The last half of 2010 was a roller coaster here at the Frank household. Christopher moved out around the end of June and Deb and I left for vacation in the north west on July 17th. Sailing on the new boat for three weeks in the gulf islands. We intended to return on Aug 6th or so but extended our stay to spend an evening with an old friend who had moved to Anacortes Washington, so we were driving home the last leg on August 9th 2010. That's when we got a call from Erin that Chris had been arrested and was in jail.
At first we were beside ourselves that Chris had done something that would land him in jail. By the time we got home it was too late to get any information so we spent he night worried praying that he was OK. He was being held and his bail was $10,000 (first two mistakes we made, we didn't bail him out that night and we didn't get a lawyer) at 10K bail the bond would have been about $1000
Next morning I spent time calling around tiring to find out what had happened. The DAs office said that he might be arraigned later that day or later in the week. Later that day they called to say he was being arraigned in a few minutes. I rushed up to the court house but by the time I got there he had been arraigned and his bail raised to 50K meaning his bond would be $5,000. So I went to see him we talked about what happened, that he was busy messing around with his phone and his ipod while not watching the road, the result was he didn't see the CHP speed trap till the very last second when fortunately he looked up and slammed on his brakes and swerved to miss the officers and stopped immediately.
Then I found out that the CHARGES were outrageously serious. The police had written the report to reflect their point of view which was that Chris had intentionally speed at them in order to hit them. They even made it sound as though he speed up at them and then tried to flee. The DA was threating him with 3 counts of assault with a deadly weapon on police officer 1 count of attempted murder. The public defenders office assigned him a Lawyer who met with him twice and both times told him to take an outrageously harsh plea bargain, all the while being really rude. The entire time indicating to Chris and us that there was no defense to these charges because the police said he did it and the DA was "afraid of the police".
We wasted nearly 3 weeks hoping that the system would see that Chris was a good young man and not the deranged cop killer he was being portrayed as, by the police. It became evident that things were not working toward the truth, at the urging of a good friend we borrowed some money from other friends and hired a well recommended lawyer. At this point we sent out the following letter.
As some of you know on our last day of vacation (Aug 9 2010) we got a call while driving home from our daughter Erin that our son CD had been arrested.
Turns out the CHP had been running a speed enforcement in Cedar Ridge along highway 174 near were CD was renting a house with several other boys his age from where he works.
The officers had positioned themselves near the fire station which is at the crest of a small hill in an area that is mostly shaded. (an obvious choice as it is hard to see when approaching)
Chris was speeding but worse he was messing with his phone. Even more troubling is that the road narrows where the police were located so if you are not paying attention (which CD was not) you will end up driving on the shoulder. That is exactly what happened so, here are three officers on the shoulder, one officer steps into the lane and is flagging down CD as he approaches but Chris does not look up till the last minute then slams on the brakes and barely misses the officers, all of who have run or jumped for safety. CD immediately pulls over and gets out, apologizing the whole time but the damage is done. Chris scared the heck out all the officers and witnesses on scene. The CHP rush the few feet to his truck and are convinced that he sped at them intentionally and tried to run them over so arrested him and charged him with assault on an officer with a deadly weapon. (I'm sure they were quite shaken and one of them was hurt in some way during his flight for safety, something about his back and finger, although the officer was well enough to participate in the arrest.)
Now because of the officers statements that Chris intentionally sped at them he is being held with a high bail and could be charged with one or more felonies.
We have hired an attorney and he is working on an investigation as well as collecting Character references for Chris.
CDs next court appearance is September 30th
We are praying that this will be resolved as a severe traffic violations and not as a felony.
Please continue to pray for Chris, his attorney, his mother, father, and ALL involved including the officers.
The time line after this letter seemed to drag on forever. Court visits were very few and nothing happened but more delay while our lawyer put together a case and evidence. Of course this whole time Chris was sitting jail being viewed as a dangerous inmate due to the severe charges. If not for a good friend that worked at the jail who set everyone straight about the real events Chris might have been left to deal with gangs or worse. As it was he had to be very careful to not offend the other toughs he had to room with due to the crowding. In the end with photos of the scene and through some diligent investigation they found a witness that refuted the police version of events. The DA finally was willing to offer a plea of reckless driving. Due to all the delays and because we couldn't afford both a lawyer and the bond he ended up serving more that many days more that the maximum sentence for reckless driving.
Praise God He's fine now but he has some large debts and a healthy respect for the law and driving.
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