the imprisonment of kristen preusser and company
here is the story of my day yesterday, october 3, 2004. it was the craziest day of my life, and not in a good way.
*****************
our story begins around 2:30 am. I was lying in bed with my austin, who was snuggled up next to me, snoring gently in a peaceful slumber. I woke up at the sounds of large booming noises. "BOOM!.... BOOM, BOOM!"
I was so tired and barely conscious that I didn't stop to really think what the noises could be. I just knew they were annoying and had to stop. I figured it was greg, the noisiest one in the house, and the one with the least respect for noise pollution. the noises continued for another 2 or 3 rounds, all in the same rhythm ("BOOM!...BOOM, BOOM!"), making me think that it was some terrible music on. I'm not sure how many times it woke me up, but I somehow got used to it, because I was later informed that this noise went on until 5am.
cut to 7:20 am. I heard a muffled noise coming from outside the window.
"electronic muffle muffle muffle....come out with your hands up!!"
I opened my eyes, thinking someone in the house was playing an awfully mean trick. I looked for austin, but he wasn't in the room. I called out for him, but nothing. I saw footsteps walk by underneath the tarp austin uses for a door, and not knowing if it was him or not, I carefully dressed myself and crept over to the window.
when I opened the curtains, there was a SWAT car and about 10 men, all clad in full-throttle SWAT gear, and 2 or 3 rescue wagons. I stuck my face through the curtains, and some of the men on the left and right raised their gigantic firearms to my direction, and the ones in the middle motioned to me to come to them. "come out, young lady. come out here. come out right now." I felt like screaming, but seeing their guns, raised or not, made me fear that I would be shot.
completely shaking, I slipped on some sandals and skittered outside. the men approached me and passed me along a line of them until I was at the side of the SWAT truck. "what's going on?!" I kept asking, my voice a broken whimper. I was looking for austin, but I didn't see him. I didn't see anyone.
"lean against the truck," they told me. they patted me down in my inside-out t-shirt and pajama shorts, then told me to put my hands behind my back. a man grabbed my wrists and bound them with a plastic rope, "zipping" me up, as if rounding up a stray pig from the slaughter house. I flashed back to the stories I've read about people being captured during the holocaust.
they instructed me then to sit on the bumper of the van, where I was relieved to see austin and rob. poor austin was in just his robe, and it wasn't even tied, at that. austin was the first one they got-- he had gotten up to go to the bathroom, and in the kitchen, he saw a man outside the window aiming a gun at his head, ordering him to come out.
I sat my shaking body next to him and asked him what the hell was going on. all the while, men were on the megaphone on the truck, demanding the names of all the other people in the house, telling them to come out at once. they threw an explosive into the house that blew up and eminated clouds of smoke.
a man came up to me, politely turning his enourmous gun away from me, and asked me if I knew people with names I didn't recognize. "no, no, no," I responded. then he asked me if I heard any strange noises last night, and my eyes widened. I told him what I'd heard, and where I was when it happened.
"last night on this property, at least 100 rounds of bullets were shot between 2:30 and 5 am," the officer informed me.
slowly but surely, the rest of the people in the house were caught. mondo followed me, then rachael, then blake, who was brought up in a sepearte van from the barn. all that was left were ashley and greg. it took a long time to get them out (I think they ended up kicking down their door), but they finally came.
once we had all been rounded up, they opened the doors of the van and told us to get in. I was the last to get in, and needed a boost from one of the men, but I ended up hitting my head really hard on the top while climbing inside. "watch your head," my helper cutely mumbled. I sneered and thanked him for the warning, only realizing after saying it that it's a bad idea to be sarcastic to a man with a huge gun pointed at you.
we rode in the van only to the top of the driveway, where roughly 5 other police vehicles were waiting. despite my insistance that I not be seperated from austin, we were all divided into men and women. rachael, ashley and I were put in one car, austin and greg in another, and mondo, blake and rob in the third. my fingers couldn't move due to the tightness of my restraints. ashley and rachael were given handcuffs, which made me envious.
when we were being driven off to the sheriff's department, which was just at the bottom of the hill and down the road from the house, we drove past an abandoned car on the road.
I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe a single second of it. I had done nothing wrong, nor had austin. I had no idea what had happened. I had no involvement in it whatsoever other than being on the premises when it occurred. why was I being carted off like a menace to society? I was the most shocked, terrified, and confused I had ever been in my entire life.
---------
our destination was little more than a parking lot with 15 cop cars waiting for our arrival. at this point, we were all taken into individual questioning. one person from one of the 3 cars was taken out at a time and interrogated outside. I explained that I was in excrutiating pain from my cuffs, because by now all the circulation had been cut off from my hands and they were purple and swollen. the officer merely told me that he couldn't remove them.
the whole time this ordeal was going on, from the moment I peered out the window to sitting in the car waiting to be questioned, I felt completely sick, like I would throw up all over and lose control of my entire body. I wanted to be with austin. I wanted to wake up. it was horrifyingly surreal, and I was in a constant debate as to whether or not I was dreaming. the whole time, I kept thinking to myself, "this isn't my life."
when I was being questioned, I made it very clear that I didn't live in the house. I explained where I went to school and why I was even in the house at all. the officer asked me if I knew how to fire a gun, where was I when the shots went off, could austin prove I was telling the truth, etc. he also took down my washington driver's license number and my seattle home information, including phone number, and my birthdate.
while waiting in the car for something to happen, I nervously watched some of the SWAT team members swab sniper rifles with rags. in one day, I had learned of guns I never could have pointed out before-- sniper rifle, M1 A4, h&k mp5-- because I had had all of them pointed in my general direction, ready to go off if I even unconsciously made the wrong move.
almost a half hour passed before one of the sheriffs told me to come out of the car. he snipped off my ties with a large knife, and I thought he was gonna put handcuffs on me as I requested, but instead he told me I was free to go. I was the first one to be released.
I turned to austin, who was still waiting in his cop car with greg, and wiggled my freed wrists at him in victory. slowly but surely everyone except greg was set free. we were told to sit on a small stone wall and await further instruction-- we were free, and not under arrest anymore, but we still weren't allowed to go into the house. while waiting, the only thing that made me feel better, besides being in austin's arms, was when rachael said to ashley, "austin's girlfriend is so pretty."
the only female officer there told us that greg was being taken into custody, along with two guys, pete and dave, who had been part of the gun-shooting last night. it was pete and dave's car that had been abandoned on the hill, when cops caught them at 5 in the morning. after catching those 2, the rest of the forces waited outside the house from 5-7.
basically, what happened was greg, pete and dave all got drunk, got their guns, and went outside in the backyard (which is a good distance from the house since the property is so big) to shoot around. they were shooting at the ground and the sky. they even shot in the general direction of the police station, which is right at the bottom of the cliff the house is on (smart). they shot off more than 100 rounds, just for play. and because of their stupidity, this whole ordeal was set into motion, and we all lost our sunday, including the cops involved.
the she-cop also said that they had asked greg if they could search his room for the weapons. he said no.
this was completely moronic. I understood that he was worried they'd find all his weed, and find out he was selling drugs, but he said no anyway. the house was inevitably going to be searched. but, instead of giving the immediate okay for the search, he denied it, and then a whole bunch of people, including a judge, needed to be contacted to obtain a search warrant. the lady cop said this would take "about an hour."
at this point, all the cops drove off, leaving us stranded with no ride, no clothes for austin, and no bathroom, which all of us needed desperately to use. so, in desperation, all of us, sans greg, marched in a pathetic line, like the prisoners that we still were.
------------
we were released around 10:00, and it took about 45 minutes for all of us to walk up the road and the hill. I felt like I was going to faint. the whole thing was too emotionally and physically taxing on me, and I figured that passing out was a given. I tied my shirt around my boobs and rolled down my shorts, but I still felt terribly ill.
when we got back to the house, there were two cops standing by, awaiting the warrant. we had no transportation, no cell phones, nothing. we had nowhere to go. our only choice was to sit there and await the search warrant's arrival. we couldn't even go inside the house. and, since we weren't going anywhere, we were basically hostages, even though we were "free"... we couldn't go anywhere that wasn't within 10 feet of the house.
we had to ask for permission just to get water from the garden hose.
meanwhile, my stomach was on a rampage. I had pain that was just off the scale. and I had no restroom, not even any painkillers.
we couldn't go into the house to use the bathroom, but officer hardass let ashley borrow his cell phone so she could order pizza. fucked? yeah. very fucked.
very, very, very fucked.
------------
the search warrant didn't arrive until after 3:00.
more cops came. the captain of the search team had a video camera he would be taping the search with (for evidence). he recorded the house before the search, then he took footage of each of us, stating our names, birthdays, etc.... and then they did the search.
we heard smashing in austin's room, which was the sound of the cops breaking down his wall. they took a door off its hinges. they left the windows and doors all open and the cats in the house got out. the sun was beating down, and had been for the last few hours. austin had converted his robe into a kilt on the walk up the hill, and his bare backside (meaning his back, shoulders, and backs of his arms) sunburned bright pink.
in greg's room, they took his safe and seized the firearms and ammo they were looking for. about an hour and a half later, at almost 5:00, the cops told us that the house was ours again. we all ran inside without really saying goodbye to them.
-----------
greg was being charged as a terrorist.
his bail was set at $3000, but I guess he's already out. (supposedly, he paid it himself, although I'm not quite sure how.)
all night I dreamt of being captured again by cops.
also, I still have no feeling in my right thumb. those ties pinched a nerve, and I still have no feeling in my thumb. fucking police brutality.
austin says he's moving out for sure now. I'm going to ask him everyday how close he is to getting out to make sure he really does leave... I'm not spending anymore time in that house. especially with greg loose.
so, I guess now I've been officially inducted as a californian, because that was seriously the most fucked thing that's ever happened to me.
*****************
our story begins around 2:30 am. I was lying in bed with my austin, who was snuggled up next to me, snoring gently in a peaceful slumber. I woke up at the sounds of large booming noises. "BOOM!.... BOOM, BOOM!"
I was so tired and barely conscious that I didn't stop to really think what the noises could be. I just knew they were annoying and had to stop. I figured it was greg, the noisiest one in the house, and the one with the least respect for noise pollution. the noises continued for another 2 or 3 rounds, all in the same rhythm ("BOOM!...BOOM, BOOM!"), making me think that it was some terrible music on. I'm not sure how many times it woke me up, but I somehow got used to it, because I was later informed that this noise went on until 5am.
cut to 7:20 am. I heard a muffled noise coming from outside the window.
"electronic muffle muffle muffle....come out with your hands up!!"
I opened my eyes, thinking someone in the house was playing an awfully mean trick. I looked for austin, but he wasn't in the room. I called out for him, but nothing. I saw footsteps walk by underneath the tarp austin uses for a door, and not knowing if it was him or not, I carefully dressed myself and crept over to the window.
when I opened the curtains, there was a SWAT car and about 10 men, all clad in full-throttle SWAT gear, and 2 or 3 rescue wagons. I stuck my face through the curtains, and some of the men on the left and right raised their gigantic firearms to my direction, and the ones in the middle motioned to me to come to them. "come out, young lady. come out here. come out right now." I felt like screaming, but seeing their guns, raised or not, made me fear that I would be shot.
completely shaking, I slipped on some sandals and skittered outside. the men approached me and passed me along a line of them until I was at the side of the SWAT truck. "what's going on?!" I kept asking, my voice a broken whimper. I was looking for austin, but I didn't see him. I didn't see anyone.
"lean against the truck," they told me. they patted me down in my inside-out t-shirt and pajama shorts, then told me to put my hands behind my back. a man grabbed my wrists and bound them with a plastic rope, "zipping" me up, as if rounding up a stray pig from the slaughter house. I flashed back to the stories I've read about people being captured during the holocaust.
they instructed me then to sit on the bumper of the van, where I was relieved to see austin and rob. poor austin was in just his robe, and it wasn't even tied, at that. austin was the first one they got-- he had gotten up to go to the bathroom, and in the kitchen, he saw a man outside the window aiming a gun at his head, ordering him to come out.
I sat my shaking body next to him and asked him what the hell was going on. all the while, men were on the megaphone on the truck, demanding the names of all the other people in the house, telling them to come out at once. they threw an explosive into the house that blew up and eminated clouds of smoke.
a man came up to me, politely turning his enourmous gun away from me, and asked me if I knew people with names I didn't recognize. "no, no, no," I responded. then he asked me if I heard any strange noises last night, and my eyes widened. I told him what I'd heard, and where I was when it happened.
"last night on this property, at least 100 rounds of bullets were shot between 2:30 and 5 am," the officer informed me.
slowly but surely, the rest of the people in the house were caught. mondo followed me, then rachael, then blake, who was brought up in a sepearte van from the barn. all that was left were ashley and greg. it took a long time to get them out (I think they ended up kicking down their door), but they finally came.
once we had all been rounded up, they opened the doors of the van and told us to get in. I was the last to get in, and needed a boost from one of the men, but I ended up hitting my head really hard on the top while climbing inside. "watch your head," my helper cutely mumbled. I sneered and thanked him for the warning, only realizing after saying it that it's a bad idea to be sarcastic to a man with a huge gun pointed at you.
we rode in the van only to the top of the driveway, where roughly 5 other police vehicles were waiting. despite my insistance that I not be seperated from austin, we were all divided into men and women. rachael, ashley and I were put in one car, austin and greg in another, and mondo, blake and rob in the third. my fingers couldn't move due to the tightness of my restraints. ashley and rachael were given handcuffs, which made me envious.
when we were being driven off to the sheriff's department, which was just at the bottom of the hill and down the road from the house, we drove past an abandoned car on the road.
I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe a single second of it. I had done nothing wrong, nor had austin. I had no idea what had happened. I had no involvement in it whatsoever other than being on the premises when it occurred. why was I being carted off like a menace to society? I was the most shocked, terrified, and confused I had ever been in my entire life.
---------
our destination was little more than a parking lot with 15 cop cars waiting for our arrival. at this point, we were all taken into individual questioning. one person from one of the 3 cars was taken out at a time and interrogated outside. I explained that I was in excrutiating pain from my cuffs, because by now all the circulation had been cut off from my hands and they were purple and swollen. the officer merely told me that he couldn't remove them.
the whole time this ordeal was going on, from the moment I peered out the window to sitting in the car waiting to be questioned, I felt completely sick, like I would throw up all over and lose control of my entire body. I wanted to be with austin. I wanted to wake up. it was horrifyingly surreal, and I was in a constant debate as to whether or not I was dreaming. the whole time, I kept thinking to myself, "this isn't my life."
when I was being questioned, I made it very clear that I didn't live in the house. I explained where I went to school and why I was even in the house at all. the officer asked me if I knew how to fire a gun, where was I when the shots went off, could austin prove I was telling the truth, etc. he also took down my washington driver's license number and my seattle home information, including phone number, and my birthdate.
while waiting in the car for something to happen, I nervously watched some of the SWAT team members swab sniper rifles with rags. in one day, I had learned of guns I never could have pointed out before-- sniper rifle, M1 A4, h&k mp5-- because I had had all of them pointed in my general direction, ready to go off if I even unconsciously made the wrong move.
almost a half hour passed before one of the sheriffs told me to come out of the car. he snipped off my ties with a large knife, and I thought he was gonna put handcuffs on me as I requested, but instead he told me I was free to go. I was the first one to be released.
I turned to austin, who was still waiting in his cop car with greg, and wiggled my freed wrists at him in victory. slowly but surely everyone except greg was set free. we were told to sit on a small stone wall and await further instruction-- we were free, and not under arrest anymore, but we still weren't allowed to go into the house. while waiting, the only thing that made me feel better, besides being in austin's arms, was when rachael said to ashley, "austin's girlfriend is so pretty."
the only female officer there told us that greg was being taken into custody, along with two guys, pete and dave, who had been part of the gun-shooting last night. it was pete and dave's car that had been abandoned on the hill, when cops caught them at 5 in the morning. after catching those 2, the rest of the forces waited outside the house from 5-7.
basically, what happened was greg, pete and dave all got drunk, got their guns, and went outside in the backyard (which is a good distance from the house since the property is so big) to shoot around. they were shooting at the ground and the sky. they even shot in the general direction of the police station, which is right at the bottom of the cliff the house is on (smart). they shot off more than 100 rounds, just for play. and because of their stupidity, this whole ordeal was set into motion, and we all lost our sunday, including the cops involved.
the she-cop also said that they had asked greg if they could search his room for the weapons. he said no.
this was completely moronic. I understood that he was worried they'd find all his weed, and find out he was selling drugs, but he said no anyway. the house was inevitably going to be searched. but, instead of giving the immediate okay for the search, he denied it, and then a whole bunch of people, including a judge, needed to be contacted to obtain a search warrant. the lady cop said this would take "about an hour."
at this point, all the cops drove off, leaving us stranded with no ride, no clothes for austin, and no bathroom, which all of us needed desperately to use. so, in desperation, all of us, sans greg, marched in a pathetic line, like the prisoners that we still were.
------------
we were released around 10:00, and it took about 45 minutes for all of us to walk up the road and the hill. I felt like I was going to faint. the whole thing was too emotionally and physically taxing on me, and I figured that passing out was a given. I tied my shirt around my boobs and rolled down my shorts, but I still felt terribly ill.
when we got back to the house, there were two cops standing by, awaiting the warrant. we had no transportation, no cell phones, nothing. we had nowhere to go. our only choice was to sit there and await the search warrant's arrival. we couldn't even go inside the house. and, since we weren't going anywhere, we were basically hostages, even though we were "free"... we couldn't go anywhere that wasn't within 10 feet of the house.
we had to ask for permission just to get water from the garden hose.
meanwhile, my stomach was on a rampage. I had pain that was just off the scale. and I had no restroom, not even any painkillers.
we couldn't go into the house to use the bathroom, but officer hardass let ashley borrow his cell phone so she could order pizza. fucked? yeah. very fucked.
very, very, very fucked.
------------
the search warrant didn't arrive until after 3:00.
more cops came. the captain of the search team had a video camera he would be taping the search with (for evidence). he recorded the house before the search, then he took footage of each of us, stating our names, birthdays, etc.... and then they did the search.
we heard smashing in austin's room, which was the sound of the cops breaking down his wall. they took a door off its hinges. they left the windows and doors all open and the cats in the house got out. the sun was beating down, and had been for the last few hours. austin had converted his robe into a kilt on the walk up the hill, and his bare backside (meaning his back, shoulders, and backs of his arms) sunburned bright pink.
in greg's room, they took his safe and seized the firearms and ammo they were looking for. about an hour and a half later, at almost 5:00, the cops told us that the house was ours again. we all ran inside without really saying goodbye to them.
-----------
greg was being charged as a terrorist.
his bail was set at $3000, but I guess he's already out. (supposedly, he paid it himself, although I'm not quite sure how.)
all night I dreamt of being captured again by cops.
also, I still have no feeling in my right thumb. those ties pinched a nerve, and I still have no feeling in my thumb. fucking police brutality.
austin says he's moving out for sure now. I'm going to ask him everyday how close he is to getting out to make sure he really does leave... I'm not spending anymore time in that house. especially with greg loose.
so, I guess now I've been officially inducted as a californian, because that was seriously the most fucked thing that's ever happened to me.