Arrested on route to emergency hospital with Mickey

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Amy and Mickey

Member Since 2010
Friday night while I was giving Mickey sub-Q he started wheezing. I called my vet and he told me to rush him to emergency. On my way, I was stopped by police. I got out of the car and ran over to the police car (1st mistake). I told the officer I had an emergency that my cat couldnt breathe and I had to get him to the hospital. He yelled at me to get back in the car. I pleaded with him, he just repeated his screams. I drove away, not erratic, not speeding, thinking only of Mickey, my 20 year old companion, never even beginning to understand the consequences.
The short, when they stopped me down the road, they got out of their cars with guns (the lady going to the vet is a big threat)got punched in the head, hair pulled, head smashed into the ground, etc. arrested (for the first time)....I kept saying "listen to me, I have an emergency, listen to me, Im trying to get to the hospital, my cat is in the car, please....They took me away. The emergency hospital was down the road. They left my cat in the car for over 2 hours. Not one of them drove my cat down the road to the hospital. They didnt care. He was laying on my front seat on a blanket. The tow truck driver picked up my car, with him in it....he was not in a carrier (were my windows open or closed? which is worse?)....and dropped him at the hospital (thankfully didnt throw him out the window into the marsh). Again, over 2 hours later. How scary is this? Animal cruelty. My poor boy. Ive been shaking for days.
Scary that police cant differentiate citizens with emergencies from criminals. And so so sad how his precious life means so much to me, and so little to them.
 
Amy and Mickey said:
Friday night while I was giving Mickey sub-Q he started wheezing. I called my vet and he told me to rush him to emergency. On my way, I was stopped by police. I got out of the car and ran over to the police car (1st mistake). I told the officer I had an emergency that my cat couldnt breathe and I had to get him to the hospital. He yelled at me to get back in the car. I pleaded with him, he just repeated his screams. I drove away, not erratic, not speeding, thinking only of Mickey, my 20 year old companion, never even beginning to understand the consequences.
The short, when they stopped me down the road, they got out of their cars with guns (the lady going to the vet is a big threat)got punched in the head, hair pulled, head smashed into the ground, etc. arrested (for the first time)....I kept saying "listen to me, I have an emergency, listen to me, Im trying to get to the hospital, my cat is in the car, please....They took me away. The emergency hospital was down the road. They left my cat in the car for over 2 hours. Not one of them drove my cat down the road to the hospital. They didnt care. He was laying on my front seat on a blanket. The tow truck driver picked up my car, with him in it....he was not in a carrier (were my windows open or closed? which is worse?)....and dropped him at the hospital (thankfully didnt throw him out the window into the marsh). Again, over 2 hours later. How scary is this? Animal cruelty. My poor boy. Ive been shaking for days.
Scary that police cant differentiate citizens with emergencies from criminals. And so so sad how his precious life means so much to me, and so little to them. my email is mia546@optonline.net.
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I would lodge a complaint against the police and I would also report to other authorities and report to the local newspapers. I would NOT let this sort of 'assault' go.
 
I would report this story to the news media immediately.

While you do need to follow their directions, there is no need for the level of restraint that was used unless you physically attacked first.

Shameful!
 
I agree with the others. Report this to the police, newspapers, radio. Get your story out there. There is no reason for them to assult you. Look in the car cops...do you see the poor kitty in the carrier.

REPORT them.

pattie

How is Mickey.
 
Oh my gosh Poor Mickey. I hope and pray he is ok. And poor YOU!
I agree with the others. I know police are inundated with crazies these days but this was over the top. My best advice to you...Get a good lawyer.
jeanne
 
Oh my god. First off, how is Mickey?

Not sure how modernized that police department is, but it could be that all of that was captured on camera from their car. I'd suggest a lawyer, and ask for the video footage assuming there is any.
I would have escorted you to the ER and then taken care of any tickets that needed to be given. That's just insane.

Carl
 
Amy, please tell us how Mickey is doing right away.

Where are you, Amy? It's a long shot, but I might know a lawyer in the area. I have to say I'm really surprised that the officers beat a woman. If we are getting all the details straight it's quite shocking. If so, I think that a good lawyer can probably get a better result BECAUSE Amy was beaten. Amy should see a plaintiff's lawyer even if she can't hire a criminal defense attorney. If the plaintiff's lawyer will take her case, he can work with her public defender to try to get a reasonable settlement of her criminal charges.

If there had been a child in the car who was severely ill, the officers would have provided first responder care and called an ambulance, and they probably wouldn't have beaten Amy had that been her story. This business of cats being second class citizens is a fact of life, and it makes the need to stay calm all the more important. This is not to excuse the police officers' behavior, and I believe that what they did was animal cruelty. It would be animal cruelty if Amy had done it. This is the height of Summer - leaving an animal in a car provokes a call to police under the best of circumstances -- a sick animal who is having trouble breathing? I think Amy should contact the newspapers, and some sort of animal advocacy group to complain about this, and try to get a report out that will shame these officers. Amy's actions by driving away do not excuse the fact that they abandoned a sick animal to the Summer heat in a vehicle.

Amy, I completely understand why you panicked. It was a natural, human thing to do. Making a huge mistake is a natural, human thing to do under these circumstances. Fortunately, most of us don't have the opportunity to make such a mistake or we somehow keep our cool.

For everyone reading this, you might or might not know this, the cops are trained to freak out when you get out of your car. Sometimes, they are still waiting for the information about your car and it's registered owner to come back to them after you are stopped and waiting for them to come to your car. Without this information they don't know if you are wanted, armed, driving a stolen vehicle, etc. When you get out of the car it sends them into panic mode, too. When everyone on both sides of the equation is panicking, it's a recipe for disaster. Too many officers are not trained to deal with people who are panicking. They either have a natural ability to do that well, or they don't. Additionally, they have heard every story in the book and 99% of the time that story turns out to be a lie.

You have to stay calm, and ask the officer for help after he approaches your car. The best thing to do get your licence, registration and insurance out, and have it ready and waiting. Let the officer speak first, and as soon as he is done, tell him/her you are in desperate need of his help. In in most circumstances he will want to help. Of course, we all know that this desire to help depends on whether you look like "the wrong kind of people," but hopefully you don't the day you need their help.
 
I agree...get a lawyer! get the dash came video of them beating the crap out of you. SUE them! The big talk around here this week is how the cops in Lake County knocked on someone's door at like 2am, did NOT announce who they were and when the resident opened the door with his pistol in his hand they shot him DEAD. And it wasn't even the person they were looking for! They then deiced to upgrade the charges on the person they were looking for from assualt to attempted murder! The police pull such crap these days!
 
I AM lucky I wasn't shot, my fault....but a little understanding would have went a long way here. Animal friendly plates, no points, I dont know, a little common sense these guys need.

Mickey went in and was put in oxygen. That and a lot $$$$ of other things. He was under great stress. He is very sick, weak, in kidney failure and going down hill. His days with me are numbered and I try to make the best of them. I love this little guy, you all know, or you wouldn't be here. It is very hard to face that I am losing him.

With regards to me, the police can pretty much do what ever they have to as long as they don't break bones. So too bad for me. I do have a criminal lawyer (believe this?) I have court in a few weeks in Fairfield NJ, and hopefully I don't lose my license over this. The police posted the incident on the web, but out right lied about taking him to the vet. What they did to him...does anyone care? No one cares.
 
Get a lawyer, get the dashboard footage and prove they are lying in their report. This'll make a great human interest story for your local station and get attention on this. Stuff like this needs to get addressed or this jerk will never learn
 
Punched? Head smashed into the ground? Were you badly injured? Did you end up going to the hospital? Did the vet at the ER ask where you got that nasty head wound? That had to have left a mark...

Take pictures of your injuries and Mickey, post a YouTube video, then post the link on Twitter and on your Facebook page if you have one. Find pet-friendly websites and post a link to your YT video. If it goes viral you'll be getting a ton of apologies and restitution in a matter of hours...
 
Was this state police or local?

If state, honestly - send an email to Christie and see if he will do anything about this. At a minimum he should know how his officers treat the public.

I'm in NJ too, so I feel your pain. My local police are one of the nastiness around and the rules that apply to you and I, don't apply to them.

I'm sorry you had to go through that and sorry about Mickey.
 
Amy, I am so sorry this happened to you. My prayers are with you. I agree with others...get your side of the story out...tell the media, tell Christie. I am sorry that Mickey isn't doing well. You did not deserve this. Sending white light your way.
 
I am so sorry you went through that, and mickey too .. None of that is right, at all .. I hope you find someone who will fight for you and your poor kitty ..
 
Oh Amy, what a nightmare! I am so sorry too that you went through all that and also for poor Mickey. I am so sorry he is not doing well. Sending hugs and prayers for both of you.
 
I am so sorry about Mickey. Try to spend as much quality time with him as you can...

As for you, pix of your wounds are very very important. Let your public defender/criminal lawyer handle whatever you are charged with. Get a different atty for yourself, for your "cruelty to animals & having been battered" complaint--a plaintiff-friendly personal injury attorney for having been battered & beaten by the police. If you were taken to the ER or received any kind of medical treatment for your wounds, there are medical records. Sue them. Your criminal atty will not take care of this for you. you do not have to tell that atty anything. EDITED TO AMEND: I should have said "you do not have to tell the [criminal/PD] atty about any personal injury complaint you may engage unless your personal injury atty advises you to do so." The PD He/she (END OF EDIT) works for the same people the police do (EDITED TO ADD: "the government".END of EDIT You need your own atty for the personal injury/cruelty complaint. get your own personal injury atty, at least talk to one, or two, or ten. (I'm a paralegal, for a plaintiff friendly personal injury atty, can you tell.) And of course there are the vet records and as mentioned above they will know that it was not the police but the truck driver that brought Mickey in. Most personal injury attys will not charge you anything to talk to you, and most at least here in the South work on contingency, so if they don't recover anything on your behalf you don't pay them anything. They take their fee out of settlement funds. If there is no settlement, they don't get paid.

And I also agree with everyone else: get your and Mickey's story out into the media.

Desi

PS: the last time I had to rush to a hospital for an emergency I had to drive thru 2 parishes (counties to the rest of you). I made a quick call to the local Sheriff's dept & quickly explained the emergency, asked for an escort. They said they could not escort (too much liability if there's an accident) but to turn my flashers on, drive as fast as I could as safely as I could (they recommended 70-75mph on the state highways) and said they would alert not only all police including State Troopers in my parish but in the next one I had to drive thru too. Hopefully none of you will ever be in a situation like this or the one like Amy describes above but that one little quick 2 minute phone call as I was driving out my road kept me out of a lot of trouble on the way to the emergency.
 
Just gotta respond to the "public defenders work for the same people the police do" comment. Maybe that's true in your county/state. I won't say it never happens, but there are many, many PDs who consider it an honor to do their jobs well, and who hate to see this kind of thing happen to a client. I was one.

I would not second the implication that you not do not have to tell the criminal attorney or public defender "anything." I'm not sure what was meant by that, and I respect the distrust and fear that people have of public defenders because of some bad apples. However, if you withhold information from your criminal attorney you'll definitely not get good representation. Your attorney has an ethical obligation to not disclose anything you tell him or her not to disclose, and if he is going to divulge confidential information, he or she should discuss the pros and cons of such an action with you and get your consent. Quite frankly, in a case like yours, there are probably very few if any secrets. They saw you driving when you did whatever it was the original officer stopped you for doing, and he saw you drive off. Why you did it was made clear to him, too. If there are any secrets, you have not made them clear to us and I SUGGEST YOU DO NOT. In fact, I suggest you not discuss this incident any further with anyone other than your lawyer or lawyers. In any event, if you aren't honest with your criminal attorney you are throwing away whatever chance you might have had to get good representation. This goes for PDs, too. If you can't pay a lawyer, you are throwing away your right to counsel if you distrust your PD because some other PD did something wrong.

Your private criminal attorney might, if he/she does plaintiff's work, too, handle these kind of complaints also, but if you have a PD, he/she can't officially handle your civil case. However, depending on the political climate in your county/state, and whether you get a good PD, there might be some advantage to getting the two of them to talk to one another.

As for not having to pay anything if you don't get a settlement or win at trial -- it's a double edged sword. If any attorney takes your case and is wrong about it's chance of winning, you don't pay attorney fees, but you may need to pay court fees and "costs:" postage, faxes, copying charges, etc. Make it clear ahead of time what you will be responsible for if the case doesn't win or settle.

If the attorneys you talk to don't think they will get anything, they won't take your case, ninety-nine times out of a hundred. This results in a lot of cases that are not likely to win, but are not complete duds, never being brought because no attorney will take the case. Almost no one takes on a case that will not result in any fees at all. It's called pro bono if you get free counsel because some attorney or advocacy group decides your case is one they want to be an example for curbing police excessive force in their areas. That is why I recommended contacting an advocacy group. I suggest you call NACDL, National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys. Tell them you and your pet have been the victims of police brutality and neglect/abuse, and ask if they can help you find a group that will pay your fees. Call PETA, too. DO NOT TELL THEM THE DETAILS OF YOUR CASE -- keep all that you have to say about this from this point forward between you and your attorney unless you are talking to an attorney who agrees your statements are attorney client privileged.

As for the calling ahead re: the emergency -- great idea!
 
Dale gives good advice above. I just want to point out / clarify that I did not mean hire a different criminal atty, I meant talk to an atty that specializes in Personal Injury (as opposed to criminal). A Personal Injury (PI) attorney would likely handle the injury issues only, if any, and any civil lawsuits filed, if any.

I only said not to tell the PD about any personal injury civil suit b/c if that was a suit against, say, the police, it might compromise things. I wholeheartedly agree however that information relative to the issues about when you got pulled over should not be withheld from your PD at all.

I also agree with Dale that you should probably only be talking to your atty or attys about this at this point too.

Contacting PETA is a great idea too, I have had really good luck with them. Someone dumped a sick beagle off here (I'm sure they dumped him b/c he was dying) but left his collar on! With their contact info. Morons. So I tracked them down and called the # & the man said he was not driving all the way back over here to get that dog (it's about an hour's drive or so) but would I mail him back the collar (it had this fancy little brass tag sewn onto it)? Man, I went ballistic. I called PETA and they sicked the local authorities on this moron and everything. Sadly, this poor little dog died after only about two weeks, but at least the last two weeks of his life were here where he knew love and kindness and not cruelty. I buried him down by the creek with his collar. PETA was there with me every step of the way.

And truly my comment about not telling the PD "anything" should have read "not telling him about any potential lawsuit." I just meant that if the PD and the police are buddies (like here) you would not want to compromise any possible PI lawsuit. That would be a question to ask any PI atty you talk to about this issue, whether or not you should mention any personal injury action to your PD. Really that comment was more based on personal experience and the fact that I live in Louisiana, not too far from New Orleans, where things do tend to be a little lot different here in many regards (like the moron described above), including...well, never mind, that pretty much explains that!

Let me put it this way: my culture shock moving to Louisiana after having lived in the Midwest for 30+ years was a whole lot worse than it was when I moved from the Midwest to China!

Go figure.
 
Well, that's terrible that one can't risk telling his PD that he is filing a lawsuit for excessive force. Not entirely surprising, but it's a huge, huge, huge ethics violation to let that affect an attorney's representation of a client. Disgusting. Not to mention that it makes the police more careless, and if they feel like it, more brutal.

Oh, yes, the South is a different place indeed. I went to law school there and saw some pretty horrendous things. I watched a judge tell a man charged with a misdemeanor that he (the judge) could put him (the man) away where no one could ever find him. This was certainly because he looked like "the wrong kind of people." Well, I hope NJ isn't that way, but even in the same state you will see very, very different attitudes from county to county. It's a good idea to let your civil lawyer make the call on whether to involve the criminal attorney. Where I am it's possible to get some consideration for those types of things as long as you are not dealing with a very serious or violent crime.
 
Amy -

I am so sorry for what you went through and pray you get everything resolved quickly and correctly.

I don't know the details (and don't need to know them) but can imagine the panic that caused you to leave your car to speak with the officer. Yes, for safety reasons they don't want someone approaching their car while they're running a check. You know you're not dangerous, but they have no way of knowing that.

While I know we're all trying to help and empathize, I think we need to be careful about the generalizations I've been reading. No group of people can be lumped together. Yes, there are some police officers who aren't cut out for the job, but there are an awful lot of officers who do a thankless job for little pay and lousy hours. Yes, there are 'bad' public defenders, but there are many who go above and beyond for their clients. The same is true for judges, magistrates, etc. As far back as my family can be traced, we have lived in this part of North Carolina and I'm proud to live in the South. I'm sure you can see some "horrendous things" here, but people are people, so you can see "horrendous things" everywhere. I have friends and family who are good, honest, decent, hard-working police officers, judges, magistrates, lawyers, etc. trying to do their best in the job they feel God has called them to do. Let's try not to make offensive sweeping generalizations about professions OR regions.

DD & Tinkerbell - What a good idea about phoning ahead. I never would've thought of that. Guess those phone numbers would be good to add to my 'be ready to run out the door kit.' Thank you.

Again, Amy, I am so terribly sorry you had to go through this ordeal. I can't imagine how scared you must've been. I pray you have Mickey back home with you soon and can spend whatever time he has left together.

Hugs and Prayers -

Libby (& Hershey, too!)
 
Scary situation. You've taught us all a lot.

Be sure to write a letter of commendation to the towing company and reward that driver's intelligent action. A copy to the editor of your local paper wouldn't hurt either.

Hope
the cat is doing ok.
 
I just want everyone to know Mickey is gone. I had to let him go. He lived 6 years with diabetes because of the founder of this site, all the people who have experience and use it to help others, and the love and dedication I had for him. I did my best, he had the absolute best care, and this is life. Losing a 20 year old cat (Russian Blue, which is more like a dog) is like losing a family member. I loved him with all of my heart. Again, thanks to those who help everyone learn, we couldn't have done it without all of you.
 
I'm so sorry for your loss ((((Amy))))).

Mickey is doing well at the rainbow bridge and is playing with all the other furbabies waiting for their loved ones to join them. I hope he sends you a sign to let you know he is okay (((more hugs))).
 
Oh, Amy -

I am so very sorry for your loss. You were a good mama to Mickey and he was fortunate to have found you.

Praying your memories will bring you comfort in the days ahead -

Libby (& Hershey, too!)
 
I am so very sorry for your loss. May your memories give you comfort.
 
My thoughts are with you. I'm sorry that you are hurting, and I hope you heal quickly. You gave him 6 more years of life; good life, and he was lucky to have found you.
 
So sorry to hear about what happened to you and Mickey. We had to drive our cat to our old vet once because she had squamous cell carcinoma and was in end stage. It was a 220 mile trip, late and we were tired and very worried about our cat. My husband accidentally ran a stop sign (it was dark and the stop sign was on the side of the road, not where you would normally see a stop sign). We got pulled over and the officer was rude even after we explained about our cat. We just got a warning, but I'll never forget how rude that particular officer was, he acted like we were stupid for driving that far for our cat! grrrrr. Just thought I'd share my sort of similar experience and best wishes to you and so sorry for you and your kitty.
 
I am so very sorry for your loss. Fly free Mickey you are one brave kitty.
Amy I know your heart is broken but,I hope all is well with you.
jeanne
 
BIG LOOOOOONG HUG Amy. I'm so sorry it was Mickey's time to cross. You're such a wonderful MamaBean and took such good care of sweet baby. Don't forget, he's not gone, you just have to hug him differently - he's right there in your heart.

Another big hug and prayers for comfort,
 
Mickey

Amy, My deepest sympathy on the loss of your beloved Mickey. What a long life he had and he was dearly loved.......the years just never seem long enough though. You were a wonderful Mom to him and took such good care of him. Sending prayers that all those years of memories will help you through the "moments".
 
I am very, very sorry to hear of your loss of your beloved Mickey. May he fly free now. He will always be with you...listen to the quiet and you will find him there.
 
Amy - I am so sorry to see this - to lose one of our furry companions is very rough - 20 years is such a long life for your sweet boy - what wonderful care and love you must have given him. It's difficult to say goodbye but to have such horrible incidents surround it is really terrible for you and my heart goes out to you.

Hopefully this will be settled for you in an understanding way - and you will be able to smile again as you remember all the wonderful love and memories you shared.

My heart goes out to you in your sadness - I am so sorry this all happened to you.

Emmy & Dude (& Mittsi too)
 
((((((((Amy)))))))) I'm so sorry for your loss and all that has happened to you. Fly Free, Sweet Mickey! Remember his long life with you and smile at all the joys he brought you, large and small.
 
Amy, so many thoughts and prayers to you and your precious Mickey. I am so sorry that this has happened. The cop thing is just insult to injury. I don't know what else to say other than, I hurt for you.

(((((((((((Amy & Mickey)))))))))))
 
I'm so sorry Amy to hear you lost Micky. I hope that things work for you in court, just a horrible sad situation.

(((Hugs)))
Sandy - Dottie, Jeter, Tilly and Bubba
 
((( Amy )))

I'm so very sorry for your loss, and for your horrible experience during what was already a scary time for you. I hope you can find peace that Mickey is free from pain and illness now.
 
I'm so sorry for your loss, Amy. Mickey is in a good place, playing and frolicking. Just as I'm sure you still sense his presence, he still senses yours. He'll always be with you.

Sending many hugs!
Elena
 
What an outrageous story about the police, and how terribly sad to read on to the end. I'm so sorry that you have lost your loving friend.
Big comforting hugs to you dear Amy (((((((((((((((((((((((()))))))))))))))))))))))))))))
 
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