My mother is trying to cut ties with a man that she lived with for three years who abused her. He held her captive in the home and beat her for two days, after he ripped the phones from the wall so that she could not call for help. She was, like many abuse victims, too emotionally battered to make good choices and leave, until my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer last June. She was able to physically leave, but the man has been stalking her via telephone and e-mail ever since. We had a temporary protection order issued from the State of Maine, but a permanent one cannot be issued until the Sheriff's Department in Snohomish County, Washington serves him with the paperwork. We have already gone to court in Maine and received a continuance until January 11th, but that won't do us any good unless the people in WA do their job.
We are currently in WA, attempting to retrieve Mum's personal possessions, things that cannot be easily replaced, such as her car, her personal documents and the cat. We have run into brick walls in every direction. The Sheriff's Dept. tried to tell us that the ME paperwork was no good. That is bullshit, as a protection order is good in all 50 states. The Sheriff's Dept. has had the paperwork from ME for a month and have spoken to the abuser on the telephone, but have not served him yet. In WA, the police do not have to serve someone, anyone over the age of 18 can do it, who is not the plaintiff. The abuser's probation officer said that he would, but only if the Sheriff's Dept. called him and asked him to do it. Mum faxed them that information at the same time that she faxed them the continuance paperwork. Also, they will not go out with us to the residence so that she may safely retrieve her belongings. She has to file an order that will cost her $250 in order for them to go out there with us and stay for 10 minutes. They told us that they had spoken with the abuser on the telephone and that all of her things were in the shed and she could go get them any time and that her was at work for 12 hours every day. He got fired last week, so there is no safe time to go. We told them this, and they repeated the phone conversation to us.
We took a huge chance and went out in a borrowed truck two days in a row, once with the friend who loaned us the truck and the second time by ourselves. Two 5'2" women by themselves. On the first day we discovered that barely anything was in the shed, but we took what was there. On day two, Mum went in and grabbed stuff, while I stood outside with a tire iron in my right hand and the cell phone in my left. We got what was there, but anything of any monetary value (including the oysterwood pot, Bill D), as well as her personal documents (passport, birth certificate, divorce papers, vehicle title, etc.) and the spare car keys were not in the residence.
We feel that we have exhausted our options and reported the car stolen this AM. The way we have been treated by the Sheriff's Dept makes me believe that we won't have a whole lot of luck there. I have never felt so angry or so frustrated in my life. I need a lot of warm fuzzies from my Mudcat family right now. Wish us luck.