Carolyn Rivers came to us yesterday saying police had targeted she and her husband as thieves and were repeatedly searching their home.
But things came to a head this week when they detained her husband Damian Catotuse for 48 hours and accused him of stealing two Sony Play Station Portable's which were found in his home. The police went as far as to send a picture of the PSP to the media, to see if anyone form the public would come to claim them.
Now, Rivers says they have documentary evidence which shows that the items are not stolen. And, indeed, after 48 hours police released Cattouse with no charge - except for one thing - he didn't get back his PSP's. She today told us that she is tired of police harassment:.
Monica Bodden
"They held your husband for 48 hours. What's was the reason given?"
Carolyn Rivers
"The reason was handling of stolen goods because something had been coming up missing but that was not the reason they went to my house in the first place."
Monica Bodden
"They went for what?"
Carolyn Rivers
"They see my husband outside going inside the gate and they pull up on him and said where is you ID. Because they know that the last time they came to our house that he didn't have an ID, they just want any reason to harass him. Before he left the station they say that they next time they pull up on you and you don't have your ID the same thing will happen again."
Monica Bodden
"They took these items from your house - two PSP and a camera right? So when they took these items they say that they were holding him for stolen goods?"
Carolyn Rivers
"Yes."
Monica Bodden
"At that point they lock him down for 48 hours. They were doing their investigation. They found anything?"
Carolyn Rivers
"They didn't find anything. They let him out."
Monica Bodden
"He wasn't being charged for anything."
Carolyn Rivers
"He wasn't being charged, we know that from when he got in there. It's like every time we go in there they chop up bogus charges and they say that this is what they are holding us for and they say that they can do that because they say that is the law that they can hold you for 48-72 hours just on trump up charges."
Monica Bodden
"Now they took the camera and the two games from your house. He got back his camera but he didn't get back his two games. What was the reason for that?"
Carolyn Rivers
"The 2 PSP games I have personally picked them up from the post office - sent to us and the reason I can't get back those 2 PSPs is because the receipts that I have from the post office doesn't say PSP on it."
Monica Bodden
"But you got back your camera?"
Carolyn Rivers
"Yes, the only reason I got back the camera back was because my mother law when she came for Easter she left it with us. While she was there two times they raided our house - two days in a row and when she was there she see that they have been harassing us and so she left the serial number and the documents that go with the camera. So that's the only reason we got the camera back."
Monica Bodden
"Did you explain this afternoon when you went there 'hey this is the receipt, we don't have anything else, the items were purchase in the US'."
Carolyn Rivers
"Yes I did and I told them too that when you get barrels here they don't write down every item that you get in your barrel. When you go to the port they don't write down every item that you have there - that you receive from there. When you go to the post office - they don't write down every item that you get from there. The PSP - the last one that I pick up came with headphone, with a charger and it came with two extra batteries - they don't have that in there and that's what it came with and that's not on my receipt. So I am just fed up because if you go to the police station right now you see big flat screen TVs, you see microwave, you see stereos - that I know they don't have receipt for that. 7 people came to me while we were standing in front of the police station and they know the situation that I am going through - they came to me and say that my stuff was on the news last night. Everybody knows that is our stuff, our friends come over and we let them borrow it. We let them borrow our stuff. We are not mean and stingy with our stuff. We share everything and for them to just keep our stuff like that I think it's wrong."
According to Officer Commanding Eastern Division ACP Elodio Aragon - the items were held because there are a series of burglaries in the city which police are investigating. But as soon as the investigation finishes - and if no one claims the items - they will be returned.
