The story you are about to read is true. Only the names have been changed to (literally) protect the innocent.
There are all sorts of jobs in this world. Some involve white shoe banks on fifth avenue or jet-setting from New York to Los Angeles. Other jobs are less glamorous - they are the jobs most people try to look away from and pretend those jobs, and the people doing them, simply don't exist. Carlos Moreno had one of those jobs. Carlos did not like to think of himself as homeless, he had a home. It wasn't much to look at, just a pile of blankets and newspapers in a half-finished construction site. But whenever Carlos walked up to the gate of that construction site, put his key into the lock, and opened it, he felt as if he was entering his own gated kingdom. After all, the fence kept Carlos and his few belongings safe and a small electric heater kept him warm.
One freezing winter evening, a group of men watched Carlos as came home. The men were not police officers, but were vigilantes who viewed themselves as part of a neighborhood watch. Carlos did not look like those men so they viewed him with suspicion. They confronted Carlos and forced their way into the constructions site. into Carlo's home. Before Carlos knew what was happening, these men surrounded Carlos and began grabbing him and yelling at him. Carlos, terrified, punched one of them in the face. The men jumped him and called the police.
About five minutes later, NYPD Police Officers Kieran Patrick and John Hernandez arrived. The men explained that they witnesses Carlos breaking into the location, that the men confronted Carlos, and that he attacked them. The police spoke to Carlos, who explained that he was a security guard at the location and that the men had forced their way into the location. After hearing both sides, the police slapped on the cuffs. If you think they arrested the criminals who followed Carlos and unlawfully detained him, you'd be wrong. If you guessed Carlos was arrested, you know what's up.
Carlos was charged with Burglary in the Third Degree, a felony which meant he faced up to 7 years in state prison if convicted. I was working at the District Attorney's office, and the case came across my desk. I called the arresting officer, Patrick, and asked him a few questions bout the case:
Me: Wait, so what happened?
Patrick: This guy broke into a construction site, and when the neighborhood watch tried to stop him, he attacked them.
Me: What was he doing in the constructions site?
Patrick: He's homeless, so... you know, he was sleeping there. He had his things there.
Me: And how did he break in? Any crowbar or burglar's tools?
Patrick: No.
Me: Well, was there a gate?
Patrick: Yeah, of course.
Me: Work with me Officer Patrick, did he break the lock? Was it broken??
Patrick: No, nothing like that.
Me: So, what, he scaled the fence?
Patrick: No, I don't think so.
Me: So how did he get in??!!
Patrick: Oh, he had the key.
Me: So, if he had the key...
Patrick: Well, he wasn't authorized.
Me: So, you're saying he stole the key?
Patrick: I would assume so, yes.
Me: Did he say anything?
Patrick: He said he was the security guard, otherwise he said nothing.
Me: Did you speak to the owner of the premises?
Patrick: No.
Me: I will fucking call you back.
To make a long story short, I called the owner of the building and he told me that he is having trouble finding funding to finish the construction, and a lot of people were breaking in. So, he allowed Carlos Moreno to sleep in the unfinished building in exchange for him keeping an eye out on the place.
So, basically, the cops arrested this guy for defending himself when a bunch a George Zimmerman wanna-be crew attacked him for, basically, sleeping at the job. I called Officer Patrick and told him I would be dismissed the case ASAP. This is how the conversation ended with Office Patrick and I:
Me: Yeah, so the owner verified this guy's story. You arrested the wrong side.
Patrick: No shit?
Me: I'll send you the paperwork in a few minutes.
Patrick: Well, can't we at least charge him with disorderly conduct?
Me: You never mentioned that you saw him act disorderly.
Patrick: Well, he wasn't really, but we -- [[CLICK]].
Its would be a fun story to read if it was made up, but sitting in jail was probably not too enjoyable for Mr. Moreno. He was, after all, arrested for the crime of working from home. All charges were dismissed. The police make mistakes, so do the DAs, and so do the medical examiners. You need a highly experienced lawyer who can cut through the the case file and find any holes or discrepancies to get you the best possible result.
