Other Criminal Charges & Offenses Wrongful 5150??

SacramentoEricG

New Member
Jurisdiction
California
My name is Eric, I have my own business, and I am very sane. (Sad that I have to say this...)

On January 16th and 17th of 2021, I was having deep conversations with my family about childhood trauma. My intent was to gain permission to write about it all in a book. A friend from work got worried based on Facebook posts and sent officers to do a welfare check. I was very offended and refused to allow the officers to enter my apartment. The officers were allowed to check in with housemates from the front door. I yelled at the officers forcing them to leave. The nature of conversations with my family were VERY POSITIVE and non violent, but yes loud at times.

On the following morning, I woke to my mom calling to tell me that cops were outside to do another welfare check. (I don't live with my mother but she was aware of the issue with the cops at this point, she gathered family to come help out). This time there were 6 cops. I got extremely defensive and told them I didn't feel safe. They wanted me to come in for questioning. I refused to come in unless 5 officers left me alone to work with the 1 black female officer that was making me feel safe. I started talking about my book idea and was trying to tell the cops to trust me. I gave them a legitimate path to respect my boundaries and allow me to come in for questioning. I threatened that I would become extremely non cooperative if they took me against my will. I threatened that I wouldn't eat and said I didn't care about anything EXCEPT for my boundaries.

They weaponized my words. They forcefully arrested me. They took me directly to a hospital where I was put to sleep for 13 hours. I woke up in an ambulance that was taking me to a psychiatric facility. The psychiatrist informed me that I was considered "gravely disabled and unable to provide my own food" and that my stay could be indefinite if I didn't cooperate. My threat to fast was an exaggeration based in fear. In hindsight, yes, not the smartest thing to say. But I was shocked to see that my boundaries were ignored, I lost all rights, and became a "prisoner" of sorts just for disrespecting the police.

I tried to streamline the story for the sake of time, but I do want to be clear that I non violently resisted and made a crazy scene when they tried to arrest me....which is exactly what I calmly promised to do before they violated my boundaries. I held onto the nearest pole, called them weak little b words, and upon fear of being stun gunned I decided to stop resisting and start screaming instead. Once in the car, I bashed my head into the window a few times. Smiled at the officers. Took some deep breaths, and repeated the screaming process while entering the hospital. When the hospital staff told me it was time to sleep I said no and requested a lawyer....they proceeded and I resisted. I clenched my fists so tight that it took them 20+ tries to successfully administer the medicine. I woke no voice left and bruised fists with 10+ needle holes per hand. This was all done out of fear and I remember every step of the way.

As dumb as it all sounds, I felt I was teaching the police a lesson on boundaries. I have the audio/video from my apartment manager. Proof that I was calmly negotiating on my boundaries before what I felt was a violent assault on my freedom. Perhaps I deserved to be arrested and questioned, but the 5150 seems extreme.

Is this something that I can fight against?
Can I prove their basis for arrest was wrongful?
Is it worth my effort?
Should I just move on?

I missed about $850 in massage appointments with no call no shows. I lost multiple consistent clients. My reputation suffered. They put me with the scariest most risky people who told me to sleep with one eye open. I now have a habit of sleeping 2-3 hours at a time. Although I was extremely angry, I vigorously cooperated and exaggerated the benefits of the treatment in order to advocate for my freedom. I pretended to believe I was a harm to myself so that I could "get better" and give great praise to beg for freedom. I'm disgusted that the police forced me to submit in such a way.

It is my suspicion that the police were more aggressive because of my focus and respect for the black female officer. There were officers present in blue lives matter masks, one of which was particularly aggressive in the arrest.

I wish I didn't give them a crazy act. I threw a tantrum out of fear and anger. Had I known the disgusting power of a 5150, I would've zipped my lips.

I WAS DETAINED IN A PSYCHIATRIC FACILITY FOR THREATENING TO FAST. I lost all rights. I lost medical freedom. I was denied a lawyer. All of my "rights" packets were given to me AFTER I was stuck and imprisoned in the facility.

I guess it's possible that I signed papers while I was in a super foggy state, but I don't recall.

Any help is appreciated.
Or feel free to laugh at my episode.
You're welcome for the ammunition!
 
I started talking about my book idea and was trying to tell the cops to trust me. I gave them a legitimate path to respect my boundaries and allow me to come in for questioning. I threatened that I would become extremely non cooperative if they took me against my will. I threatened that I wouldn't eat and said I didn't care about anything EXCEPT for my boundaries.


I suspect the above admission is BUT one of several reasons that a conversation erupted into a confrontation ending in your "detention".

I lost all rights, and became a "prisoner" of sorts just for disrespecting the police.

If that is how you "interpret" the events that caused you to be detained and incarcerated, I suggest you seek or continue your psychiatric consultations to help you understand how adults are EXPECTED to comport and behave themselves in our complex societal structures.

Perhaps I deserved to be arrested and questioned, but the 5150 seems extreme.

Perhaps, indeed.

Is this something that I can fight against?

You possess the right to retain an attorney, as well as the RIGHT to act as your own attorney to litigate anything that perturbs you about the incident.

I tried to streamline the story for the sake of time, but I do want to be clear that I non violently resisted and made a crazy scene when they tried to arrest me....which is exactly what I calmly promised to do before they violated my boundaries. I held onto the nearest pole, called them weak little b words, and upon fear of being stun gunned I decided to stop resisting and start screaming instead. Once in the car, I bashed my head into the window a few times. Smiled at the officers. Took some deep breaths, and repeated the screaming process while entering the hospital. When the hospital staff told me it was time to sleep I said no and requested a lawyer....they proceeded and I resisted. I clenched my fists so tight that it took them 20+ tries to successfully administer the medicine. I woke no voice left and bruised fists with 10+ needle holes per hand. This was all done out of fear and I remember every step of the way.

I sincerely hope that you don't believe that any of the above will be of any value to you if litigation is on your horizon.


I missed about $850 in massage appointments with no call no shows. I lost multiple consistent clients. My reputation suffered. They put me with the scariest most risky people who told me to sleep with one eye open. I now have a habit of sleeping 2-3 hours at a time. Although I was extremely angry, I vigorously cooperated and exaggerated the benefits of the treatment in order to advocate for my freedom. I pretended to believe I was a harm to myself so that I could "get better" and give great praise to beg for freedom. I'm disgusted that the police forced me to submit in such a way.


None of the above jumbled words will be any assistance to you in the future.

It is my suspicion that the police were more aggressive because of my focus and respect for the black female officer. There were officers present in blue lives matter masks, one of which was particularly aggressive in the arrest.


Again, nothing of any legal significance in the above two sentences.

I wish I didn't give them a crazy act. I threw a tantrum out of fear and anger. Had I known the disgusting power of a 5150, I would've zipped my lips.


This is what happens when a person acts out of anger, then attempts to craft a sympathetic excuse for any alleged, outrageous, raucous behavior.

The more you reveal, the more you do to assist those you believe that harmed you, if you proceed with litigation.

We all need to learn when we stand up at the table, fold our cards, and take our losses or meager winnings and walk away.

I wish I didn't give them a crazy act. I threw a tantrum out of fear and anger. Had I known the disgusting power of a 5150, I would've zipped my lips.

Regret and contrition assist us in moving forward from the harm we heaped upon ourselves.


I guess it's possible that I signed papers while I was in a super foggy state, but I don't recall.


Probably, you'd know far better than a stranger thousands of miles east of your location.

Any help is appreciated.


Let it go, learn from it, move on building and improving yourself and your life.

Don't allow a few days to define you for the next three or four (or more) decades of your life.

You can move forward, or you can choose to anchor yourself to behaviors that only harm YOU.
 
I WAS DETAINED IN A PSYCHIATRIC FACILITY FOR THREATENING TO FAST. I lost all rights. I lost medical freedom. I was denied a lawyer. All of my "rights" packets were given to me AFTER I was stuck and imprisoned in the facility.

It was more than that, by your own admission. It was all the things taken together that really got you committed, and my guess is that your perception of events is quite different from the cops' perception of it. That's in part because while YOU knew that you weren't serious about harming yourself, they could not have known that since they weren't in your head knowing what you were thinking. The cops came out on a welfare check. While you might not like having the cops come in and make a check, had you simply allowed them to do that, calmly answered their questions and made no threats about fasting, about resisting detainment, avoided the screaming and all the rest of it, you'd likely have only suffered a short time of the cops at your place talking to you and gone about your day. You escalated matters in what strikes me as an overreaction to the situation, which alarmed the cops. If they think you might be at risk to harm yourself or others then they are going to act on that for your protection and protection of others. Simply ignoring it would come back to bite them if some harm came to you or to others. In short, if you are not mentally ill and not a threat, don't act in ways that might give someone the impression you are a threat.

You certainly may consult a lawyer who litigates civil rights cases to see if you have any cause to sue for a violation of your rights. Most will give you a free initial consultation, so you only take some of your time to do it. I can't say whether you have a good claim or not as I don't have all the facts. Make sure you give the lawyer ALL the facts, the good and the bad, to get the best opinion from the lawyer of your situation.

Understand something important when dealing with cops: you don't get to control or dictate what they do. You may (politely) refuse consent for entry to your place if they don't have a warrant, and you may (again politely) refuse consent to search if they don't have a warrant. But if they do it anyway, there is no way to stop them and interfering with them can bring you legal trouble you otherwise would not have. If the cops didn't have the right to do what they did, you litigate that after the fact, rather than shouting at the cops and resisting and resisting their efforts. So telling the cops you'll only do something on your terms, like telling them all to leave your place except for the black female cop, isn't effective and then threatening to fast and resist if they won't do your way is a sure ticket to a very unpleasant encounter.
 
The feedback is basically what I expected. I gave you all the pretty grim truth of what I did wrong to earn being committed. I already rewatched all audio and video from the apartment complex.

My main complaint is that I did nothing wrong BEFORE they arrested me...aside from setting boundaries.They wanted me to come in for questioning during their welfare check and I didn't want to. They insisted and i set an extreme boundary of fasting. I thought My exaggeration would prove the point of how badly I didn't want to go. When they took me by force, I made a scene. All of my psychotic behavior happened AFTER I felt that my rights were violated. I have the proof to show that I was calm and sane beforehand.

I just felt as though they created a BS reason to arrest because there was no reason whatsoever until fasting became a topic.

I guess the consensus is that they can twist your words at any time if you choose the wrong ones. Lesson learned!

(Overall a fun experience and life has returned to normal...although I don't recommend trying it at home)
 
I'm posting here because I didn't wanna waste a lawyers time. I feel as though those cops were wrong to arrest me...and my apartment manager agrees. But we also both realize that I screwed myself with that temper tantrum.
 
First off, I hope you might acknowledge your own personal bias toward the facts. Surely the police and any others present have a different account

That said, as you present it, I would agree that 5150 was not appropriate. Unless you are leaving out significant details you were not "gravely ill". You were apparently just fine until the police contact. The police can not create the emergency that is used to justify taking you into custody. You had a right to refuse contract with them and the bar is set fairly high to take you against your will.

How long were you held? What did the psych facility have to say about your condition after speaking with you?

You will need to discuss this all with an attorney who can get into the details and advise you.
 
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