winfresa
04-22-2007, 08:53 AM
My fiance, "L", was visited at home by two detectives on Wed. who asked him to come to the station to discuss a situation where his name had come up. He complied and, once there, was mirandized and accused of cheating someone in another state out of $3,000 on Ebay for a motorcycle in October. The sale was done outside of Ebay using Moneygram. They threatened to arrest him and to tear apart our home with a search warrant unless he voluntarily turned over our computers. He agreed, informed me on the way back to the house and I came home. I voiced my objections to this but the detectives more or less ignored me and dealt with "L". They told him that they were personally taking the computers to Ft. Myers the following day and we would have them back in a week. Later on I remembered "L" telling me something about Ebay contacting him about a fake ad for a Susuki which they said they would remove but neither one of us remembered when that was. I went to Ebay the following day from work, looking for the old message about the fake ad and didn't find it but I did find the invoice of our charges for that month. On the invoice are the charges for listing the Susuki ($33.20) as well as credits for removing those charges, leaving us with a total of $1.15 for listing some small items for sale. When you sell on Ebay you have to provide your bank information and they take the charges from your account monthly. We didn't look at that invoice because the total was so low and matched what "L" had put up for auction during that time. The money Ebay charges for listing vehicles ($30 for motorcycles and $40 for autos) is nonrefundable per Ebay policy and is stated on their website so the only reason the $33.20 was credited back to us is because the ad was a fake. "L" took the printout of the invoice and a copy of Ebay's selling policies to the police station and they refuse to return our computers which are still sitting in the middle of the office, unsecured and untagged. As of yesterday they're still there and now we're being told that they're going to some unnamed location.
"L" is a 100% disabled vet with PTSD. He is on several medications and when the detectives showed up at our house he had taken several and was asleep. He was groggy, intimidated and upset that he was being accused of something like this, especially since he didn't do it and has never stolen anything in his life. These computers do not belong to "L". They were purchased by me, are registered to me and I did not consent or sign anything. This is a small town and I'm planning to meet with the Sherrif on Monday so I need some advice before I'm forced to hire an attorney which I really can't afford.
Isn't it illegal for the police to use threats, lies, intimidation and coercion in order to get someone to surrender personal property? They have no direct information leading them to my fiance except for his Ebay user name which was hijacked for the purpose of the scam. They don't even know where or who picked up the moneygram.
Was "L" legally able to surrender my personal property? I'm legally married to someone else.
Since "L" was on medication and has a documented mental illness which he's being treated for at the V.A. was he even in the state of mind to be able to make a decision like that?
Any advice will be appreciated.
"L" is a 100% disabled vet with PTSD. He is on several medications and when the detectives showed up at our house he had taken several and was asleep. He was groggy, intimidated and upset that he was being accused of something like this, especially since he didn't do it and has never stolen anything in his life. These computers do not belong to "L". They were purchased by me, are registered to me and I did not consent or sign anything. This is a small town and I'm planning to meet with the Sherrif on Monday so I need some advice before I'm forced to hire an attorney which I really can't afford.
Isn't it illegal for the police to use threats, lies, intimidation and coercion in order to get someone to surrender personal property? They have no direct information leading them to my fiance except for his Ebay user name which was hijacked for the purpose of the scam. They don't even know where or who picked up the moneygram.
Was "L" legally able to surrender my personal property? I'm legally married to someone else.
Since "L" was on medication and has a documented mental illness which he's being treated for at the V.A. was he even in the state of mind to be able to make a decision like that?
Any advice will be appreciated.