Car accident=roommate arrested=our lives fucked for a while

sparklyjenna7

New member
Yesterday Brian, our roommate and I were all going to Rent a Center, and on our way got into a small accident. Brian was going to fast around a curve, started to slide, slammed on his brakes and ended up hitting the car in the lane next to us because the slide became worse.

Nobody was hurt. Thank God for that. Brian ended up getting three tickets, two of which can be tossed out if he brings in the proper documentation on his court date. That alone would have been bad enough, but as the title implies, more was to come.

The officer that came to deal with the accident insisted on getting both our roommates information and mine. Our roommate had a warrant out for his arrest due to a probation violation (which was really kind of a stupid thing, but I won't get into that). He tried giving his brother's information just like he always did, but he gave the wrong social security number, so they ended up finding out anyway and arresting him.

The standard sentence for a probation violation is six to eight months. SHIT!! That means that Brian and I are going to have to come home to an empty apartment for six to eight months unless his lawyer is as phenomenal as he claims and can get him out in a month. If he can get out within a month, we'll be fine. If he can't, we're screwed.

Brian and I will both have to pick up a second job to cover the difference in rent. I won't have it so bad to pay my half, but I have less bills than Brian does. We've considered and tossed out the idea of getting another roommate in a temporary situation. We couldn't do that to our roommate. We'd have to move his stuff out, and I'd break down crying. Neither of us would be able to face him after that even if he said it was okay. Plus, whoever we got would be stuck finding another living situation in six to eight months.

My biggest problem is the waiting and not knowing what's going on. His mom is being kind enough to cover his third of rent for March, but after that I don't know what's going to happen. I just don't know, and it's driving me crazy. I'm grateful for the fact that it could have been worse and wasn't. We all know how lucky we were that no one was hurt and that we didn't hit the car head-on. But knowing that we were lucky doesn't pay the bills for the next few months.
 
If you're roommmate concedes, you might want to place an ad for a temporary roommate in a furnished apartment. Depending on where you live, it may not be difficult to find someone (traveler, student, etc.) who themselves does not have much in the way of possessions. Your roommate's personal belongings can be boxed-up (and maybe stored elsewhere if space there does allow for it) but the bigger, harder to move items like his bed and furniture can in the meantime be used by the temporary roommate. That way you can get his part of the rent paid and he can easily move back in when he gets out.

Just a thought.
 
I'm sorry to hear you going through all of these problems, because of a wreckless guy. Because well as Shamiaqua said, maybe next time you should pick some one more responsable.

But well, that is not the point. I guess 53V3N's right, you should make an ad to find someone who will be willing to get out of the appartment after 6 months. And either you can box your roomate belongings or just let them in your place if they're not that much.
 
Leave my kidneys alone.

FireAngel, sorry your friends are dragging you down with them. I've had my share of friends like that. They don't mean to, but shit happens and then it winds up stinking up your life. I hope everything works out.
 
If you are not operating a motor vehicle, the officer only has a right to know your name and address. Since you were passengers and not drivers, you were not operating a motor vehicle. Please utilize your civil rights in the future! It would have saved you a headache.
 
Not true.

The US Supreme Court ruled in Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada that if there is reason to believe someone was involved in a crime, when asked for name and ID it is compulsory to provide them.

Linky

Since they were in the car when the accident happened, they were "involved in a crime" and thus subject to an ID request.
 
That covers what Icarus said about name and address, when I've seen a friend arrested the officers searched everyone in the car. I don't know if they have the right to do that, I can understand their suspicion, because it could be possible that he passed something to one of us, but I didn't have anything to hide, so I didn't really want to make a fuss at the time.
 
The officer has a right to know the identities of anyone involved in an accident, so as to prevent legal issues later on (lawsuits over not knowing who people are, etc etc). Plus if you're not injured now, you may show signs later--cops can't be too careful, people like to sue them over stupid (or nonexistent) things.
 
Fear of suit does not give the police the right to break your civil rights. Frisking is meant to find objects, not injuries.

Please say "no" to any requests to search or seizure. Say your lawyer said so, it sets a bad precedent. Have nothing to hide, but hide it anyways. Don't give them an inch.
 
Okay, Brian is NOT a reckless driver. The guy we hit had cut us off without using a blinker, and we didn't know what the fuck that guy was doing. So, Brian sped up to get past him. The rest was an accident.

Secondly, I already said we are NOT going to get a temporary roommate. This guy is our friend and a good guy. The warrant was bullshit. He was going to pay his restitution and get all of this taken care of. He just hadn't been able to save up enough money yet. We'll get second jobs and cover the extra money.
 
As stated by the article I linked, asking for your ID does not constitute illegal search and seizure.

When you're with someone that is being arrested, the police have reasonable cause to search your person as well. Also stated in the article I posted.

Neither violate your civil rights.
 
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