking through. “It certainly would have been filed by now” she hears as he's completing his statement. None of it makes sense, he was there, the whole family talked to him. She blurts out “He even took the shoes she gave us for him, the ones he had never worn. He put them in an evidence bag.” The deputy gets on his radio to make sure there aren't any unfiled reports that are being overlooked. Ma'am I don't know what going on here, but they are fairly clear. Not only is there no report he says, there is also no record of you calling in. She was upside down, and she didn't know what to think. At that moment the neighbors car pulls back up in her driveway. When the Driver and her neighbor get out, her heart sinks again. That's the detective her mom screams and points at the driver. The deputy looks at the neighbor and her driver, he turns back to her and says wait right here. He turns and walks toward them, they see this as they are closing the car doors, and stand there next to the car waiting for his approach. They see the deputy exchange a few words with the pair, and he walks back toward them about 2 minutes later. Ma'am I don't know what kind of stunt you are trying to pull here. Unless I get some clarity on this situation now, you may be getting arrested here. They just told me that a few days ago, he was at her house and you began hurling racial slurs at her, he came over here to diffuse the situation. He also just so happens to be one of our most reputable detectives, and I know him well. He also just told us he's been gone with his aunt shopping since this morning, they haven't been there in hours, she's been with him since she made him breakfast at 7:30, and they left to go out by 8:15, so what's really going on here. She could only utter one short phrase before blacking out, “this isn't happening.” She awakens in an ambulance.

The first thing she hears is the paramedics saying “His fever is climbing fast” and suddenly everything comes back to her in a flood. She is not ok, and she instantly begins to fear for the lives of her whole family. By the time they got to the hospital my friend's brother was already going into seizures of some type and his fever was through the roof. Her mom who had the pacifier clutched in her hand for well over 30 minutes before waking up in the ambulance was also running a fever, and feeling like her insides were starting to burn, she got rolled in through hospital the doors on a stretcher screaming that she was burning alive, they sedated her shortly after. She has no idea how much time has passed when she opens her eyes. But she is still strapped down, this time to a hospital bed. She begins to demand to know what's going on. The nurse tells her that all she knows is that she was brought in having an anxiety attack because her son had been poisoned and that she had been sedated because she was absolutely hysterical when he died. That's how she found out her son passed.

When my friend was standing there in my room talking to me and “that neighbor” walked in, this is the reason that she panicked immediately, it was her neighbor from years before. The one that she said killed her little brother. After that incident the neighbor changed toward us, she never asked me what happened when the girl ran out. She stopped coming by so much, then shortly after that, the anonymous calls to code enforcement started. It happens so many times by her they made it so that Anonymous calls in can no longer be made in our county. Then she started calling animal control, we have video proof that the claims she made were false so the animal control officer called the sheriff's, she again tried to claim that my dog has escaped the yard and attacked her, she even had scratches. The video proves otherwise, so the deputies go back over, and tell her there is proof she filed a false report. Yet nothing has ever been done about any of it. I have even got pulled over a few times randomly and had the officer search me and harass me for no reason, then ask how my neighbor was doing before driving away. One of the last times I got pulled over i have a notebook in my car with a few journalistic notes, and her story. It says “confidential journalistic sources” on the cover. The deputy sees it and picks it up and begins reading it. I immediately object, I do have journalistic freedom even as an independent journalist, and he has just violated it. Not only that, but the story that she has been hiding for years because she was scared for her family still was out. Since then I have a pending, and very valid fear that the sheriff's department will retaliate in some way. Then it happens, a moment where I have to call them because someone has victimized a member of my family. Not only have they literally not done anything about the situation, but they have also in the process made very innocuous threats, but I now take them for exactly what they are.

This is why I am now scared for the life of myself and my family just as my friend had been for so many years. This person has since poisoned one of our dogs, and abused the 911 system, the system of reporting to animal control, and code enforcement. When it happens we get threatened in the same innocuous way, and that's only part of it.

I am publishing this to let everyone know. Should something happen to me. It was probably the local law enforcement that did it. I'm legitimately scared. Since this, not only has my family been provably attacked, we have also been completely ignored when something has happened afterward, and reported a violation to one of the children in our family, 6 months have gone by without them even questioning the person that did it. This good old boy system is frightening when you see inside of it, and even more so when they find out that you have. #Help