Current Events > So I was choked and assaulted, CE. Should I go to the hospital?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Some dude was speeding through the parking lot when me and me wife were crossing the street and he didn't look like he was gonna stop, so we had to step back out of the way. When he got near us he rolled down the window and started yelling at us, and I put my arms out saying "I'm a pedestrian!"

He got outta the car, stormed over to me while I was standing there, and instantly grabbed me by the throat and started choking me in front of his wife and kid in the car lol. He then picked me up and slammed me on the ground, though luckily I kept my head up and didn't hit it.

There were several witnesses, and the entire thing was caught on security camera, people ran over to help, etc so the guy sped away, but they got photos of his license plate.

Cops said they'll go arrest him, etc, but that it doesn't count as assault since I didn't have any major injuries though I suspect my elbow might be fractured.

This was hours ago and thank God I'm fine, but I'm really shaken by it. I'm torn on whether to go to the hospital to have my elbow checked out, or not. Mostly cuz I've had fractures before and theres not much they'll do about it, but my wife is saying if we wanted to pursue litigation over it, I should go get the elbow checked for that.

Anyone have advice? I've never been attacked before, lol.
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Get a lawyer and sue him for pain and suffering along with your medical bills

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BignutzisBack posted...

Get a lawyer and sue him for pain and suffering along with your medical bills

That's the thing though I don't have any medical bills yet cuz I didn't go to the hospital.
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Yeah neck injuries can be surprisingly hard to detect early on. Get an expert opinion.
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Sue him to hell.

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LostForest posted...

That's the thing though I don't have any medical bills yet cuz I didn't go to the hospital.

That doesn't matter you can still get one set up and they will help you with the medical process, if you really want to fuck him over I would start talking about how your head hurts and that you have a hard time remembering things

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Get yourself checked out imo. Injuries aren't always immediately obvious.
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LostForest posted...

I'm a pedestrian!

so what? don't step into the crosswalk and get in everybody's way when there are cars coming 2 sides to every story

CharlesBronson posted...

LostForest posted...

I'm a pedestrian!

so what? don't step into the crosswalk and get in everybody's way when there are cars coming 2 sides to every story

*yawn*
Troll harder
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You dont have to be injured badly for it to be assault
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16-BITTER posted...

Pretty sure it still counts as battery. Or I have those backwards. Dude can absolutely be charged though, unless you're in a country with weird laws about this sort of thing.

Nah, most states and cities would only count it as harassment if there's no injury.

TC, you 100% should get it checked out though, if you were injured then when the DA office contacts you they can choose to elevate the charges at that time if you had a fracture. And yeah, that's also how you'll be able to get more money when seeking damages, even if you aren't injured they'll have him be responsible for any and all of your medical bills, even if you're uninsured. Even if you only end up getting prescribed an over the counter painkiller, that helps show that you did in fact get hurt enough to justify him having to pay more.

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thronedfire2 posted...

You dont have to be injured badly for it to be assault

I only had some blood spotting in my nose after getting assaulted by a homeless guy a few months back, they only went after him for trespassing (reason I interacted with him) and harassment.

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Sounds like it's for the best to go check it out then. I honestly probably would have but the cop talked me out of it since he seemed really skeptical of me until he saw the security footage.

I used to be an EMT for like a decade and know all about how you can refuse medical aid, etc... So I told him I'd at least like to have them look at me and take my vitals before I decide but he said to not bother if that's all I wanted.
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BTW Thanks so much for everyone's (mostly) helpful advice! I appreciate it.
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LostForest posted...

Cops said they'll go arrest him, etc, but that it doesn't count as assault since I didn't have any major injuries

That's bullshit.

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the cops don't want to do their job, blow this up man

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Too many lols in the story. Going to have to say fake

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Wow that is insane, get checked out you never know if you have internal bleed (not trying to scare you, you probably don't, but it's best to be sure!)
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Come to court with a full neckbrace on. When they ask you a question, tell some sob story that you cant work anymore and he destroyed your life and made it so you cant get a boner anymore.
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Thats crazy, a very similar thing happened to me a few years ago though thankfully he didnt take it as far.

I was crossing the street (in a crosswalk) with my elderly mom and he pulls this incredibly speedy U-turn and comes within an inch of hitting us so naturally (lol) my mom sticks her finger up at him in his window, and he screeches to a stop. Hops out, runs at me as I sort of move my mom out of the way so shes in between him and the car and shoots his hand into my neck, but I leapt back and landed on my feet and I guess he realized he was in the middle of the road on a crowded street so he dashed back in and screeched off.

Whats wild too is he had his own mom in the car with him, we found out later lol

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GregShmedley posted...

gunplagirl posted...

Nah, most states and cities would only count it as harassment if there's no injury.

Do you have a source on this?

Tbh I've read a million different things on the definition of assault. Like, I was under the impression that assault was merely the act of intimidating someone, and once you laid your hands on them it was battery.

Like I said the cop was kind of a shlub at first and didn't seem like he believed me, so I'm wondering how much of what he said was true.
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LostForest posted...

Tbh I've read a million different things on the definition of assault. Like, I was under the impression that assault was merely the act of intimidating someone, and once you laid your hands on them it was battery.

Like I said the cop was kind of a shlub at first and didn't seem like he believed me, so I'm wondering how much of what he said was true.

In theory, that's the law. In practice and mostly due to wording, there's a degree of intent needed for it that makes prosecution on it harder than simply going for harassment, but that doesn't mean you can't seek damages. In fact, because they aren't going for a harder case to prosecute it's in your best interest to if you have the time to file for damages which includes getting medical attention.

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LostForest posted...

Tbh I've read a million different things on the definition of assault. Like, I was under the impression that assault was merely the act of intimidating someone, and once you laid your hands on them it was battery.

Like I said the cop was kind of a shlub at first and didn't seem like he believed me, so I'm wondering how much of what he said was true.

Yeah, in tort law, assault is raising your fist when someone sees you, threatening to punch, battery is actually making contact. You can have one without the other, i.e, threatening without actually hitting; hitting someone when they are unaware of the threat, but in your case, it seems both occurred, so I don't know what the cop was talking about.

Assault in criminal law, assault does need the actual physical contact

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get one of those ambulance chasing lawyers, like Jim the Hammer Shapiro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zToHQ8oQvgA

Go to an urgent care.
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doesn't sit right when this criminal can do this to someone else. has to be stopped.

mustachedmystic posted...

Go to an urgent care.

would also do this for documentation reasons if you plan to sue. they need evidence.
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mustachedmystic posted...

Go to an urgent care.

I'm probably gonna do this tonight or tomorrow. I want to see how my elbow feels in the morning. Hospitals around here have ridiculous wait times -_-
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Yeah go see a doctor ASAP to at least get your injuries documented.

It can be quite the help to your case. Take it from someone who, unfortunately, know this from experience.
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Any updates, TC?

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Have an elbow injury with major bruising but no fracture fortunately so I can just wear a wrap to support it rather than fully immobilize it.

Cops had me try to pick him out of a photo array, but apparently I picked the wrong photo since none of them looked like him/l since they didn't seem like recent photos.

They took my statement and are gonna do the same with my wife tomorrow. But they said if no one can properly identify him from the photo array it "makes things difficult".

Not sure why they can't arrest the guy if they have camera footage and his license plate, so I can identify him, you know, the way he looks now, instead of how he looked God knows how many years ago.
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