posted
As of Monday, he was in the county jail. I will be subpoened and will most likely be depositioned and have to testify if this goes to court. The last couple I have been involved with though, have settled out of court. Still, I will have to give a statement that will be damning evidence, I am sure.
Posts: 1870 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
<ahem> deposed </ahem> Sorry, too many years working for court reporters.....
IMHO the guy was wrong to ask you to not call the cops and to get him into treatment, and you were totally right in what you did. It would be far too easy for him to quit treatment if it weren't court ordered and possibly while incarcerated or otherwise restricted. And if he's out and about, temptation would be far too easy to give in to.
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
Alucard, I think the world of you both for your actions and how heavily they weighed on you. But I do think you are not taking into consideration some very important facts here:
1. This fellow was using aliases at multiple pharmacies, even though he had what apparently appears to be a passable prescription. I'm afraid he wasn't keeping up just his habit.
2. His wife worked at the medical clinic, and had either stolen the prescription pads (and you know how big of a no-no that is) or had obviously given him access to them. He couldn't just swing by for lunch and whisk one off of any old counter in the office. The pads are controlled...
3. He took his kid to your pharmacy, he took his kid to this pharmacy. Chances are he took his kid to other ones nearby as well.
4. These were narcotics the man was getting. You know they have a street value. Chances are good that he was picking up much more than his own habit would need, considering the multiple pharmacies.
5. Was he buying these on insurance or cash? Insurance would have caught it fast and his wife works in a doctor's office, usually a place with medical insurance available for employees and their spouses. If he was purchasing with cash (couldn't use a check or credit card with an alias) where do you think he was getting the cash?
6. Now, if he would bring his kid to pick up the narcotics while risking discovery and arrest, how many times do you think the kid was with him when he sold the narcotics?
You have no reason to feel bad for your actions, but plenty to feel bad for the kid and how his folks got THEMSELVES into this mess. Getting busted may be the best way for all of them to get right.
You're a good man and you did the right thing. And what's more, you did your profession proud in a time when some would just have rung up the purchase and did nothing.
[ January 12, 2005, 09:46 PM: Message edited by: Lost Ashes ]
Posts: 472 | Registered: Aug 2004
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posted
Actually, Lost Ashes, I took all of them into consideration, and they mattered little when all I could see was that little boy crying and being physically pried from his father, who was still in handcuffs as they led him out of the pharmacy. That image will haunt me far longer than busting a seeker. This seeker just happened to be a father who was most likely a stay at home Dad, and the child's emotional anchor. The way this affected the child is the hardest part!
I actually keep a logbook of seekers and prior arrests in my pharmacy. I have had doctors, nurses, and other prominent people arrested, and none of them even came close to bothering me the way this one did, mainly because the child was there firsthand. And that is why I was having so much trouble clearing my head this week.
Sadly, Ash, I have played those thousands of angles and considerations till the wee hours of the morning, with little or no resolution in my own head. Hearing Hatrack support me, though, that has helped very much!
Posts: 1870 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote: You may find that fingerpainting becomes more interesting than Doom 3 -- which is scary in itself, I admit.
Actually, she is 10 weeks pregnant, and had to sit down and recover, and was a bit traumatized as I had to leave her and finish off my shift at my store, after opening hers. But even though she is this sweet, demure, shy, unassertive fawn, she is my rock and I need to hear her reassure me about my life-altering decisions often.
Then again, she gives me her opinion a lot, even when I don't ask for it. But I love her.
P.S. Ralphie, I have worked a few 12 hour shifts in a row, and I am actually too tired to play Half-Life 2. That is sad!
Posts: 1870 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
I think Jexx was on the right track. If the man always had his child, I doubt he was using him as a shield. Also, him not leaving after you giving him three "outs" because he thought his nurse wife would answer the phone isn't probable. What would the chances be. I think he didn't leave because he wanted to be accountable for his actions. Who better to make him accountable, then his son. I think he wanted to be busted, and you helped him.
Posts: 36 | Registered: Nov 2003
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quote: think Jexx was on the right track. If the man always had his child, I doubt he was using him as a shield. Also, him not leaving after you giving him three "outs" because he thought his nurse wife would answer the phone isn't probable. What would the chances be. I think he didn't leave because he wanted to be accountable for his actions. Who better to make him accountable, then his son. I think he wanted to be busted, and you helped him.
This is an incredibly optimistic view on this person's motives. While I think you're dead-wrong, I actually like knowing there are people with as generous an opinion as yours to counterbalance the glass/half-empties.
Posts: 7600 | Registered: Jan 2001
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posted
It may not have been a consious decision, but stranger things have happened subconsiously. It is a faily well documented action, really....when someone is feeling guilty, or way over their heads and helpless, they do things that result in getting caught...that way they get help, but don't have to deliberatly ask for it.
posted
You're right, Kwea. I just don't think it's the case here.
Of course, I'm working with pretty limited info so I should hesitate to say anything on this with a certainty. (Even though I told Jestak that I thought he was "dead wrong". Let's just say that was for flow of post. )
Posts: 7600 | Registered: Jan 2001
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posted
Alucard, that just sucks. I'm sorry you had to go through that, really I am. You're a good person - anyone can see that by the way this is hurting you. You could not have done differently.
*pat,pat*
You and your wife are in my thoughts.
Posts: 1664 | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
Thanks Olivetta. Wy wife was whipped, and I came in for her from 3-9 tonight. I am standing where I stood exactly one week ago.
And when I thought about it, I got nervous and my stomuch lurched. But I am OK now. In all honesty, I will probably not have any closure to this event until the legal preceedings are finalized and, if need be, he has his day in court, with me or my testimony there...
Posts: 1870 | Registered: Mar 2003
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