Distracted Masses Vol. 1 Issue #3 1 | Page 22

Continued: Assaulted why I was reporting the incident at the substation instead of over the phone. She then pointed to a phone in the substation that I could use. After dialing the 242-COPS number using the substation phone I was finally connected to someone who said a police officer would be out to talk to me. After waiting for about one (1) hour, in which time the lady behind the desk personally helped several people, a young 30ish looking APD officer named Patrick Casias walked out the door inside the substation and asked me if I wanted to sit down. After listening to me tell my story Casias handed me a card with his information and the APD Case Number 140103807 written on the back. He promised to look into the case and that if I had any further information I should contact him. He also advised me to get checked by a doctor to see if I’d been drugged, which I did almost immediately after leaving the substation. At the VA I was examined by a nice female doctor who seemed genuinely concerned about my well being. She told me that if I had been drugged the type of drugs that could cause the type of memory loss I experienced would already be out of my system. She asked if I wanted a brain scan, but didn’t think it was worth it because it would only show hemorrhaging and if that was the case I would’ve probably been in the hospital a lot sooner. She examined the two marks on my forehead which initially looked like two puncture wounds about a half inch apart, but by the time of the doctor’s visit they had pretty much healed and looked like a couple of round scabby dots, partially covered by wrinkles. The doctor agreed that it sounded like I had been tasered and that the memory loss was indeed something that could happen from being shocked in the head with enough voltage. She said my wounds didn’t look like I was beaten with a blunt object as most type of blunt trauma to the head that could cause that type of memory loss would have left bruising, swelling, or other identifiable marks which weren’t present on me at the time. Not to mention, I’ve been knocked out in the past after having bashed heads with another person while playing in a soccer game, and not only did I regain consciousness much quicker in the soccer incident, but I also had a much bigger wound that had to be stitched up at the hospital afterward. I’ve also had fuzzy memory recalls from drinking, but never from that little amount and never to the point where one moment I don’t remember anything at all, and the next minute I’m coherent enough to notice that I’m walking down Lomas. Other than agreeing that it was possible I was tasered in the head, the doctor at the VA could not confirm anything and at best could only write up a report detailing the incident and the after effects I was experiencing, including painful headaches and continued short term memory loss. The doctor recommended I go back and interview as many people as possible at the bar to see what I could learn. Unfortunately my time to do so was quite limited, but I did attempt to contact a number of people online and began my own web search for the face of the cop I still have burned into my memory. I also filed an online police complaint form with what I now know is a completely defunct Civilian Police Oversight Agency (CPOA). After submitting the complaint I eventually received a response from someone who called herself Diane (McDermott, I believe). Although Diane seemed like she was actually going to look into my case, it was more of a false hope than anything close to what we like to call reality. On 11/22/2014 I recovered my phone by what must have been sheer luck, as I had been trying to trace its whereabouts using Google’s Android Device Manager and by calling my number repeatedly with a new, cheaper phone I had to purchase after having my only other one stolen. Although I had no luck with either method, my dad was able to get through to someone who he said sounded like was possibly homeless because of some things he had mumbled, which gave me a tiny bit of hope that I could learn more. In fact, it was a homeless person I saw standing in a parking lot who inspired me to try and call my phone again on the 22nd, and to my surprise there was an answer on the other end. I quickly began negotiating for the phone, offering the person on the other end $45 to give it back. The person with my phone said he wanted more, but I told him it wasn’t worth it and that that was all I had. He told me to meet him at the 7-Eleven on Montgomery, just east of Carlisle. After parking on the east side of the gas station I called my phone to let the person on the other end know that I was there. He told me to wait, which I did, but I became bored and walked inside the gas station to get something to drink and a couple of snacks. When I walked outside there was an SUV and a 4-door sedan parked next to my vehicle with about three (3) or four (4) young men inside playing loud gangster rap blasting the lyrics “murder, murder, murder - kill, kill, kill.” “Crap,” I thought. “What did I agree to? These guys are going to rob me.” I asked one of the guys who had stepped outside of the car if he had my phone, which he said he did. He told me he had bought the phone off some guy on a bike just down the road, and that’s all he knew about it. I gave him [5]