Don't oversleep in Hemet. It's a felony

Apparently it is more egregious to oversleep in Hemet, California than it is to commit armed robbery.

After delivering a pizza Jeremy Queen was robbed at gunpoint then hit on the head with the weapon. The police were called, the report was made and the police drove Mr. Queen around in their squad car to see if they could find who had attacked him. They couldn't and have said they probably never will.

Back at work Mr. Queen was chastised for taking so long to make the delivery and told that since the delivery was made, he was no longer technically at work when the attack happened. He should also go home since he was not in any frame of mind to continue working.

Once at home, his wife insisted that he go to the hospital because of the swelling on his head from the blow. The diagnosis was a fractured skull and injury to the brain. He has since been told by the neurologist that he is not cleared to go back to work, by the state of California that is not eligible for disability and by the owner of the Dominos Pizza that since they did not pay any of their worker’s compensation insurance, he will not be collecting worker’s comp. An attorney is sorting it all out now.

So he stays at home doing what he can to recover from the incident. His wife, given the prospect of having to be the support of the family for the indefinite future, is working and going to school full time. They are not on public assistance and are both taking care of their 2 ½ and 1 ½ year old sons.

Coming home exhausted on Friday night after midnight, Mrs. Queen says hello to her husband, checks in on the boys and they go to sleep. They awoke to find that their oldest son had been able to unlock the front door and he and his younger brother had escaped. A neighbor found the children in their own front yard with the front door wide opened. Rather than knock on the door, she called the police. The police put the children in the squad car and again the answer was to drive around and look for the suspects. It appears that looking in the house with the wide opened front door was not an option. Again Hemet’s finest were unable to find what they were looking for.

When Mr. and Mrs. Queen could not find their children, after a search of the neighborhood they called the police. They were instructed to come down to the police station where they were arrested and charged with two counts each of felony child endangerment. Child protective services were called and the children were taken away.

They were not arraigned, nor could anyone speak to Mr. Queen until the following Wednesday. The grandparents were told that the sheriff’s department would not give any of Mr. Queen’s medications to him and that if he would refrain from breaking the law in the future he wouldn’t have to worry about who would give him medicine.

In family court the CPS recommended and the judge concurred that sometimes young children escape their homes. They suggested that the parents put more secure locks on the doors. The conclusion was that the parents should never have been arrested in the first place. The family court case will be dismissed as soon as the parents are able to appear (they were still in jail).

In criminal court the DA explained that the felonies should stand because this not a single occurrence and that “the children are often running around the neighborhood at all hours of the night”. This was not reported by the police, the witnesses, the parents nor the CPS. Apparently the DA was simply fabricating evidence for the benefit of the judge.

The judge explained to the DA that he did not see any felonies anywhere and by the CPS that there were no crimes committed. The DA, not pleased with the CPS posture in this case is moving to exclude their testimony. He is willing to make a deal for the parents to plea to one felony a piece. It was explained to me that because the Queen’s were young, uneducated, and could not afford an attorney, the DA considered them “low hanging fruit”. They would be an easy win and notch for the DA that would not take too much effort. Justice be damned the point is to win.

Greatest sympathies for your family in dealing with this disaster. I simply can’t understand the mentality of prosecutors in this state; I myself was once arrest for having a workknife on my belt, leaving my place of employment, the blade covered in packing tape residue.

The investigator had the arresting officer put up for disapline, recommended that the case be dropped immediately. The DA didn’t agree and attempted to continue prosecution. The DA offered ‘a generous plea bargain’, which the public defender who had spent 32 seconds reviewing the case, recommended I take.

After hitting the phones, the case was dropped and expunged from my record. I got lucky; I hope for a breakout of luck and sanity for your family.

He has since been told by the neurologist that he is not cleared to go back to work, by the state of California that is not eligible for disability and by the owner of the Dominos Pizza that since they did not pay any of their worker’s compensation insurance, he will not be collecting worker’s comp. An attorney is sorting it all out now.

I’m guessing CA is saying your nephew is not eligible for disability payments because it isn’t a permanent disability. But if indeed, the owner of the Domino’s franchise did not pay any part of their workman’s compensation insurance, I’d think they would be in big trouble. Not only with the state but possibly with the parent company as I would imagine there is probably something in the franchisee contract with Domino’s about legal compliance with all applicable local, state and federal laws. Perhaps that’s why they are making the “took to long; no longer technically at work” argument to cover themselves. Hopefully your nephew’s attorney is well versed and experienced in this area of the law. If the franchisee hasn’t paid workman’s compensation insurance, which I believe is mandated in most if not all states, it should be easy to prove and if so, they should be held liable for his medical expenses and whatever workman’s comp would have paid for lost wages. I hope that works out.

In family court the CPS recommended and the judge concurred that sometimes young children escape their homes.

When I was a teenager (mid 70’s), my brother and his wife and three year-old daughter lived down the street from my parents and me. It was about 11:00 PM, my dad had already gone to bed and my mom and I were watching the 11:00 news when we heard a faint knock at the door of our apartment. My mother looked out the peep whole and didn’t see anyone. Then there was another knock and a little voice saying “Granny?”

My mother opened the door and there was my three-year old niece in her nightgown and bare feet and smiling. My mother asked her “Where are your parents?” She said, “I don’t know.” “Can I have some cookies or a snack?” We brought her into the apartment and my mother called my brother and sent me down the street to see if everything was OK.

When my brother answered the phone my mother angrily asked him “Do you know where your daughter is?” He was groggy from just waking up and said “She’s in bed!” My mother lit into him saying no she wasn’t, she showed up at our door in nothing more than a nightgown and walked up here in her bare feet on a 20 degree night. Then my brother and his wife panicked.

It turned out that her parents had tucked her into bed and turned in early themselves. At some point my niece woke up and for whatever reason decided not to wake her parents up and decided it was just as good a time as any to visit her Granny and her favorite aunt.

My niece had not only figured out how to unlock the door and the deadbolt but used a nearby chair to undo the door chain.

It sounds like the judge and CPS has lease have some common sense but that doesn’t make up for the actions of some over jealous police and DA. What a nightmare. I really hope this all gets resolved very quickly.

"After delivering a pizza Jeremy Queen was robbed at gunpoint then hit on the head with the weapon."

"the owner of the Dominos Pizza ...did not pay any of their worker’s compensation insurance, he will not be collecting worker’s comp."

I added the bang list keyword, because Domino's pizza has repeatedly disallowed effective self defense of their employees accross the country and has fired them for defending themselves. In this case the pricks won't even cover their employee victim after he was harmed significantly in a robbery, fired him for being robbed and in fact didn't even bother to cover him with the required worker's comp. insurance.

Dominos has earned and deserves hate mail.

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