Trespassing on a public park
REAL STORY
Question
Hello Paul,
Last night, my boyfriend, myself, and two of our friends (all of us 17 except
for our one 18 year old friend) were driving around the city of Sierra Madre,
CA and we made the grave mistake of going to Memorial Park
(http://cityofsierramadre.com/index.php?mod=memorial_park) and climbing
upon the roof of the public building. We weren't smoking, drinking, having
sex, or anything other than staring at the stars, believe it or not. We were
simply talking about laughing and soon enough the sergeant from the local
police department stopped by and told us "I heard voices from above and it
wasn't God." Haha laugh riot. Anywho, we were told to get down and sit on
the floor. We expected a lecture and to be released since it was a half and
hour before curfew and we were going to get picked up at my boyfriend's
house just two blocks away. Instead, we were patted down (me being a girl, I
was excluded), our information was taken down, we were issued citations for
trespassing on public property (the park closes at 10 pm and it was 10:30)
and told that our parents would be called and we would be released in five
minutes. The sergeant got on the phone and talked for what seemed like half
and hour and then instead of being released, we were taken to the police
station. Once there, our fingerprints and mugshots were taken then our
rights were read to us. Our parents were then called and issued citations as
well and we were finally released around 1 in the morning. This situation has
made me quite angry seeing as how it was just a mistake on our part and a
simple lecture would have sufficed. There were no visible signs saying when
the park closes (there were several no smoking signs which were clearly
visible). The police officer told us that we would have to appear in juvenile
court and explain our case to a judge who would then decide what our
punishment would be. I have a clean record, stellar grades and I was very
complacent during our "detainment" (not arrest). I was wondering what I
should expect and if there is anything I can do to make this simply go away or
if I should be preparing for some headbutting. Thank you for your time.
-Elizabeth
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REAL STORY
Question
Hello Paul,
Last night, my boyfriend, myself, and two of our friends (all of us 17 except
for our one 18 year old friend) were driving around the city of Sierra Madre,
CA and we made the grave mistake of going to Memorial Park
(http://cityofsierramadre.com/index.php?mod=memorial_park) and climbing
upon the roof of the public building. We weren't smoking, drinking, having
sex, or anything other than staring at the stars, believe it or not. We were
simply talking about laughing and soon enough the sergeant from the local
police department stopped by and told us "I heard voices from above and it
wasn't God." Haha laugh riot. Anywho, we were told to get down and sit on
the floor. We expected a lecture and to be released since it was a half and
hour before curfew and we were going to get picked up at my boyfriend's
house just two blocks away. Instead, we were patted down (me being a girl, I
was excluded), our information was taken down, we were issued citations for
trespassing on public property (the park closes at 10 pm and it was 10:30)
and told that our parents would be called and we would be released in five
minutes. The sergeant got on the phone and talked for what seemed like half
and hour and then instead of being released, we were taken to the police
station. Once there, our fingerprints and mugshots were taken then our
rights were read to us. Our parents were then called and issued citations as
well and we were finally released around 1 in the morning. This situation has
made me quite angry seeing as how it was just a mistake on our part and a
simple lecture would have sufficed. There were no visible signs saying when
the park closes (there were several no smoking signs which were clearly
visible). The police officer told us that we would have to appear in juvenile
court and explain our case to a judge who would then decide what our
punishment would be. I have a clean record, stellar grades and I was very
complacent during our "detainment" (not arrest). I was wondering what I
should expect and if there is anything I can do to make this simply go away or
if I should be preparing for some headbutting. Thank you for your time.
-Elizabeth
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');zSB(1,zBT?3:4);w('
')}</SCRIPT>
