Should I pursue criminal charges?

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An acquaintance of mine, who was a friend for 2 months, accused me of taking 40 pills of Vicodin from her. Prior to that, I helped her fill up her monthly med box, and, also thought she gave me aleve or ibuprofen for a serious infection, 2 days in a row. She may have given me a pain pill, as I felt tired both days, after taking them.

The night she accused me, I called the police. They said no crime had been reported. She takes morphine, vicodin, gabapentin, and vistaril. She admitted to having 5 glasses of wine.

A lot of foolishness has happened. She’s threatened to kill me, sent her boyfriend down to give me the stuff she said I didnt have, and has chased me, yelling at me.

Last night, she walked her dog, who barked loudly and pooed on my lawn.

I can pursue charges, but there’s no way of knowing if she will be sentenced. If not, I could end up paying court costs.

How would you handle this? Sorry it’s long.

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Do you have the option of getting some form of free legal counsel?

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I’m going to work on that, today. I’ve got to do laundry at 9CST.

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@anon9798425
Today’s a federal holiday in The States. No lawyer seems to be in their office today. I’ll try tomorrow. Thanks for the excellent advice. :blush:

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Try to find a lawyer who can help you pro bono to help you through the process of filing a restraining order. If she violates the restraining order then she will face criminal charges.

Any threat to your life should be taken seriously, so I would jump on it tomorrow.

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Best to consult a lawyer, but this isn’t really something the police here would deal with. Recommend cutting off all contact with this person and keeping it that way. May also be worth doing an honest eval of which of your remaining acquaintences are, well, “trashy” and should be cut off to avoid future issues of this nature.

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The police officer said until she puts her hands on me… sigh

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She was supposed to be an acquaintance, someone who would drive me where I needed to go…

She was BSing the whole time. She’s the only one in my life who is sketchy. Thanks for the advice, though. :upside_down_face:

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Good to hear. Sorry for sounding preachy, just don’t like seeing good people getting dragged down by the bad ones.

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Awwww, thanks. She’s a former RN who says she worked in a locked ward for 18 months… and she was once treated for Mi. She needs to be in one.

At least we’re treating ours, yanno? I appreciate the straight shooting honesty. I like that about you!

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Are you saying you can’t get a restraining order based on threats? Do you mean she has to physically hurt you first?

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That’s what the officer said.

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Too bad. That would probably have been your best option

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Thanks, hon… I know… I’ve decided just to document everything… and ignore her.

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Documenting is a good idea. If she starts to harass you, get out your phone and record her

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I will… I was doing my laundry this morning, on site, and had my phone with me… just in case.

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Good thinking @JustTrish!

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I’m pretty sure that you dont have to be assaulted to file a restraining order. You are being harassed and threatened, from what I know this is more than enough to get a restraining order in most jurisdictions. Talk to a lawyer though, neither me nor cops are experts on the law.

Edit: You would he shocked at how much of the law many cops dont know. Granted lawyers go to school for a long time to study the law, it’s still shocking that many cops dont always know what they are supposed to enforce in this country.

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I’ll call legal aid. They’re not open today.

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