In Jail for bringing Sarah home late

Years ago, I was going through a long divorce/custody case, with my 2nd wife, Judy. During a weekend in which I was supposed to have our daughter, Sarah, with me; I spent the weekend at my brother, Steve’s, (also had my older daughter, Amy (from my 1st marriage) with us).

It was getting late on Sunday evening, and, since we were about 25 miles away from where Judy was living (our prior home), I called to ensure she was there but she did not answer; I tried several times but - no answer!

Finally, realizing that I’d be a little late (within an hour), I drove home. To my dismay, when I arrived, I was met by 2 female police officers, who, after Sarah went into the house with her mother, and, Amy walked down the block to her grand-parent’s, I was arrested (for bringing Sarah home late, according to the court-order), hand-cuffed (in front of my neighbors), put into a police car and driven to the local police station, where I was put into a paddy-wagon with other suspects, and, driven downtown to police HQ.

At the police HQ, I was placed into a large room close-by with many other suspects, all asking each other what crime they were arrested for (e.g., attempted murder, robbery, car theft, etc.). When I replied “taking my daughter home later than the court order specified”, some snickered and some sarcastically said to “watch-out for that guy”!

Later, I asked to pay bail, though I had no $ to pay it, but I hoped my brother, Steve, would come down to rescue me, but, he was on vacation with his family (DisneyWorld); I was staying at his house before this. They said I could call him; I left him a voice-mail about my predicament.

Then, I was put into a cell with 2 other jail-mates. Luckily (as this was late at night), they were passed-out. It was the most gross & disgusting place I had ever been, with trash, vomit, urine, and feces all over, and, a single toilet in the middle of 1 wall, though I hoped I would not have to use it. There were 2 bunk-beds; I was supposed to sleep on the lower one of 1 of these beds, with another suspect (passed-out) in the upper one. One major problem - I soon realized that, after I laid down, there were dozens of roaches crawling all over me! I got up, brushed them off and stood-up until I could leave this cell, and, just prayed to God for help!

In about 30 minutes, I was told I could leave, as my brother posted my bail ($50)! I was so very happy to leave; Steve told me he heard my voice-mail, though he just drove for many hours to get home and was very tired, but, after hearing my message, he hurried downtown to bail me out!

God works in mysterious ways since Steve  & his family weren’t supposed to arrive home until the next day, but, for some reason, they left early - thanks to Steve and thank God!

From that point-on, I knew that I never wanted to spend a night in jail again (for any reason)!