Urgent question about whether the cops can help with something...

Drez

Long story short: female friend of mine got into some trouble on Friday. Some guy has her phone and won't give it to her friend to give to her. She doesn't want to see him. But it's her property.

She's supposed to fly to the west coast tomorrow. If she calls the cops, can they somehow help her get the phone back?

Lewisham

Call them on the non-emergency line and see.

VisionOfClarity

It could fall under stolen property. I'd say file a police report.

Drez

Thanks. I basically told her that's what she should do. She doesn't want to escalate the situation, but if the guy doesn't want to give up the goods, what else can she do? She's saying she'll acquiesce and go pick them up from him herself, but that's a really bad idea. First, it's exactly what he is trying to accomplish by withholding the phone from the people she sent to get it from him. Second, he may have roofied her on Friday. No evidence it was him, but she did go to the hospital and they tested her positive for rohypnol (or Benzodiazepines, I guess).

Kakodaimonos

Drez wrote: »

Thanks. I basically told her that's what she should do. She doesn't want to escalate the situation, but if the guy doesn't want to give up the goods, what else can she do? She's saying she'll acquiesce and go pick them up from him herself, but that's a really bad idea. First, it's exactly what he is trying to accomplish by withholding the phone from the people she sent to get it from him. Second, he may have roofied her on Friday. No evidence it was him, but she did go to the hospital and they tested her positive for rohypnol (or Benzodiazepines, I guess).

If she does insist in going to get the phone from him, at least have her go with male (preferably large) friend to just make sure nothing else beyond picking up the phone will happen.

Improvolone

She can probably have a sherrif or something go with her to get it.

Drez

Kakodaimonos wrote: »

Drez wrote: »

Thanks. I basically told her that's what she should do. She doesn't want to escalate the situation, but if the guy doesn't want to give up the goods, what else can she do? She's saying she'll acquiesce and go pick them up from him herself, but that's a really bad idea. First, it's exactly what he is trying to accomplish by withholding the phone from the people she sent to get it from him. Second, he may have roofied her on Friday. No evidence it was him, but she did go to the hospital and they tested her positive for rohypnol (or Benzodiazepines, I guess).

If she does insist in going to get the phone from him, at least have her go with male (preferably large) friend to just make sure nothing else beyond picking up the phone will happen.

I told her that, but I can't make her do it unfortunately. Sigh. I can't go with her myself, or I would - for one thing, I'm far away. For another, I can barely walk. For a third, I'm dealing with my own crisis. But she keeps asking me what to do and I keep telling her to call the cops and track him down. I just think going there by herself - exactly the outcome he wants - is the worst idea in the fucking world.

Drez

Improvolone wrote: »

She can probably have a sherrif or something go with her to get it.

Yeah. I told her.

Thanks, all. I just hope she listens to reason and that this crazy asshole doesn't try anything funny with her.

Awk

Its a phone. Why doesnt she get a new one? If you call your provider and tell them your phone is lost/stolen, often enough they will put a credit on your account to buy a new one.

Again, its a phone. I would just forget about it....

Drez

Awk wrote: »

Its a phone. Why doesnt she get a new one? If you call your provider and tell them your phone is lost/stolen, often enough they will put a credit on your account to buy a new one.

Again, its a phone. I would just forget about it....

She is a social coordinator, and I have a feeling she has a lot of new contacts on her phone from this weekend that are not backed up. I don't know that for sure, I'm just guessing.

But anyway...that's not true unless you have an insurance plan for your phone. I had Asurion, which covered loss/theft and even liquid damage, but not everyone has that, and there is usually a 50 or even 90 dollar deductible. And they mail it to you, which would be too late for her anyway as she is flying out tomorrow.

Descendant X

She was roofied?

CALL THE FUCKING COPS.

Drez

Descendant X wrote: »

She was roofied?

CALL THE FUCKING COPS.

She doesn't have any evidence it was him. I think it was and she thinks it was, but how can anyone prove it? She did go to the hospital and tested positive for it, and the cops apparently took her to her apartment that night. It's hard to make sense of what happened since I wasn't there. But I'm assuming there is a police report already.

DragonPup

Descendant X wrote: »

She was roofied?

CALL THE FUCKING COPS.

She was roofied, and a skeezy guy is holding her property hostage unless she comes to see him. Cops need to step in.

MushroomStick

Drez wrote: »

Descendant X wrote: »

She was roofied?

CALL THE FUCKING COPS.

She doesn't have any evidence it was him. I think it was and she thinks it was, but how can anyone prove it? She did go to the hospital and tested positive for it, and the cops apparently took her to her apartment that night. It's hard to make sense of what happened since I wasn't there. But I'm assuming there is a police report already.

Well, you know he has her phone. Maybe that'd be enough of a reason for the cops to see if he has roofies.

Awk

A judge would need to sign an order to search for the drugs. And circumstancial evidence won't fly with a judge.

FyreWulff

She needs to go to the police yesterday.

Also she needs to have the phone remotely wiped if they do not do anything right away if the option is available.

Figgy

Awk wrote: »

Its a phone. Why doesnt she get a new one? If you call your provider and tell them your phone is lost/stolen, often enough they will put a credit on your account to buy a new one.

Again, its a phone. I would just forget about it....

Uh, what? What provider do you know will simply buy you a brand new phone because you say yours was lost? Do you not see how ridiculously easy this would be to abuse? This doesn't happen.

Even with the new policy with Rogers (my company), they'll offer you a one-time replacement, but unless you had a $50 cell phone, you're not going to get the same phone you lost.

hardxcore_conservative

I just want to chip in and advise that she tell the cops that she believes she was roofied. Maybe she should bring the results of her test if possible.

This will introduce an element of probable cause to the venture; it probably won't allow them to bring a sexual assault charge to court, but maybe they can meet whatever warrant requirements are necessary to search the guy's house for the cell and controlled substances.

Even if they choose not to turn this into an investigation, mentioning the benzodiazepenes might persuade the police to play hardball when they would otherwise treated this as a routine complaint.

Awk

Figgy wrote: »

Awk wrote: »

Its a phone. Why doesnt she get a new one? If you call your provider and tell them your phone is lost/stolen, often enough they will put a credit on your account to buy a new one.

Again, its a phone. I would just forget about it....

Uh, what? What provider do you know will simply buy you a brand new phone because you say yours was lost? Do you not see how ridiculously easy this would be to abuse? This doesn't happen.

Even with the new policy with Rogers (my company), they'll offer you a one-time replacement, but unless you had a $50 cell phone, you're not going to get the same phone you lost.

I lost my phone about a month ago, called my provider and told them to freeze my account until i got a new phone. Operator added 75$ to my tab to get a new one.. any more questions?

MushroomStick

Awk wrote: »

Figgy wrote: »

Awk wrote: »

Its a phone. Why doesnt she get a new one? If you call your provider and tell them your phone is lost/stolen, often enough they will put a credit on your account to buy a new one.

Again, its a phone. I would just forget about it....

Uh, what? What provider do you know will simply buy you a brand new phone because you say yours was lost? Do you not see how ridiculously easy this would be to abuse? This doesn't happen.

Even with the new policy with Rogers (my company), they'll offer you a one-time replacement, but unless you had a $50 cell phone, you're not going to get the same phone you lost.

I lost my phone about a month ago, called my provider and told them to freeze my account until i got a new phone. Operator added 75$ to my tab to get a new one.. any more questions?

With the american cell companies, $75 isn't going to replace your smartphone unless you pay for the insurance on it every month.

Awk

I was misunderstood. I meant the provider might help provide a partial credit in order to help afford a new phone. Its worth a try if you lose a phone anyway.

Regardless, make 100% sure that this friend of yours does not go alone, at all costs. Thats some scary shit and Im lost for words that your friend is thinking of even going near him.

RepoMan1023

This post is probably a day late but I'll add my 2 cents.

There are a few things you can do. The first is call the police and ask them to stand by with her as she goes to pick up the phone. It's called a "keep the peace" call and it's fairly routine. Make sure to tell them that you think he may have roofi'ed you and that is why he has the phone. If you are lucky, he will allow the police into his home as he retrieves the phone and then you've got a chance to see if there is anything in plain sight.

The second thing you can do is call the police and see what report was filed. Hopefully the initial patrol officer filed it as a possible sexual assault and not as a "drunk girl falls down." Ask to speak to a sexual assault detective (or whatever detective that handles that type of crime) regarding it. Explain the situation to the detective and if you are lucky, they may go with her to get the phone and interview the guy.