Help Ernie Overcome Legal and Financial Struggles

Hi I'm Ernie. I have gotten myself into an unfortunate situation. Regrettably not my only shortcoming. I was disabled by a motor vehicle accident as a pedestrian back in November of 2003. In this accident I was hit by a pickup, while crossing the street. Then while laying injured in the middle of the road with a broken arm was run over by a cab. The tire of the cab went over my head fracturing my skull, I also had the back of my right knee impaled and I was subsequently dragged down the street for an unknown distance. I only know this from stories I was told be witnesses and what was told to my friends and family. I have memory from the night before it happened then about 3 weeks later waking up in Boston Med center recovering from said events. After being released from the hospital I received some training at a trade school for car electronic installation for things such as audio / video systems as well as navigation and remote starters. I worked in a few shops, but being new to the field and being overly careful to not make mistakes with my wiring caused me to take longer than other more seasoned installers. So to no surprised I had difficulty retaining employment and bounced around from job to job. Eventually giving up on the field because it was no longer nearly as thriving and the need for installers was dying out. I continued to bounce from job to job eventually landing at a job with Alternative Compassion Services a medical marijuana dispensary that recently got its recreational license. I was started at an entry level job basically as a cleaner. But was able to be transferred into their cultivation department helping to grow the plants that many of us know and love. Being a medical patient myself I benefit from it for things such as pain relief as well as a sleep aid and help calming things like anxiety. I am also a huge fan of live music. Music can be another excellent tool to motivate, inspire and help relieve stress as well. Knowing numerous local musicians. I chose to take a trip to a venue in New Bedford on Mother's day weekend to watch two cover bands a buddy of mine had booked for a show. There was also another band I had never seen before there as an opener band. I had gotten there a little before the 8:00 starting point and was there till nearly midnight when my buddies bands had finished their sets. While I was there I had decided to consume one alcoholic beverage at the beginning of each bands set to help support the venue that had been courteous enough to book them. When leaving I had also made the decision of rather than waiting till I got home to smoke some marijuana to help ease the pain I was currently in. I had made sure to have brought a sativa based strain to help relieve the pain, without giving me the intoxicating / sleepy effects of an indica based strain. Unfortunately I ended up stuck in a massive backup of traffic near the entrance to the highway. I had initially thought that someone must have gotten into an accident. After sitting in traffic for nearly 45 minutes I had realized it was not an accident, but a sobriety checkpoint set up by the state police. Because of the fact that I had been coming from a place that served alcohol and openly admitted to having 3 drinks earlier in the night combined with the odor of marijuana coming from my truck. I was asked to pull to the side for sobriety testing. At which point I politely informed the officers of my disability, and said I would have trouble with the sobriety tests but would attempt them to the best of my abilities. Unfortunately my disability is also supplemented by other injuries I have sustained over time. Such as numerous ankle injuries such as sprains and fractures to either ankle. Including a combination sprained right ankle and broken leg. This also being the knee that was impaled from the rear during my disabling accident. This combined with my head injury has caused a loss of equilibrium. I have also lived with a speech impediment my whole life from a combination of a bubble that was removed from under my tongue as a child tied with lead poisoning. So not knowing me the officers assumed I was intoxicated because of my slightly slurred speech and being unsteady on my feet. So I was given the option to take a field breathalyzer. Knowing I would pass I agreed, blowing only what appeared to be a 0.007. But I was still taken into custody and given 2 more of the regular breathalyzer tests. After the second additional test the officer administering it called another officer over to show him the results. I overheard him say they would have to drop the OUI alcohol charge, and charge me with OUI drugs. I was then taken to the Dartmouth state police barracks where I was placed in a holding cell till about 2:45 in the morning when a supposed " drug recognition expert " officer arrived to give me further testing to asses what drugs I may have been on. I had agreed to this testing for fear of losing my license automatically if I had refused. I had become increasingly tired because I had gotten up at 5:00 in the morning the previous day. It's known that lack of sleep can also appear as intoxication, and that at 18 hours can be equivalent of a blood alcohol content of .05 percent. And that at 24 hours it goes up to an equivalent of 0.10 percent. After a couple hours of testing including having me attempt to walk heel to toe for 10 steps then a turn and 10 steps back over a lumpy cement floor with my hands at my sides. I lost balance an fell into the booking podium. This only made me appear even more intoxicated to the officer. By the time he was finished and I was being transferred to the Ash St jail in New Bedford, the officer about to transport me realized I had still not gotten the chance to make a phone call after I had questioned him about it. So I was brought back inside and allowed to make a call. I unfortunately had to call my sister at what was now 4:45 in the morning, to tell her I had been arrested and was about to be transferred to jail in New Bedford and had to ask her to please come down to possibly provide bail money and then drive me home. I was then taken to the Ash St jail in New Bedford. This is what appears to be a run down abandoned looking factory. The initial holding cell reeked of urine, then once booked I was taken to a single cell of my own. But there was feces splattered around the toilet and on all 4 walls as well as the floor. It was even on the wall next to the slot where they had later slid a breakfast through the bars. I was so overtired and disgusted by the conditions I wasn't trying to touch anything. Let alone eat food that had been placed next to a spot where feces was smeared on the wall. Eventually the bail bondsman arrived and I was able to bail myself out, at that time it was around 10:00 in the morning. About an hour after they had estimated the bail bondsman arrival. Just before leaving I realized I had never been given the information on where my truck had been impounded at. I asked and was given a number. Only when I called I was told it was only an answering service and the tow company was not open on the weekend. That I would have to wait till the next day to get my truck out of impound. So the next morning my father gave me a ride to arraignment court, then to the place where we had been told my truck was impounded at. Only when we got there we were told they did not have my truck. That a different tow company must have gotten it. So I then had to call the police to question where my truck had been impounded at. We were told it was at a different lot back in New Bedford. So we went and picked it up. At first I was in a rush and hadn't done a full inspection before leaving to go back home. But once I was home I had realized the auto body shop that had impounded my truck had put two big scratches in my passenger rear door as well as a gouge into the molding around the passenger rear wheel well. Needless to say I was upset, but after some buffing with a magic eraser I was able to get most of the scratching on the door to go away. But there's still some minor scratching on the door as well as the gouged molding around the rear wheel well. I then continued to drive for about a week and a half not realizing that because of the police " drug recognition expert's " report that the registry had suspended my license for what they called and immediate threat. This does not allow for any hardship licenses. Because the registry classifies me as someone who poses an immediate threat to public safety by continuing to operate a motor vehicle. Mind you that officer had never seen me drive. I pride myself in being a safe courteous driver. I have an app from my insurance carrier that has classified me as an excellent driver and just before I had stopped driving gave me a notification congratulating me for an extended distraction free driving streak. But not trying to get myself into further trouble I had been riding my bike to and from work, and relying on others to give me rides as needed. On almost a daily basis I have had numerous close calls with drivers who are either distracted or just bad drivers almost hitting me and being run off the road in areas with no side walks or bike lanes. This has been extremely stressful because not only was I nearly killed as a pedestrian in 2003. But I woke on my birthday of September 29th on the year of 2014 to read in my Facebook feed that a friend from high school named Carl Evan Yancy had been killed by a hit an run the night before on the 28th while he was walking across the street. He was a super friendly guy who was always helpful and looking out for others. But had been hit and left to die by a driver who was never caught. This has brought much pain because he was a gentle giant who was always looking out for others. Theses repeated near miss incidents have brought me to tears thinking about my lost friend while at work on numerous occasions. I felt like it was not a matter of if, but how long until I was hit again while riding my bike. Then on July 5th, after multiple close calls on my ride home from work I was struck by a driver who was coming out of a sides street only a few houses away from my home. He had stopped at t stop sign, and my thinking he had seen me I continued riding through the crosswalk in front of him. But unfortunately he had not seen me, and was just letting off the brake and pressing the gas right as I was passing in front of him. This caused me to yell stop as I was being thrown onto his hood then into the road in front of him. Luckily it was low speed and I didn't get any major injuries, but my bike was trashed. This young driver lived right around the corner, and had called his parents. I had initially been freaking out at the kid and people came out of their houses and a passing driver had stopped to check on things although he hadn't seen the accident itself. I then called my sister up to tell her what had happened. She came across town with my mother to check on me. While there she had realized she recognized the kid as a student at Brockton High where she works. She said how he was a great kid. His parents sorry for what had happened offered to buy me a new bike, which I accepted because I needed a way to get to and from work. I have been quite limited on money and been living paycheck to paycheck for quite an extended period of time. So my family has helped me to get a lawyer to represent me for my legal situation. He is quite optimistic that he will likely be able to win my case. At which point the registry will be forced to give me my license back. I've just been struggling to make ends meet for my normal day to day expenses. So I haven't been able to afford to spend about $1,000 for a pair of new tires my truck needs, or the $5,000+ needed to replace the roof on the house I bought with settlement money from my disabling accident. I used to get social security payments for my disability. But because I have been working, I have been making too much to collect my benefits. But not anywhere near enough to live comfortably. Let alone pay back my family the $5,000 the lawyer agreed to give me a deal to represent me for. So that's why I'm reaching out looking for help to pay back my loved ones for helping me in my time of need. I have dreams of winning the lottery so I can use the money to help others and keep my buddy Carl's legacy alive. But unfortunately the couple dollars here couple dollars there hasn't worked out, and I've just landed myself deeper in the hole with this incident from Mother's day that my lawyer doesn't expect to be finished with till the end of September. So for now I can only hope for a miracle. I greatly appreciate your time to read this, and consider lending a hand. Thanks again.