False imprisonment by boss then false arrest by his cop buddies
criminal defense attorney Arizona Aug 29, 2026
Location: Arizona. Hello, this is a throwaway account for anonymity. I am located in Arizona. I am an independent contractor (IC) with my own station/chair inside a shop that charges rent to several other ICs. The shop owner has their own station as well. I had been there for 8 months as an apprentice, but recently I transitioned to being my own business, which means paying a flat-rate rent or a percentage cut to the shop owner. I took some time to think about it, then decided that the work environment was too toxic and the shop owner had a different personality or mood each day. I did not want to stay. I picked a day to move out and went about getting my belongings. I called the shop owner beforehand, but as usual, they ignored my call. I have my own key to the shop and to the mailbox. I let myself in at about 10:30 a.m., after normal business hours had started, rather than first thing in the morning to avoid it looking like I was sneaking in or out. No one else had opened up yet, so it was just my spouse and me. After about an hour and a half, all of my belongings were out of the shop and in my car or on the trailer attached to my car. The only item left to move was my large, very heavy client chair. I was sweeping up and making sure that I was leaving a clean space when the shop owner came bursting in. They grabbed my client chair and dragged it from the front door back to my now empty work area, dragging the rug and tearing up the wooden panels beneath it. They began yelling at me about not answering my phone and ignoring them. I still had the broom and dustpan in my hands, and reminded them that they were the ones who didn't answer calls. We argued about me taking my chair home, then the shop owner called the police, which I was fine with considering it was my property, I had permission to be there, my own key, etc.. As they were calling the police, they went out the door and locked it behind themselves, locking me in. This is when I began recording things with my phone. I unlocked the door from the inside, opened the door, but was physically blocked from exiting the business by the shop owner. They started claiming that I owed them thousands of dollars and that they were keeping the chair until I had paid up. I did not owe them any money, as the apprenticeship was free and I hadn't started working on my own yet/no clients yet. While the shop owner is on the phone, they are telling the police that I'm taking things and that I owe them money and other things of that nature. I forced myself through the shop owner and was able to get halfway out. I then tried to drag my chair with me through the doorway (I had moved it closer to the door during my time locked in), and the shop owner pushed the chair back in, then attempted to go inside with it and lock the door from inside to prevent me from taking my chair. I defended my property and did not let him go inside to steal it. This is when the police arrived. The first officer who arrived at our second-floor business entrance greeted the shop owner with a "sup bro" then immediately came at me, grabbing my wrists in an attempt to cuff me. I argued that this was hardly appropriate behavior, as he hadn't assessed or de-escalated or anything, and that this was looking very biased, considering the friendly greeting. His taser was pointed at me twice during this time, and while I wasn't being aggressive, I was certainly verbally defending my rights while keeping my hands behind me on the other side of a metal railing, showing that I was not physically a danger. Eventually other officers arrived, about 7 or 8, and they began speaking Spanish with the shop owner. I asked them to please speak English, as I didn't understand what was being said to the shop owner or by the shop owner. I told them I couldn't defend myself or correct misinformation being given to them by the shop owner. This is when I was forced down the hallway, away from the shop, the owner, and the majority of responding officers. The first cop, the buddy cop, came with the two officers and myself, but I protested that this officer was biased and that I was not going anywhere with him. Eventually, the other two officers got him to leave us. I tried to explain that I was an IC, I have my own key, and that my belongings were inside. I tried to explain that I had been locked inside and then physically prevented from leaving. They sort of listened, they sort of watched the video on my phone, then they told me to wait there. They, and every other officer on site, then went into the shop and had a very long meeting with the shop owner. The shop has its own security camera, which should have shown the police that my spouse and I had let ourselves in using my key, gotten my belongings down the stairs multiple times, and were cleaning up; that we were not rushing around or moving things in any fashion that could be construed as stealing. The security camera should also have shown the officers that I had been locked in and that I had to push and grapple to escape. I don't know what the shop owner actually showed the police, if anything at all, because once they came out, they ordered my wife to step away, they put me in cuffs, then they took me downstairs to the parking lot and into the back of a squad car. I protested verbally; I told them again that I had been locked inside and then physically blocked from leaving. All they said was "We saw the video, bro; you attacked him." I then tried a different approach, telling them I had proof on hand to show it was my chair and that i had it in writing, on my phone, in my pocket, that I didn't owe him money. I told them I had video in my pocket to prove they had locked me in. The police said, "That's not our problem; you can take it up in civil court." In my video, it can be seen and heard that the shop owner called the police and used the words "he's taking things" and "he owes me money" in order to get them there. The police were arresting me using the "civil stuff" as part of their reasoning, but when I have irrefutable proof with me, it's not their problem. It was 100+ degrees out that day, and the car I was put into had been sitting in the uncovered lot, without the AC on. I almost threw up from the greenhouse effect of the sun getting trapped inside. I told the officers that they had twisted my shoulder and cuffed me in a way that made it impossible to move or adjust enough to find a non-painful position. I told them that I thought they had torn my shoulder, and in response, the officer closing my door made a whining noise and said, "It's a short ride to jail" before closing the door completely. I was left inside the 100+ degree car, with no AC, for long enough that the heat and the situation-of-it-all gave me a panic attack. I was cuffed, in excruciating shoulder pain, and inside a car that was hotter than a two-peckered billy goat in July mating season, and we were adding a panic attack to the equation. Once I arrived at the jail and was inside the intake room, I was asked to spread my legs and put my hands up on the wall. I could not lift my left arm, so I used my right hand to pull up and place my left hand on the wall. Once I was allowed to sit, I was kept handcuffed by my left wrist, which was still twisted, keeping my left arm/shoulder from finding relief. I sat for a long time like that, eventually losing feeling in my left hand; I was asked about my medical history. I was given a copy of the ticket for misdemeanor assault and misdemeanor disorderly conduct. My glasses had been thrown by the shop owner during our scuffle, so I signed the signature line with "I don't have my glasses." I also signed the medical forms they gave me the same way. After sitting for another long stretch, an attending officer asked me if I was feeling ok. I reminded him that I am a diabetic, which at this point was well known, and that I hadn't eaten yet that day or had any of my meds yet that day. That officer called for the jail nurse but was told that they were busy giving meds to inmates. It took about an hour to finally see a nurse, who then started taking down my medication history, injury history, and medical procedure history, of which I have plenty for each category. It became obvious that the jail didn't want to deal with getting all of my needs assessed and responded to, and that the attending officers could be back on duty instead of babysitting me, so it was decided that they would release me instead of attending to my torn shoulder, diabetes, and panic attacks (I had a second one during intake). So, I was released out front, and my spouse picked me up. But wait, there's more! After I had been taken to jail, two associates of the shop owner went to my car and trailer, which was still in the business's parking lot, and they began to take my belongings. They, too, justified this by saying that I owed money. As they offloaded my very heavy tool chest, which is how most people in my profession store their equipment, the two associates ran over my spouse's foot. My spouse yelled in pain, and a witness came over in response. Do you remember that first officer, the buddy cop? They were standing at my trailer the entire time, almost supervising the associates as they removed my property. At one point, when challenged about this, the buddy cop walked over to the shop owner, who was now in an ambulance (i assume because he wanted to really nail his perfornance as "the victim") in order to verify that he, the shop owner, was permitting the associates to take my property, then, buddy cop walked back to my trailer assure the associates that they, indeed, had the shop owner's permission. In response to my spouse's pain and subsequent request to press charges against the two associates, buddy cop said: "It's your own fault, you got in the way." Buddy cop then turned and walked away. This was witnessed both by my spouse, the person who came running after my spouse had cried out in pain, and one of the paramedics who had come to help my spouse. The two associates left the scene without taking anything, due to my spouse's diligence. If you're still reading, here's some really fucked up interesting context for why I am on here sharing these events. The shop owner was convicted of negligent homicide in the past and is currently on parole. The negligent homicide case was held at the local city court. The prosecuting attorney at the local city court dismissed nearly all of the charges and tried to let him go. Only after pressure from the community and the family of the deceased was the case moved to another court. The local paper quoted the reason for this move by printing, "We felt that the circumstances warranted review by an outside agency. ... to avoid appearance of a conflict of interest." Only after the case was moved away from the local court was the shop owner sentenced to time in jail/prison. The court and prosecutor's office that tried to let the shop owner go are the same court and prosecutor whom I will be seeing in my upcoming hearing; essentially, the buddy cop and the shop owner got me arrested, and the local court/prosecuter, who showed favoritism to the shop owner in a homicide case, are now prosecuting me on behalf of the very same shop owner. During my attempt to file a police report for my stolen property (not about the police abuse, aggression, false imprisonment, false arrest, etc.,) I discovered that the local police do not accept online submission of reports. It says to call or come into the station to make a report. So, I called the phone number to make a report, and I was told that they only take reports in person. At the thought of having to go to this particular police station, I imagined that I would either have a meltdown at the stress of being inside with those chuds or, more likely, that would probably strangle the buddy cop if he happened to get near me. I tried one more thing, which was to directly call CID to speak to a detective, effectively sidestepping the going-in-person route. It worked; I got a detective, and he began taking my report. Once he realized who I was and that I was reporting something from the big incident a few days prior, he cut me off, told me I had to speak to a patrol officer, then transferred my call to the 911 operator. I told the operator that i was not comfortable going to the station to make my report and she offered, in a very disgusted-with-me-and-my-bullshit way, to have a patrol officer meet me at the address where my property had been stolen. The address where I had been arrested. The address where I was now legally prohibited from entering. She said it in a way that was just daring me to be stupid enough to go there so that I could be arrested for trespassing. I have not been able to get myself to go to the police station. I tried making a report with the sheriff's office, but they declined to give a shit. I cannot afford a criminal defense attorney. I have not been successful in finding a firm that offers both criminal defense and civil "Section 1983" law; my reason for trying to find a firm that offers both is so that, potentially, they would go easy on me for the cost of the criminal defense knowing that they'd make it all up in the civil suits. Now you have the backstory and the reason why we are all here today - I don't know what to do. If I start an online fundraiser for legal fees, I assume that I would have to share at least part of my story. If it gets attention and spreads, I'll get more financial help but probably at the cost of harming my case? Do I report the false imprisonment to the FBI, in the hopes that because it's a federal crime, their involvement will shine a light on the corruption and violation of my civil rights, thus giving me some kind of support? Possibly even getting my charges dropped? Do I file a complaint with the county health and fire departments? There is a second door out of the shop, but it is locked, and it is blocked with large furniture, which prevented me from using that exit. Do I report this to the state parole board? The shop owner has bragged in the past that their PO doesn't make them take drug tests because pot is legal in Arizona. The shop owner gets away with taking other drugs and pretends that they only smoke pot to their PO to get out of the drug tests. Also, you know, the whole lying to the police about me attacking them, violating their parole, thing. Do I file a state/federal claim under the landlord/tenant act in the hopes that it gets someone to take a look at all of this? Talk about a toxic workplace amirite? I have renter's insurance, but until i file the theft claim they can't/won't help. I have been seen medically for my injuries, and psychologically for the new panic attacks after the incident. I don't trust a public defender from this court. I know that i cannot take any plea deal if i want to sue the city/police in civil court. How would you approach a firm to represent you without sounding or feeling like you're a character in the #adamsandler skit "They're all gonna laugh at you!"? I realize that I am dating myself with that reference. iykyk Thank you in advance for any help you can throw my way
