charlie sherrill
Member
I had my work for the week caught up with by 11:00 a.m. I was thinking that after lunch I would have an easy afternoon and possibly go home a little early. It was not to be. The three people who normally work the front desk at the S.O.(Sheriff's Office) had to be off for some reason or other and I got elected to run it from noon to 5:00 p.m. No problem. This is the area most seen by the public at the S.O. It consists of a long counter with a couple of desks, computers and other stuff behind that. It's where we handle walk-ins. People come there wanting to get copies of reports, report stuff, seek advice, or ask for directions for the building they really need. Most of them are lost or don't have a clue to what they really need. Today was no different.
First up was a woman and a herd of children. She was a big woman with what I call stair stepper kids. Each one was a head tall than the next one and I guessed that they (I counted seven) were born back to back with not much difference in age to the next closest head. An old woman was there also to help herd the kids. She looked 95 but might have been younger. High mileage does that to you. The kids were all wearing some pretty ragged clothing that had probably been handed down a lot after they got it from the Salvation Army. They all had what appeared to be homemade haircuts. I won't go into details but by their appearance and demeanor I sensed there might have been some problems in the gene pool. Where's a gallon of bleach when you need it? It took me a few minutes to figure out exactly what the woman wanted. The kids were moving around and the old lady was yelling at them in between snuff spits in a cup. I finally figured out what she wanted to know. Her "old man" was in jail on a felony DUI charge and she wanted to know if she should go pay all his old traffic tickets and fines or use the money to pay a bail bondsman to get him out of jail on the felony charge. I suggested that she pay the bail bondsman and let him get out of jail and get back to work where he could pay the old stuff. "Oh, he won't work" was her reply. I told her if that was the case she should go pay all the fines so they wouldn't be waiting for him when he did get out. Her face just lit up. She just needed somebody to tell her what to do. I felt so good that I could help her.
Next up was was a black granny with her herd. She was upset because the POlice had "snatched her son off de porch for nuthin" and took her 14 year old granddaughter with them. She wanted to know what was going on. Everybody in this crowd was fussing and voicing their opinion on the situation. I finally convinced them if they remained quiet and let me talk to Granny I might be able to figure what was going on. I knew our people weren't involved or I would have heard it on the radio. I called dispatch at one of the local PD's and found out that her son was being arrested on some burglary charges when the 14 year old granddaughter tried to claw out the eyes of one of the cops. I told her that the son was in our jail and the 14 year old was at the juvenile detention center. I gave her directions to the center and as they left the noise started back up. I could still hear the complaints as they loaded into an old van in front of the office.
Next up was a young couple with what appeared to be a baby boy about a year old. His mother planted him on the counter as she walked up. He was a cute little baby and had bright blue eyes and white hair. He was squirming around as babies do and kept dropping his pacifier on my side of the counter. I picked it up off the floor and she stuck it back in his mouth. The couple were asking about what a restraining order did and how would they go about getting one. I asked them to explain why they needed one and the young mother told me she and her husband had gotten into an argument and separated briefly. During the separation the mother went to some kind of holiness church where she was prayed over and told by the pastor she needed to divorce the evil husband. The pastor apparently doesn't understand that most of the folks in these situations are usually back together within a few hours. The church people set her up in an apartment owned by the pastor after she gave him $2,000.00 for safe keeping. Somewhere during this explaination the baby's diaper began to leak on the counter and I called over to the jail and told them to send me a trustee and a wet rag. The mother told me that the pastor came to the apartment and sat down on the couch next to her and caressed her legs and buttocks and told her he would like to be her "pastor daddy." At this point she got scared and called her husband and he came and picked her up and brought her to the S.O. As the trustee wiped down the counter I learned that this happened in the county seat at the county just west of us. I told them that the chief of police over there was a good friend of mine and to go over there and talk to him. What are friends for?
A young couple came in and asked where the friend boy could get a replacement social security card. I told them this wasn't the social security office and the girl puffed up a little and told me "well, this is where I bought mine!" I didn't want to argue with her so I told her they moved out a few months ago and gave them the address. The guy standing behind them wanted to know where to go to pay child support. I directed him to the correct office. He called back on a cell phone a few minutes later and said I had sent him to the wrong office. I asked where he got his divorce and he said he got it in North Carolina and that he was always on time on his child support and went into a speech about how he took care of his children,etc. "What's the problem then if you're current on your child support?" He said it wasn't his and that it was for his boss and that his boss had gotten a ticket for it. I asked him if he had a copy of the ticket and he said he did. I told him to look near the middle of the ticket and tell what the charge read. "Suspended driver license." I then asked him if he saw an address at the bottom of the ticket telling him where it should be paid and he said he did. I told him to go to that address and pay the ticket. I didn't hear from him again.
Amy came in and wanted to report a meth lab. She was 26 years old, skinny, and wore clothes that showed more than I wanted to look at. After talking with her a few minutes I learned that she and her four children by four different fathers had been staying in the trailer where the lab was until the trailer owner kicker them out last night. I asked her where the kids were now and she said they were outside in the car with her sister and her four kids. She told me where and how they were making the meth and I called Metro narcotics. Metro was already busy kicking in another door so I told her to call me back Monday. I know all the parties involved and she probably is telling the truth. She talked some more and told me she had just gotten one of the kids back from the Department of Human Services. She then asked me if I knew what the status was on her oldest child being molested two years ago. I didn't know anything about it and I was the only one in the office so I told her to come see me Monday and we would talk to the narcs and find out about the case then.
It was almost time to get off when Casarah came in. She wanted a copy of an incident report involving her babysitter so she could take it to the college she was attending and get an excused absence because she had to come home last week and take care of her baby because the baby sitter got arrested. I asked her where she went to college and it was one of those schools that takes government grants and teaches you to change bed pans. I'm all for higher education. I asked her to explain the incident and she told me the sitter and T-Rex (I talked about her a few days ago) had gotten into it and both of them had outstanding warrants and the sitter went to jail while T-Rex faked a heart attack and went to the hospital. I didn't know about the sitter until now. Casarah asked my name and I told her. She said "you're the guy that had to fight my daddy a few years ago." I asked who her daddy was and I remembered the incident vividly. It was 2:00 a.m., he was very drunk, and I was more worried about the pit bull and the shotgun in his truck than him. I wrestled with him for 11 minutes and my back up got there six minutes after that. I asked her how her daddy was doing and she said he didn't drink as much now and was doing fine. I told her to tell dad hello and wrote her excuse on a department letterhead. I told her her name was different and asked her where she got it. She said her dad named her after his favorite song.
First up was a woman and a herd of children. She was a big woman with what I call stair stepper kids. Each one was a head tall than the next one and I guessed that they (I counted seven) were born back to back with not much difference in age to the next closest head. An old woman was there also to help herd the kids. She looked 95 but might have been younger. High mileage does that to you. The kids were all wearing some pretty ragged clothing that had probably been handed down a lot after they got it from the Salvation Army. They all had what appeared to be homemade haircuts. I won't go into details but by their appearance and demeanor I sensed there might have been some problems in the gene pool. Where's a gallon of bleach when you need it? It took me a few minutes to figure out exactly what the woman wanted. The kids were moving around and the old lady was yelling at them in between snuff spits in a cup. I finally figured out what she wanted to know. Her "old man" was in jail on a felony DUI charge and she wanted to know if she should go pay all his old traffic tickets and fines or use the money to pay a bail bondsman to get him out of jail on the felony charge. I suggested that she pay the bail bondsman and let him get out of jail and get back to work where he could pay the old stuff. "Oh, he won't work" was her reply. I told her if that was the case she should go pay all the fines so they wouldn't be waiting for him when he did get out. Her face just lit up. She just needed somebody to tell her what to do. I felt so good that I could help her.
Next up was was a black granny with her herd. She was upset because the POlice had "snatched her son off de porch for nuthin" and took her 14 year old granddaughter with them. She wanted to know what was going on. Everybody in this crowd was fussing and voicing their opinion on the situation. I finally convinced them if they remained quiet and let me talk to Granny I might be able to figure what was going on. I knew our people weren't involved or I would have heard it on the radio. I called dispatch at one of the local PD's and found out that her son was being arrested on some burglary charges when the 14 year old granddaughter tried to claw out the eyes of one of the cops. I told her that the son was in our jail and the 14 year old was at the juvenile detention center. I gave her directions to the center and as they left the noise started back up. I could still hear the complaints as they loaded into an old van in front of the office.
Next up was a young couple with what appeared to be a baby boy about a year old. His mother planted him on the counter as she walked up. He was a cute little baby and had bright blue eyes and white hair. He was squirming around as babies do and kept dropping his pacifier on my side of the counter. I picked it up off the floor and she stuck it back in his mouth. The couple were asking about what a restraining order did and how would they go about getting one. I asked them to explain why they needed one and the young mother told me she and her husband had gotten into an argument and separated briefly. During the separation the mother went to some kind of holiness church where she was prayed over and told by the pastor she needed to divorce the evil husband. The pastor apparently doesn't understand that most of the folks in these situations are usually back together within a few hours. The church people set her up in an apartment owned by the pastor after she gave him $2,000.00 for safe keeping. Somewhere during this explaination the baby's diaper began to leak on the counter and I called over to the jail and told them to send me a trustee and a wet rag. The mother told me that the pastor came to the apartment and sat down on the couch next to her and caressed her legs and buttocks and told her he would like to be her "pastor daddy." At this point she got scared and called her husband and he came and picked her up and brought her to the S.O. As the trustee wiped down the counter I learned that this happened in the county seat at the county just west of us. I told them that the chief of police over there was a good friend of mine and to go over there and talk to him. What are friends for?
A young couple came in and asked where the friend boy could get a replacement social security card. I told them this wasn't the social security office and the girl puffed up a little and told me "well, this is where I bought mine!" I didn't want to argue with her so I told her they moved out a few months ago and gave them the address. The guy standing behind them wanted to know where to go to pay child support. I directed him to the correct office. He called back on a cell phone a few minutes later and said I had sent him to the wrong office. I asked where he got his divorce and he said he got it in North Carolina and that he was always on time on his child support and went into a speech about how he took care of his children,etc. "What's the problem then if you're current on your child support?" He said it wasn't his and that it was for his boss and that his boss had gotten a ticket for it. I asked him if he had a copy of the ticket and he said he did. I told him to look near the middle of the ticket and tell what the charge read. "Suspended driver license." I then asked him if he saw an address at the bottom of the ticket telling him where it should be paid and he said he did. I told him to go to that address and pay the ticket. I didn't hear from him again.
Amy came in and wanted to report a meth lab. She was 26 years old, skinny, and wore clothes that showed more than I wanted to look at. After talking with her a few minutes I learned that she and her four children by four different fathers had been staying in the trailer where the lab was until the trailer owner kicker them out last night. I asked her where the kids were now and she said they were outside in the car with her sister and her four kids. She told me where and how they were making the meth and I called Metro narcotics. Metro was already busy kicking in another door so I told her to call me back Monday. I know all the parties involved and she probably is telling the truth. She talked some more and told me she had just gotten one of the kids back from the Department of Human Services. She then asked me if I knew what the status was on her oldest child being molested two years ago. I didn't know anything about it and I was the only one in the office so I told her to come see me Monday and we would talk to the narcs and find out about the case then.
It was almost time to get off when Casarah came in. She wanted a copy of an incident report involving her babysitter so she could take it to the college she was attending and get an excused absence because she had to come home last week and take care of her baby because the baby sitter got arrested. I asked her where she went to college and it was one of those schools that takes government grants and teaches you to change bed pans. I'm all for higher education. I asked her to explain the incident and she told me the sitter and T-Rex (I talked about her a few days ago) had gotten into it and both of them had outstanding warrants and the sitter went to jail while T-Rex faked a heart attack and went to the hospital. I didn't know about the sitter until now. Casarah asked my name and I told her. She said "you're the guy that had to fight my daddy a few years ago." I asked who her daddy was and I remembered the incident vividly. It was 2:00 a.m., he was very drunk, and I was more worried about the pit bull and the shotgun in his truck than him. I wrestled with him for 11 minutes and my back up got there six minutes after that. I asked her how her daddy was doing and she said he didn't drink as much now and was doing fine. I told her to tell dad hello and wrote her excuse on a department letterhead. I told her her name was different and asked her where she got it. She said her dad named her after his favorite song.
Thanks Charlie for another great post. Don
