I was locked up for 44 hours

Aren't there a few cops who frequent these boards? No comments from them, yet.

Livetotravel wrote: I don't know you, I don't know the circumstances of the 2005 warrant and I don't really know anything more about the domestic violence complaint than what you cared to share with a bunch of fucking strangers. I don't know why you chose this forum to air your grievance. Do you not have real world friends on whose shoulders you can cry?

dude what is your problem, every post you ever made on this board is to confront people and being nasty.

you sir are the only person on this board should get a real life and stop harassing people.

i'm just going to remark on riding on sidewalks, not anything else.

i haven't been on a bike in like ten years. i've very seriously thought of getting one because it would be fun and excercise, etc. but because i haven't been on one, the thought of riding it down our crazy crowded streets, or worse in the park, terrifies me.

armchair_warrior wrote: [quote=Livetotravel]I don't know you, I don't know the circumstances of the 2005 warrant and I don't really know anything more about the domestic violence complaint than what you cared to share with a bunch of fucking strangers. I don't know why you chose this forum to air your grievance. Do you not have real world friends on whose shoulders you can cry?

dude what is your problem, every post you ever made on this board is to confront people and being nasty.

you sir are the only person on this board should get a real life and stop harassing people.

Of course we all know that you. Mr Warrior, are the paragon of civil discourse and good taste. So I will take you comments appropriately to heart. Thanks for taking the time out of your busy social life to respond.

We have a nine year-old and I still make him ride on the sidewalk. When the family goes out together one of us is on the sidewalk with the little ones and the other is in the street. I will defend to the death my right to do so, especially since nine year-olds exhibit very little in the way of common sense. We learned this the hard way when we were returning from a ride to Ft. Green and allowed him to try riding in the streets. Coming down South Portland at Atlantic the light turns from green to yellow and the boy pedals furiously out into traffic. Fortunately no one was barreling down Atlantic and he made it to the other side without incident, but he will be on the sidewalk until his decision making ability is equal to his death wish.

homeowner wrote: We have a nine year-old and I still make him ride on the sidewalk. When the family goes out together one of us is on the sidewalk with the little ones and the other is in the street. I will defend to the death my right to do so, especially since nine year-olds exhibit very little in the way of common sense. We learned this the hard way when we were returning from a ride to Ft. Green and allowed him to try riding in the streets. Coming down South Portland at Atlantic the light turns from green to yellow and the boy pedals furiously out into traffic. Fortunately no one was barreling down Atlantic and he made it to the other side without incident, but he will be on the sidewalk until his decision making ability is equal to his death wish.

You are probably legal too, FWIW. The law is "Bicyclists must ride on the street, never on the sidewalks (unless under age 14 and the bicycle has wheels less than 26 inches in diameter)."
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/bicyclists/bikesafe.shtml

Carmen wrote: [quote=brooklynpotter]i'm just going to remark on riding on sidewalks, not anything else.

i haven't been on a bike in like ten years. i've very seriously thought of getting one because it would be fun and excercise, etc. but because i haven't been on one, the thought of riding it down our crazy crowded streets, or worse in the park, terrifies me.

I just recently bought a bike after not being on one since I was like 5, and I rode on the sidewalks a bit because i was totally terrified of getting squashed by a car. I actually rode on the sidewalk past a cop once and they didn't say anything. I guess it just depends on who is partolling

I tend to hop on the sidewalk in bad traffic. My bad.

dailyheights wrote: Aren't there a few cops who frequent these boards? No comments from them, yet.

I mentioned this on one of the other boards and got a response from KWAC:

http://brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=36786

The same thing happened to me last year, only I was held for just under 24 hours. They are not legally supposed to hold you for more than 24 hours if you not in there for something violent.

I had an outstanding ticket from a year and a half previous {sidewalk bike riding} that I blew off, didn't take it seriously. I own two businesses in Prospect Heights, am a stable, law abiding, neighborhood minded citizen, never been in any type of trouble before and had no idea there was a warrant for my arrest for not answering the ticket. Was riding down Fulton, there was major construction in the street, so I got on the sidewalk and started riding again for a few blocks to pass the construction. Cop steps out of a doorway, asks for ID, finds out about the warrant, and cuffs me, a small, white, middle aged lady on a kids bike, on Fulton in the middle of the afternoon. I was crying and it was a real amusing circus for passerby. They made me stand in the 98 degree sun, cuffed, for 35 minutes, while being screamed at 3 inches from my face by a black female officer. The cop then threw my bike into the back of the cruiser and we went to the station in Bed Stuy. I make my living with my hands, and the cuffs were on so tight, they were going numb. I asked if they would loosen them in the car, and was flatly refused. I was afraid of getting nerve damage.

After being fingerprinted and photographed, I was held in the station cell for 6 hours with a black woman I befriended, Sondra. We were both terrified. She was also in for a minor warrant {teenage shoplifting} over 10 years ago, she now was a mom with small children and a college student studying nursing, and she could not get out to care for her children. She told me what to expect at Central Booking and to keep my head down and not talk to anyone.

We were brought to Central Booking in Downtown Brooklyn around 9 that night. After being questioned about my health, menstrual history, and having things said to me like: "Ever been tested for Tuberculosis? after this you'd better be". We were put in a cell with about 15 other women, these poor, and ALL were poor, women were the dregs of our society, jonesing crackheads and junkies, streetwalkers, thieves, some who got into fist fights, a few who were obviously mentally unhinged. One young girl, about 18, weighed about 80 lbs, dressed in her pajamas, had gotten into a fist fight with a cousin in her home. The cousin called police, and she was arrested, and was now in with us. There was a Caribbean woman who had no-one to call, no money, she was another fist fight participant, she had been in there for 3 days, a "paperwork identity mixup".

The smell was horrific, bodily filth crusted on everything, the lights bright 24 hours a day, freezing cold, there was a rat in our cell hiding under the radiator, waterbugs and cockroaches crawling around. There were a few filthy gym mats to sleep on and hard benches. I finally cried myself to sleep for about 2 hours.

There was a disgusting toilet in the corner with a partition, I peed into it once, but didn't eat or drink anything for the entire experience, 23 hours.

We were offered white bread with small smears of watery peanut butter and a small carton of milk a few times, or tiny oranges. I could eat nothing.

The next day around 1 in the afternoon, we were moved to a cell to talk with our court appointed lawyer and see the judge. We spent over 3 hours in there, a room whose ceiling was green and black with mildew and mold. I was lucky it was a Monday, and there weren't more of us. When I finally saw the judge, he thought the whole thing was amusing, gave me 6 months "probation", and made me promise to stay off the sidewalk with my bike. The $100. fine was dismissed.

I was let out with no way to get home or keys, since my backpack was left at the Bed Stuy station. A friend had tried to get me a note or word {she was refused} while I was in Central Booking {she was my one phone call} to let me know she had taken care of my dogs and left my bag at my apartment, let in by my landlady. I had no idea, and had worried about them not being walked or fed for 24 hours. I walked back home to Crown Heights from downtown in a numb state, physically and mentally.

When I got there, my landlady let me in, and I looked in my backpack. The contents had been completely torn apart, business cards, phone book, notebooks, wallets with filed vendor information, personal and business letters opened and left out of envelopes, all dumped out in a big pile and completely rifled through. They are supposed to make a list of my belongings, there was no list.

I have never felt so violated for no reason in my entire life. A shower could not get the stench and feel of filth off me. I could hardly talk for about 3 days, I was definitely traumatized. This is the first time I've written about the experience publicly.

I have told some friends, and to my surprise, this is a common occurance, we're not singled out. It was like being in a third world country. Knowing that my taxes, which I work so hard for, are paying for police and the judicial system to prosecute non-violent, victimless "crimes" like this makes me sick and want to leave this city. Meanwhile, drug dealers work my neighborhood, openly.

The whole thing was unbelievable, yet very real.

I feel for you. You are not alone. If you start talking to people, you'll find out it happens all the time. It does.

Talk to a lawyer, too.

Those are both horrible stories.

And the moral I see for those of us playing along at home is to NOT ignore bullshit tickets from the NYPD. In fact, I believe I am hereby inspired to make sure I figure out what the hell the thing I got in the mail last month that didn't make any sense and I chucked was really all about. I don't want to open myself up to this sort of nonsense if there is any possible way to avoid it.

These stories are shocking. It seems that everyone in there is assumed guilty by the cops (hence made to wait in filth), while the judges see things for what they are (but too late to save you from a day or two in hell).

Who throws out tickets though? Where do you folks get THAT idea from? Has that ever worked, for anyone? It seems that you're inviting trouble to come when you least expect it, which is what happened in both cases. Not that you expected to be detained in filth, but since you didnt know, why take the chance and assume it would be a cakewalk? I dont know where this feeling that you can throw away tickets comes from.

Drunken Revival wrote: I should have paid my ticket as well. On the bright side, by not paying it, I saved the $50 or $75 because the judge threw out the bike ticket on the spot.

Only cost my 44 hours of freedom. Life is full of trade-offs.

LOL, most of us would pay twice that to avoid what you described.

Anyway, glad to hear neither of you were assaulted in the slammer. That could easily have happened.

Drunken Revival wrote:
My final comment on this subject is as follows: Girls (and guys), next time you have a breakup with someone that you still really love don't allow your emotions to cloud your normally fine judgement. Don't file a complaint against someone because you can't deal with what is done.

Seems to me charges should be brought against your ex for using the system to handle her emotions. That plus paying what it cost the taxpayers for the whole incident. Ridiculous to say the least.

Is there a website where you can find out if you have outstanding tickets or warrants?

After these stories, I'm feeling paranoid. A long time ago, I got a letter in the mail about a parking ticket that I had (supposedly) been issued many months before and something to the effect that my negligence to pay it had slowly been upping the amount. There had been no ticket on the car (or I would have dealt with it as usual) and on top of that, the time/location of the ticket were such that I could have fought it if I had gotten it in time. (The ticket was officially issued at 10:45 am for alt. side parking on a spot where it didn't start until 11 am). What if there were other tickets that I never got?