Post A9x1CseqF56G423NPE by mdm@mcnamarii.town
(DIR) More posts by mdm@mcnamarii.town
(DIR) Post #A9wzP3KECs8yiQ5WEa by ajroach42@retro.social
2021-08-03T13:39:02Z
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Cop just followed me down every back road from the coffee shop to the maker space. I guess because he thought I was on my cell phone? Followed me all the way through about five improbable turns, saw that I was driving up the hill to the maker space and kept going past me (there's nothing past me. The road dead ends, he had no conceivable reason for being up there.)
(DIR) Post #A9wzP3zhifJwn3Udsm by ajroach42@retro.social
2021-08-03T13:39:36Z
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I assume he chose not to follow me further because of the headache that I caused for the local PD the last time they decided to venture on to the maker space property.
(DIR) Post #A9wzP4Wfk5gyRIuyGm by ajroach42@retro.social
2021-08-03T13:44:15Z
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The last encounter we had with the police was about two months ago. Cop shows up around 9pm, lights are on doors are unlocked. Ryan is in the back working. Dude and his partner let themselves in, starts talking. I'm fuzzy on the remaining details, but I have reconstructed that it went like this: Ryan step out from the back holding a battery powered buzz saw. They start screaming. In my imagination, they draw firearms. I don't know if this happened IRL.
(DIR) Post #A9wzP53HmpmQ4SB16W by ajroach42@retro.social
2021-08-03T13:47:02Z
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Anyway, there's a lot of shouting, but it ends with one of the maker space dudes asking them if they have a warrant. This confuses them. "This building is unoccupied" "No, dude, I have a key and am clearly doing work here. You're trespassing." Same dudes come by and pester Ryan the next few days, and try to start shit with the homeless guy who was chilling behind the building. This goes on for about a week.
(DIR) Post #A9wzP5axlcibktvub2 by ajroach42@retro.social
2021-08-03T13:49:05Z
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Eventually, they come by one day while I'm in the building. This one is less explosive, but no less funny. I'm here with my wife and some of the members of the community who will eventually be working with us, and their kids. The cop pulls up in the parking lot, I assume he was going to drive around the building and harass the guy who's been staying out back. I saw him pull up and stepped out the side door and in front of his car.
(DIR) Post #A9wzP64O0EFpE9hPSS by ajroach42@retro.social
2021-08-03T13:51:42Z
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Same conversation as always "Do you have a warrant? Then get off my property." etc. etc.This time, though, I was in a foul mood."Look, at this point, someone from your department has been by this building 12 nights in 15 days. Now, I'm not a lawyer, but my lawyer is inside, should I ask her what constitutes unlawful harassment?"It was a bluff, the only people in the building were teachers and ceramicists, but one of them was standing in the window watching.
(DIR) Post #A9wzP6ae4I3gqCnAjw by ajroach42@retro.social
2021-08-03T13:54:34Z
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Dude says he'll leave and starts to pull around the building to turn around (even though it's harder to turn around behind the building.) I ask him what makes him think I want him to continue trespassing on my land, etc. etc. Anyway, the upshot is that he backs out to the edge of our property and does an overly dramatic 5 point u-turn and leaves.
(DIR) Post #A9wzP76u8LrYSFsw1Q by ajroach42@retro.social
2021-08-03T13:59:36Z
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Now, I had no hope that this would be the last of it, but I didn't think much about it for a few days. about a week later, I saw the sheriff at a local food spot (there are only about 20 officers with the whole department, and only about 6 places they'll eat.) I recognize him because he came by the day some folks tried to rob one of my baristas.
(DIR) Post #A9wzP7dACPfQ4IyhIu by ajroach42@retro.social
2021-08-03T14:01:50Z
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I'm feeling bold, so I walk up to him and say hello, ask him if he remembers me. "Yeah, you're the owner of the coffee shop, right You been havin' any more trouble?" I felt giddy when he asked me that. I didn't even think. I just started speaking. "Now that you mention it... There's been this, I guess they're a gang? of armed thugs who keep showing up at our new property and harassing and threatening my employees and guests."
(DIR) Post #A9wzP84oXbmjS3umP2 by ajroach42@retro.social
2021-08-03T14:05:03Z
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"White guys, all late 30s, same kind of cars, same color clothes." He turns pale. "in [this town]?" "Yeah. They showed up there, like 12 or 13 nights all clumped together right after we moved in, one night they even came through the front door." "Which building is it?"so I describe it. He starts writing stuff down, saying I should have called it in.
(DIR) Post #A9wzP8XsnX2MuDVziC by ajroach42@retro.social
2021-08-03T14:06:54Z
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He's not picking up what I'm putting down. I'm feeling slightly less bold now that I'm in the middle of this. "you said they were all dressed alike?" he asks"yeah, actually dressed just like you." Dude turned so red I thought he was going to pop. Rips the page out of his notebook and throws it away, and does not say anything for what felt like several minutes but was probably about twenty seconds.
(DIR) Post #A9wzP8xPGdSCBNSNUm by ajroach42@retro.social
2021-08-03T14:08:24Z
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"City or county?" "City." "Night shift?" "Night shift." "I'll talk to the boys." And I haven't had any trouble since. He also has not spoken to me since. Every once in a while one will pull through the parking lot, but they don't go behind the building anymore, and they never stop.
(DIR) Post #A9wzP9P3bpZVZ8OSau by djsumdog@djsumdog.com
2021-08-03T14:12:56.077519Z
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@ajroach42 Do you have any idea why? Did they think you were squatting the place? Were they after the homeless guy? Do they hate 3D printers? Seems super weird.
(DIR) Post #A9wzj3hUWNXRfeVbeK by feonixrift@hackers.town
2021-08-03T14:11:50Z
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@ajroach42 I laughed so hard. Well played. (Ugh on their harrassing though)
(DIR) Post #A9wzj49qowDv5bmFqy by ajroach42@retro.social
2021-08-03T14:15:54Z
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@feonixrift I totally understand why they kept coming up here. We had two (sometimes three) people frequently sleeping in the parking lot, and one of them has a reputation as an addict. The building had been empty for several years, and they had been using it as their place to sit and talk when they were supposed to be working.
(DIR) Post #A9wzuMbMaU9tTe26vA by ajroach42@retro.social
2021-08-03T14:18:12Z
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@djsumdog Yeah. The first few nights they thought we were squatting. They didn't know it had been sold because it wasn't on the market very long. After that, it was because we were providing shelter and medical support to a guy that "has a reputation as a meth head" according to one of the cops I confronted.
(DIR) Post #A9x1CseqF56G423NPE by mdm@mcnamarii.town
2021-08-03T14:32:20Z
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@ajroach42 @djsumdog I guess you could start calling yourself the "First Church of the Maker." Then they wouldn't give you so much shit about people sleeping there.
(DIR) Post #A9xviCzYHlfdXUFuRE by ajroach42@retro.social
2021-08-03T14:13:15Z
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Small parts of this story were embellished for comedic or dramatic effect. The big events (Ryan encountering the cops multiple nights in a row, me confronting the cops, the dramatic 5 point u-turn, and me talking to the sheriff about the gang that was harassing us) all happened pretty much as described. I originally published the first post of this saying that it was me in the maker space that first night, which would have been untrue, but funnier. I corrected that point.
(DIR) Post #A9xviDPmiEecqqWrKK by Username_Here_ASAP@retro.social
2021-08-04T00:35:50Z
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@ajroach42 glad that you were able to reconcile a sensible direction with their leadership, an uncommon bridge crossed. Here's to hoping that they take their licks and don't try to inflict their hideous idiocy (hidiocy?) on you or yours again, and maybe do their job better.