My PPC landed me in Los Angeles City Jail

[Bruce Brown]

I know that some of the stories here aren't true, but let me assure you this one is.

Last Saturday, June 19, 2004, I went to bed just after midnight. I was in Bangkok, Thailand getting ready to start the long 27 hour journey back to St. Louis. I had been in Thailand for just over two weeks to get married and honeymoon with my new wife and two children.

The wake-up call came at 4:00 AM. We had already packed the night before, so we took quick showers and headed to the airport. The first leg of our flight took us to Tokyo, and we then caught a flight to Los Angeles. From Los Angeles we were to fly to Chicago, and then back to St. Louis.

By the time we got to Los Angeles, we had already been traveling for about 18 hours. I can’t sleep on airplanes, and with only four hours of sleep the night before, I was very tired.

Because we were changing planes in L.A., and it was our first entry point into the United States, we needed to go through customs. Our six year old boy had been able to stay up almost the entire trip, but he fell asleep about an hour before we landed and he was dead. There was no waking him up.

When we got to Customs, I asked to take our son over to some chairs to lay him down because trying to carry him along with the carry-on luggage was very difficult. As my wife and daughter approached the counter, I picked up Jack and we all met at the counter. The Customs lady ran the passports, and started asking me some questions. I verified my name, birth date, and social security number. She then said we needed to go through some doors and wait for someone to talk to us.

When we left the country, we had all been chosen for screening, so I really wasn’t concerned. We were carrying in more luggage than we left with, so I figured we had been tagged for something. A couple of male Customs officers came in and asked me some more questions, and then said to follow them. We went to an area where we gathered our entire checked luggage, and then took it all to a place for inspection.

This is where they separated my wife and I, and when I started to realize something was going on. I asked what this was about and I was told that I had a warrant for my arrest. They asked me if I new what it was about and I had no clue.

A new Customs officer came over and asked me if I knew why I was being arrested. Again, I said I had no idea and assured him that I was clean as a whistle and this was a mistake. He then asked me if I had ever heard of Benton, Missouri. Now, this wasn’t asked in a nice, polite way, it was asked in the way you’ve seen on TV where you have a cop who thinks he’s big, bad, and tough. “Have, you ever heard of Benton, Missouri? Does that ring a bell? Now do you know why we’re holding you?” I then asked what the charge was and I thought I heard him say arson. I told them you have got to be kidding, this is not me. There is a huge mistake and I assure you this isn’t me…

I asked for permission for my wife to come over so I could tell her what was going on and to tell her to get my cell phone out of my carry-on bag and get my lawyer on the phone. He is a very close friend and old roommate from college. When my wife got there I told her I was being held for arson and I was then corrected. The charge was larceny, not arson. Regardless, this is still a huge mistake and I still haven’t done anything wrong. I asked my wife if she had ever heard of Benton, Missouri. She travels Missouri as part of her territory for her job and she said Benton is right next to Sikeston, Missouri.

The second she said Sikeston, I started to figure out what this was about.

Now, what does all of this have to do with a PPC?

When I purchased my Paraski, I had a trailer I had used with my previous PPC. It was an open, tilt-bed trailer. The new Paraski was longer, and most of the weight of the Paraski was behind the axle so towing at highway speeds was dangerous, with the trailer swaying because there was no tongue weight. I decided to purchase a new trailer.

After owning a few trailers for towing PPC’s, I decided I wanted to custom build something. The garage doors on my home are both single doors, so I need something that will fit inside a single door. I also wanted something low enough that I didn’t need to remove the Paraski when entering or exiting the garage (this was a problem with my old Sparrow). I also needed the axle in a different place, as well as some wheel stops, etc.

Sikeston, MO has a number of trailer manufacturers. I made several phone calls, talked to several of them, and landed on a company named M&M Trailers. They agreed to make the trailer, to my specifications, and the total cost was to be $943. I gave them a deposit of $150 on my Visa card. This was in early July of 2003. They said it would be ready by the end of the month.

The trailer wasn’t ready by the end of the month, but it was on August 5th. I drove 200 miles to Sikeston to pick up my trailer. When I arrived, I was waiting inside where an irate customer who had a large order was having complaining because his order was wrong. He was going to have to come back and wasn’t happy. Since this was going to take a while, I thought I’d go outside and look mine over.

When I found what I thought was my trailer, I also immediately realized I had a number of problems with it. I was supposed to have 14” wheels, but only had 13”, the wheel stops were missing, there were no ramps to load the Paraski, and the axle was right in the center as if this was a tilt-bed trailer. I went inside and they now had two unhappy customers. I found out the lady who took my order was the owners’ wife, but neither she nor her husband was there. The secretary called up their foreman, who went out and looked things over. He told me they would make me a new trailer and have it ready by Friday. I left a message for the owner to call me because I wasn’t happy about the 400 mile round trip, and there being so many problems. I then headed back home.

When I got home, I had not received a call so I called the owners, but was told they had left for the day. After not receiving a call the next day, I called again but had to leave another message. After not being called back again, I sent an email expressing my frustrations on Thursday, August 7.

I called again on Thursday, this time talking to the same foreman who helped me to confirm the new trailer would be ready for pick-up the next day as promised. I was then told they hadn’t even started it, and they wouldn’t start it until Friday. He said the earliest I could pick it up would be Saturday.

I then received a call on Friday from Tonya May, the lady who took my order, but I wasn’t home to receive it. She simply left a message saying that they only put 14” wheels on when someone wants used tires and wheels, and because I wanted new, I could only get 13”. None of my other issues were mentioned or addressed. Oh well, I could live with 13”, it’s not what I ordered or was told, but it wasn’t a deal breaker.

I took off again on Saturday, August 9th to drive the 400 mile round trip to pick up my trailer. When I arrived, I immediately went to check things over. Paul the foreman came out to meet me. After looking things over, it all looked good, but I noticed the tires were protruding beyond the fenders. I asked Paul for a tape measure. I measured the overall width of the trailer and found that the width of the fenders was 86 inches, exactly what I specified as the maximum trailer width. The problem now, however, is that each tire sidewall protruded outside the fender 1.75 inches making the actual trailer width 89.5 inches! This is 3.5 inches wider than ordered, and is a problem because of the width of my single wide garage door.

Now I’m pretty hot, and Paul the foreman knows it. He takes me inside to talk to me, but I want to talk to the owners. Of course, neither of them is there. He finds the notes the order taker made and sees the dimensions written on them. He knew this wasn’t my mistake.

I had sold my old trailer a month earlier, and was unable to fly this entire time because of it. The Championships in Greenville were a week away, and I had hoped to participate just for the experience. I couldn’t even practice, so this wasn’t going to happen. Paul told me to go ahead and take the trailer, and assured me they would make it right. He said to call next week, and he would talk to the owners. Reluctantly, I paid for the trailer and left for home.

Monday morning, August 11th, I wrote another email to the owners about my problems and asking them to contact me to address them. Not only did I not receive a call that day, I didn’t receive one return call to my calls every day of that entire week.

It was obvious at this point that they weren’t going to work with me, so I contacted Visa and disputed the balance (not the entire amount including the deposit) of $793. This process takes 45 days. During the process, Visa asked me for some more information which I provided. I then received a letter from Visa dated October 6, 2003 telling me that after their investigation my dispute was resolved and that they were crediting my account $793.

I received a call from Alfred May, the owner of M&M Trailers furious that Visa had honored my dispute. He accused me of stealing his trailer. I pointed out that he still held my deposit, and that this could easily be resolved by building me the trailer properly and he would be paid in full. I also told him that although the trailer was usable, it was not what I ordered and I was not willing to pay full price for a custom trailer that wasn’t built to the proper specifications. He refused to build a new trailer, so we were at a standstill.

Since Visa finally honored my dispute, I went out and paid the sales tax as well as the late fees for the trailer. I also started using it, which I didn’t do while this was being disputed.

On October 21st, 2003, I received another call from the owner, this time threatening to “send a couple of guys up here to take care of it.” I then sent another email telling him I would no longer speak to he or his wife, and that any discussions should be only in writing. I continued to receive phone calls from them threatening me, but I never took a call. I wish I’d of saved the voicemails.

In late November of 2003, I realized that I was not going to work anything out with these people, and that I still had a trailer that I had only paid $150 for, and that its true value to me was higher. On November 26th, 2003, I sent a check for $500 (making the total paid $650) along with a letter offering this as full settlement for our dispute. This letter was sent certified, and was returned to me by the USPS, unopened, on January 28th, 2004. They never even opened the envelope, which I still have in my possession, with the check inside.

Now, back to how I ended up in the Los Angeles City Jail.

Alfred May, owner of M&M Trailers once told me on the phone that he knew the Sheriff and that I would be sorry. Well, he was right. He told the Sheriff that I stole the trailer and had an arrest warrant issued. When customs caught me coming back into the country, I was detained until the LAPD came to pick me up and I spent the next three days and two nights in jail.

This couldn’t have happened at a worse time, because we flew in to LA on Saturday morning. Had this happened during the week, my lawyer could have got me out much quicker. As it was, there was nothing that could be done. The charge was for larceny of $25,000, with no bail. Missouri was going to have to come and extradite me. Customs told my new wife and children there was nothing they could do and to continue home. I was arrested in front of them and spent my first Father’s Day in jail knowing I had done nothing wrong.

Let me tell you a bit about the LA City Jail. I am a 38 year old, white businessman, who has never been in trouble for anything. I was categorized a fugitive, who had committed a felony, and was put in a cell about 20 feet long by 8 feet wide. The cell held eight men, and there were seven of us in there. I was scared to death to be where I was, I hadn’t slept, my body still thinks it’s in Thailand so I have severe jet-lag. I was in a cell with a carjacker who used a gun, a couple of guys who we’re burglarizing something, someone charged with aggravated assault, and a guy who didn’t really say anything. All of them had done long prison stints. The carjacker asked what I had done and I wanted to say I killed someone because of who I was with. What are they going to do to a guy who disputes a charge on his Visa card?

I didn’t eat a single thing the entire time I was in there because it was disgusting. There was a guy across from our cell coming off heroin who kept crapping his pants. Of course the smell travelled right into our cell. I was not allowed to shower or brush my teeth. I was in the same clothes that I left Bangkok in for four days. I could go on and on about how bad the LA City Jail is, but I really don’t want to think about it any more.

My home telephone is a broadband phone, so I wasn’t able to call my wife collect. I had none of my phone numbers with me, so I was unable to talk to anyone until Monday morning. I called a friend collect and told her to get hold of my wife to let her know I was still there and to get me my lawyer’s office number. I didn’t even know if my wife had got hold of him. I called his office collect and was forwarded to his assistant who I have known now for several years also. She let me know he was on his way down to Benton County to try to get a judge to drop this and get me out as quickly as possible. She told me to be sure that when I went to my extradition hearing that I waived extradition.

A couple of hours later, I hear my name called. I jump up thinking I’m about to go to my court hearing, but was told that I was being released. Thank God! My good friend John had got me out. I really didn’t know how much longer I was going to take it in there; I had literally slept five or six hours in four days now. I was released and walked out, looked around and started walking.

Customs told me I would have no need for cash, so I gave it all to my wife. Thankfully, I kept a credit card with my passport and drivers license. I walked towards the busiest street I saw and found Union Station where I was able to call my wife and let her know I was out. I then caught a cab to LAX and paid for a ticket to catch the first flight to St. Louis.

After sleeping for 14 hours, I woke up and called my friend John to thank him. We hadn’t even spoken, so he really didn’t know what this was all about or even what my side of the story was. My wife knew some of it, but didn’t really even know any details.

John told me that he knew I was in trouble because the LA City Jail and another in New York are notoriously the worst in the country. He just wanted to get me out. All he knew was that I had something I hadn’t paid in full, and that the amount was $793. He told the judge he would pay it himself to get the charge dropped and to release the warrant so I could get out immediately. The judge agreed.

Justice? Well, not only did I get thrown in jail for disputing and winning the charge on my Visa, I now have to pay in full for the trailer and I had the privilege of spending my first Father’s Day in jail. It really burns me that this guy who screwed me over not only gets all of his money for building me something incorrectly, but that he was able to put me in jail for three days. Something just isn’t right when something like this can happen to an honest person.

I have complete documentation of all my correspondence with this company as well as Visa. I also have proof of my attempt to settle this dispute with my certified letter. I have thought about going after him civilly, but really, what good would it do me? So what if I get a $200 discount on my trailer and money for my plane ticket home; what would it cost me to get that? Nothing could repay me for the time I spent in that hell hole, but mostly for missing my first Father’s Day and having my new family see me arrested in front of them.

I can’t imagine something like this happening to anyone else, but just know that even though you try to do things the right way, sometimes really bad things can still happen to you.

Bruce! What a terrible experiance that was!

I am sure your lawyer is smart enough to know that this was/is a civil matter- NOT criminal and the owner can go to jail for making false accuazations.

In addition the "foreman" acting as a represenative of the company told you to take the trailer home and you simply complied with the wishes of the company he represented.

Additionally you showed good faith in keeping the door of communication open and offered money to settle.
They refused the money. This is a no-no.

A good lawyer would have his ass in jail next weekend.
The basis of the complaint I say again is a CIVIL matter.
You can kick his butt for falsely making it criminal.

You have the grounds to own his shop and perhaps his house and a good lawyer will see this.

Mike

Nail his butt to the wall Bruce!!!!To much of that kind of stuff going on.

[FrontierFlyer]

Bruce,
MAN what a story!! I am at a loss for words on this one!! I am not usually a vengefull person...but I think in this case he REALLY needs to pay for this!! That is absolutely terrible!!! And I'm sure your wife was scared to death for you as well!!
Let us know what your lawyer says about going after that sorry bastard!

[Bruce Brown]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

This always was a civil, business dispute. It should never have been turned into a criminal issue.

I would never have taken delivery of the trailer the second time had I not been told they would take care of it. It was only after more than a week of not returning phone calls or emails that I exercised my right to dispute the charge.

During the entire time of the dispute, I never heard a word from them either. I actually thought they had just decided to cut their losses and let me have it for the price of the deposit. It was cheaper than building a third trailer. It wasn't until the money came out of their account from Visa that they started acting.

My lawyer is a criminal defense attorney, not a civil attorney. He did what he needed to do to get me out of jail, so now I have a different issue to deal with and I'll need a different attorney who is better versed in these types of issues. I just don't want to throw a bunch of money at this and not collect anything in return. Then I lose even more than I already have.

I am willing to listen to any advice any knowing people have as to how I should/could proceed and if it is likely to do me any good.

Bruce,

I joined this group temporarily to respond to this string. I don't fly a PPG, I am an Ultralight pilot, but we all share the same love of flight.

I actually will share some advice from a businessman who also has a spotless record, but was wrongly taken to the cleaners.

I won't go into the story here, but I too was unjustly sued and ultimately lost through the help of a retiring judge. Monitarily it cost me just over $13,000 and could have gone higher due to my legal councels advise to appeal. But after 2 1/2 years of hell and fighting a battle I didn't start, I had to end it and move on. I have put it behind me and my life, my attitude and my business has been better for it since I can now focus on what's really important.

Yes, this trailer business should be responsible for their lack of being able to read instructions from the very beginning, but if I could tell you one thing here, it would be to make an informed decision on what's best for you and your family and move forward. For us, it was to put an end to it and leave it behind. Yes, bad things do happen to good people. No they shouldn't but they do. It is how we deal with them that determined what kind of person we continue to be.

I'm sorry this has happened to you, but I'll bet that if you jump in that PPG and breath deep, you will get some good inspiration as to what direction to take.

Best of luck, and fly safe.
George Curtis
Utah

[Bruce Brown]

An update...

I have spoken with 2 attorney's regarding what happened to me. The consensus from both is that I got screwed, but it will be a waste of my time to pursue them legally.

The bottom line is that we would have to prove that the trailer company tried to maliciously abuse the process or system in order to have me thrown in jail. This would be very difficult to do because I was in posession of the property. Both attorney's agreed that I followed a proper course to try and resolve the problem, but the law isn't helpful to the consumer in this type of issue.

The Sheriff, as well as prosecutors, are granted a lot of leeway when it comes to bringing charges. I can walk in to any police station and say that someone assaulted me and they would likely be arrested as long as I wanted to press charges. There does not need to be any kind of investigation, just a charge and the law protects law enforcement and prosecutors when this happens.

The venue would have to be in their county, which is 200 miles from me and any attorney I would choose. This creates another problem as far as cost to pursue this.

Another issue is that they could file any sort of trumped up counter-claim, be it true or not, and just try to run up the bill even more. If I do get a judgment, what good does it do if I can't collect?

I was also told that had I written a check and stopped payment instead of using a credit card, I would have broken the law and could have been legally jailed for that. I just put this information out there in case anyone ever has a dispute and try to resolve it by putting a stop payment on a check.

When I went to the second attorney's office, I took photos of my trailer, my home (so I could show my garage and the problem it created), and my PPC. After taking a look at my home he also said that getting anything from a jury in the county of venue would be very difficult because of the way my home looks. He felt no one would feel sorry for me, especially over the dollar amount.

So, the bottom line is that pursuing this would likely only cost me more, and even if we were to win collecting is another issue. Neither attorney was interested in pursing this on any sort of percentage, so I'm not going to risk it as much as I'd like too.

This is from their website:
Here at M & M Trailers we have been fortinate enough to have some of the most experienced people in our industry join our team. Most of our staff has over 10 years experience in the trailer industry, some with 15 to 20 years experience. We know how to take care of our customers, and put a quality product on the market. We are also friendly and work very hard for our customers. We appreciate your business and would very much like an opportunity to work with you. Thank you very much for taking the time to check us out.
Give Us A Call
1-800-451-9568
-------------------------------
They spell as well as they measure.

I would sue the hell out of him if I were you. Couldn't you get the case moved to a different county or state?

[Buckeyeagle503]

"On October 21st, 2003, I received another call from the owner, this time threatening to “send a couple of guys up here to take care of it.”


Boy this does sound like the perfect revenge, do you happen to know any guys that could come to your assistance??

[Bruce Brown]

Arrrggghhh! You have resurrected this nasty memory! I still have a hard time believing what happened.

Regardless, this is all in the past and what comes around goes around. There was no chance of getting the thing moved anywhere, and the reality is that fighting would have cost me a lot of money even if I won. I have since purchased a new house and the trailer fits inside my new double garage door just fine. And yes, if he would have sent some thugs to visit me I know a few thugs that would have enjoyed the vist.

Ya, then you would have had grounds to press criminal charges.

i believe the story entirely,i actually work for the company that built the trailer and its the shadiest place that i have ever worked at in my life.none of the trailers are built like they should be because the owners are to cheap to order any suplies,and if your not related to the owners or the foreman don't get any hopes up for a pay raise.all in all i wouldn't advise anyone to buy a trailer from m&m,go down the road to L&D trailers ,they put together a lot better product,and they won't beat around the bush on when its gonna be ready.my e-mail address is the same as my id on here at yahoo if anybody needs anything

[spd2918]

Wow, what an experience.

I'm a newbie here (PPC wannabe) and a police officer. My department would never seek a warrant for a civil matter, and we would never seek a warrant for a criminal charge without first contacting the subject for his side of the story. What a mess.

[tkelly1250]

OMG, this sounds like something my luck would deliver! My heart goes out to you. I'm a nonpracticing attorney in Chicago so here's some ideas... At the very least, you might consider a small claims action for breach of contract. Conflict of laws would allow you to sue them in your state as that is where you live. If they respond to the sevrice or process, they would argue wrong jurisdiction but you would win. Problem is, the whole malicious prosecution is water under the bridge. Any perceived "damages" from this bad experience would probably be refused by the court. The lawsuit for breach would be to establish the value of the trailer to you as delivered versus the value as ordered. Forget that you have moved. Not relevant or germane to your breach action since it would be focused on time of delivery. You could sue for alternative relief. First, either the value as delivered versus the value of what you ordered. Or, atthe court's discretion, specific performance. This is a relief that says "give me the trailer I paid for". Now, they could fail to appear, you would win but then you would fail to get them to act on the court order. More hassle but you would be able to place a lien perhaps on their operations for the value of the judgment. It might be "fun" for you to do this yourself as the local courthouse would probably help you more than you might expect. As a final suggestion... put this behind you as a great cocktail party story. Good luck and have fun with your PPC! Sound like you are a good family man. As my wife would say... as long as everyone is healthy in the family, anything else is insignificant. Fly safe and good luck.