Pillar of the Community

We live in a good city with a low crime rate. I guess we have a problem citizen. This is what happened. My daughter is 15-years old. She was riding her bicycle home from a friend's house at 4:30pm on a Sunday. She was supposed to be home at 3:00pm. She felt a poke on her leg and stopped her bike to brush a bug off of it. A man approached her and started talking to her. She said, "excuse me sir, I have to go home." The man, a pillar of our community, screamed, "No," and punched her in the back of the head." My daughter rode her bike home and told me that a black man hit her and that she was scared. She was crying and had mascara running down her face. She was also past the time that she was supposed to be home. I suspected that she might be fibbing so I asked her a few questions. I called the police because it just didn't seem like she was making this up.

The police questioned her and then asked me if I would press charges if they got this guy. Momma bear did not hesitate. I said absolutely but asked how they were going to find him. The cop smirked a bit and said that they got him about 30 minutes ago when the call came in from me. Apparently, he is a frequent flier with the police force. We pressed charges. My daughter and I were both subpoenaed to the guy's trial date.

Here is his picture. The guy looks like he can barely keep his eyes open in his jail photo.

Meanwhile, the police blotter report was this.

Police arrested J of X, age 55, for allegedly hitting a 15-year-old girl in the back of the head. The girl was riding her bike on the sidewalk of the # block of Y Street when J approached her and began talking to her in slurred speech.According to the report, the teen told police he had the smell of alcohol about him, and she said that she didn't want to talk. As she turned to go, J allegedly struck her from behind with his fist, knocking her down. He then fled, but police found him sleeping at the intersection of A and Y Street.
He was taken into custody, and has a court date of Z.
The previous day, J was cited for drinking a 12-ounce Miller Lite out in public in the same area.

The part of him fleeing and then sleeping makes me wonder. Oh, I just punched a teenage girl. I must flee so the police do not arrest me. However, I am so tired. I will just take a nap here, two blocks away. They will never find me.

We found out that the defendant had multiple run ins with the law and multiple convictions but that this was his first time being a violent offender. He approached her with one goal - to ask her for some money so he could buy beer.

They charged him with battery, which is a Class A misdemeanor. It took two hours of sitting on the wooden bench until our case resolved. We had spoken with the State's Attorney and the State offered the Defense a plea. Twenty-four months of conditional release, 240 hours of SWAP (Sheriff's Work Alternative Program), and orders not to contact us or go near the high school. If he gets arrested during his conditional release, he goes to jail even if he is not convicted of a crime. The SWAP program is like a hard labor camp. They pick up trash and other such menial chores with those orange vests on. If he is even a minute late to one of the the work days, he goes to jail. The jail sentence will be the same as the conditional release program if be violates the conditional release terms and the time period starts over again.

I am happy that my daughter got to see our justice system in action and that it was a positive outcome. The judge even thanked my daughter for coming to court. One benefit to this fiasco is that my daughter has been taking school more seriously and has been complying with the curfews that we set.

I do worry about this man. As my grandfather used to say, "it takes all kinds to make up this world." This man does not seem to have a happy life. I hope this is the wake up call he needs to get his life on track. It is never too late to turn your life around.