cedarchopper
20th September 2010, 09:09 PM
No background story included. Were they best buddies and it all went sour?
Citizen's Arrest Blocked by Inept Rocklin Police
(I'm Infuriated!)
Silver Stock Report
by Jason Hommel, September 20th, 2010
I sent the following report to KCRA Channel 3 News at newstips@kcra.com
Today, I, Jason Hommel, tried to do a citizen's arrest of three armed men who run the Rocklin Coin Shop, because they have stolen about $540,000 from me in multiple ways, including embezzlement, false pretenses, and larceny, all criminal offenses. Larceny is a criminal offense because it applies when they moved precious metal out of the shop, to where it cannot be recovered even if I won a civil judgment against them. It carries a 2 year jail sentence for amounts over $200,000.
At 9:25 AM, I arrived at the Rocklin Police Department as a courtesy notice, to inform them of my intentions. O'Bryan responded at 9:50 to begin going over my complaint. He at first acted like a defense attorney, and told me 6 times that this looked like a civil complaint. I continually asked him why he thought criminal charges (that carry jail time) would be a civil action, and he could not tell me, other than it was his opinion, since he took "business law" or got an MBA in college.
I left when he continued to act adversarially, and when I got a cell phone call from my wife that someone from Rocklin was loading bags into a van. I left to prevent continued larceny theft of my wealth, as the Rocklin Coin Shop is 1 minute away from the Police Station. I followed a white van from the Shop, around the intersection, and back into the shop, where I padlocked the door, locking my detainees inside.
Patrol Sergeant Thomas Dwyer arrived first on the scene, just minutes after I had padlocked the door to detain the three men, so that I could then arrest them.
Instead, Sergeant Dwyer detained me, and asked for my firearm, which I gave him, and then, without looking over my criminal complaint, said he would prevent me from arresting anyone today. In doing so, he violated my second amendment rights, and my right to make a citizen's arrest, and furthermore, accidentally became an "accessory after the fact" to felony theft, by blocking my attempt to make a citizen's arrest. Again, Sergeant Dwyer said this appeared to be a civil matter, and when I asked why, he could not say, or he would say he already said, or he would evade the question. He was very belligerent, and very unprofessional. But I was fully cooperative, because I knew I needed their cooperation.
He asked me if I spoke to a civil attorney about this matter. I said "no", and then he laughed, saying, "Well, that explains it."
I stated that I would not attempt to arrest anyone unless they were willing to hold them in custody, because I have to turn over anyone arrested to them immediately anyway. Furthermore, California Penal Code 849b says that the police can release them immediately if they are "satisfied that there are insufficient grounds for making a criminal complaint against the person arrested."
But none of the officers was willing to even read my 15 page, 10 count criminal complaint! So, without doing that, how can they satisfy themselves that there are insufficient grounds for a citizen's arrest?
I tried to explain to the officers who were willing to write up a complaint, that larceny theft is when the Rocklin guys took inventory that belonged to me, out of the shop. Rocklin police asked me if I had a contract that said they could not take property away from the Rocklin Coin Shop. I said it was a ridiculous question, since the Rocklin boys don't have a contract saying they can take anything out of the shop. Furthermore, I don't have a contract with the gun store across the street, and I can't use the lack of a contract to justify stealing any of their inventory! They said I needed to stick to the point.
Patrol Lieutenant Lon Milka was called to the scene, but Lieutenant Milka had no interest in reading the criminal complaint either, saying he would trust his officers to inform him, even though none of them had read it. The Lieutenant finally admitted that it sounded like I had a very strong case, and that he wanted the DA to do it right. I agreed.
I was cited by Sergeant Dwyer for carrying a loaded weapon in a public space, which was the private parking lot of the Rocklin Coin Shop, where I hold a 5 year lease dated from 2009.
Lieutenant Milka said they wanted to be 100% sure of securing a criminal conviction before taking action. I said I didn't need them to take any action, other than to stop blocking me, and that being 100% right is established at trial, not before the arrest. I read CA Penal Code 837 that gives a citizen the right to conduct an arrest, it says, "A private person may arrest another: (3) "When a felony has been in fact committed, and he has reasonable cause for believing the person arrested to have committed it." I told him that applies to whether I think there is reasonable cause, it does not say the police have to be 100% certain that they will win at trial!
I went back to the police station, and I spoke with O Bryan again, and I got a case number: 10-263-5.
He was more understanding the second time I sat with him, and this time, I was more patient in answering his questions, and his questions were more reasonable.
I went to lunch, and came back to the Rocklin Police Station, to explain what larceny theft was, and why it's a criminal matter. I explained that if they move gold and silver out of the shop, metals that belong to me, that it becomes almost unrecoverable even if I win a civil judgment, because the thieves can then just put the metal in a vault, and then file bankruptcy to nullify my judgment. This is why I implored him to seize the inventory of the shop as evidence, pending investigation.
O'Bryan left to consult. He came back out, and again advised me to file civil charges, and that I'd be arrested for trespassing if I returned to the Rocklin Coin Shop.
He, like the other officer, who probably relied on his initial review of the case, then made himself, unwittingly, an "accessory after the fact", by blocking my ability to exercise my right to engage in a citizen's arrest, and by aiding and abetting felons.
See, sometimes the wheels of official justice just move too slow. In my case, it appeared they were moving backwards today in Rocklin. By tomorrow, my inventory could be moved out of the shop again, permanently.
Police usually have to get a warrant from a judge before making an arrest. Private citizens do not. This should aid in the apprehension of criminals, but not when the police get in the way.
A copy of my 15 page criminal complaint can be found here:
www.silverstockreport.com/rocklincriminals.txt
=====
Therefore, I must implore my readers to not visit the Rocklin Coin Shop for any reason. The men who run it are theives.
Anyone out there know a good civil rights lawyer who might know if today's events are actionable against the Rocklin Police Department?
=====
Citizen's Arrest Blocked by Inept Rocklin Police
(I'm Infuriated!)
Silver Stock Report
by Jason Hommel, September 20th, 2010
I sent the following report to KCRA Channel 3 News at newstips@kcra.com
Today, I, Jason Hommel, tried to do a citizen's arrest of three armed men who run the Rocklin Coin Shop, because they have stolen about $540,000 from me in multiple ways, including embezzlement, false pretenses, and larceny, all criminal offenses. Larceny is a criminal offense because it applies when they moved precious metal out of the shop, to where it cannot be recovered even if I won a civil judgment against them. It carries a 2 year jail sentence for amounts over $200,000.
At 9:25 AM, I arrived at the Rocklin Police Department as a courtesy notice, to inform them of my intentions. O'Bryan responded at 9:50 to begin going over my complaint. He at first acted like a defense attorney, and told me 6 times that this looked like a civil complaint. I continually asked him why he thought criminal charges (that carry jail time) would be a civil action, and he could not tell me, other than it was his opinion, since he took "business law" or got an MBA in college.
I left when he continued to act adversarially, and when I got a cell phone call from my wife that someone from Rocklin was loading bags into a van. I left to prevent continued larceny theft of my wealth, as the Rocklin Coin Shop is 1 minute away from the Police Station. I followed a white van from the Shop, around the intersection, and back into the shop, where I padlocked the door, locking my detainees inside.
Patrol Sergeant Thomas Dwyer arrived first on the scene, just minutes after I had padlocked the door to detain the three men, so that I could then arrest them.
Instead, Sergeant Dwyer detained me, and asked for my firearm, which I gave him, and then, without looking over my criminal complaint, said he would prevent me from arresting anyone today. In doing so, he violated my second amendment rights, and my right to make a citizen's arrest, and furthermore, accidentally became an "accessory after the fact" to felony theft, by blocking my attempt to make a citizen's arrest. Again, Sergeant Dwyer said this appeared to be a civil matter, and when I asked why, he could not say, or he would say he already said, or he would evade the question. He was very belligerent, and very unprofessional. But I was fully cooperative, because I knew I needed their cooperation.
He asked me if I spoke to a civil attorney about this matter. I said "no", and then he laughed, saying, "Well, that explains it."
I stated that I would not attempt to arrest anyone unless they were willing to hold them in custody, because I have to turn over anyone arrested to them immediately anyway. Furthermore, California Penal Code 849b says that the police can release them immediately if they are "satisfied that there are insufficient grounds for making a criminal complaint against the person arrested."
But none of the officers was willing to even read my 15 page, 10 count criminal complaint! So, without doing that, how can they satisfy themselves that there are insufficient grounds for a citizen's arrest?
I tried to explain to the officers who were willing to write up a complaint, that larceny theft is when the Rocklin guys took inventory that belonged to me, out of the shop. Rocklin police asked me if I had a contract that said they could not take property away from the Rocklin Coin Shop. I said it was a ridiculous question, since the Rocklin boys don't have a contract saying they can take anything out of the shop. Furthermore, I don't have a contract with the gun store across the street, and I can't use the lack of a contract to justify stealing any of their inventory! They said I needed to stick to the point.
Patrol Lieutenant Lon Milka was called to the scene, but Lieutenant Milka had no interest in reading the criminal complaint either, saying he would trust his officers to inform him, even though none of them had read it. The Lieutenant finally admitted that it sounded like I had a very strong case, and that he wanted the DA to do it right. I agreed.
I was cited by Sergeant Dwyer for carrying a loaded weapon in a public space, which was the private parking lot of the Rocklin Coin Shop, where I hold a 5 year lease dated from 2009.
Lieutenant Milka said they wanted to be 100% sure of securing a criminal conviction before taking action. I said I didn't need them to take any action, other than to stop blocking me, and that being 100% right is established at trial, not before the arrest. I read CA Penal Code 837 that gives a citizen the right to conduct an arrest, it says, "A private person may arrest another: (3) "When a felony has been in fact committed, and he has reasonable cause for believing the person arrested to have committed it." I told him that applies to whether I think there is reasonable cause, it does not say the police have to be 100% certain that they will win at trial!
I went back to the police station, and I spoke with O Bryan again, and I got a case number: 10-263-5.
He was more understanding the second time I sat with him, and this time, I was more patient in answering his questions, and his questions were more reasonable.
I went to lunch, and came back to the Rocklin Police Station, to explain what larceny theft was, and why it's a criminal matter. I explained that if they move gold and silver out of the shop, metals that belong to me, that it becomes almost unrecoverable even if I win a civil judgment, because the thieves can then just put the metal in a vault, and then file bankruptcy to nullify my judgment. This is why I implored him to seize the inventory of the shop as evidence, pending investigation.
O'Bryan left to consult. He came back out, and again advised me to file civil charges, and that I'd be arrested for trespassing if I returned to the Rocklin Coin Shop.
He, like the other officer, who probably relied on his initial review of the case, then made himself, unwittingly, an "accessory after the fact", by blocking my ability to exercise my right to engage in a citizen's arrest, and by aiding and abetting felons.
See, sometimes the wheels of official justice just move too slow. In my case, it appeared they were moving backwards today in Rocklin. By tomorrow, my inventory could be moved out of the shop again, permanently.
Police usually have to get a warrant from a judge before making an arrest. Private citizens do not. This should aid in the apprehension of criminals, but not when the police get in the way.
A copy of my 15 page criminal complaint can be found here:
www.silverstockreport.com/rocklincriminals.txt
=====
Therefore, I must implore my readers to not visit the Rocklin Coin Shop for any reason. The men who run it are theives.
Anyone out there know a good civil rights lawyer who might know if today's events are actionable against the Rocklin Police Department?
=====