Protective order didn't stop angry ex-boyfriend | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

Before she even came back from District Court in Glen Burnie, where she was issued a restraining order compelling her former boyfriend, Ronald Brandt Jr., not to even contact her, Mr. Brandt called her cell phone, she said.

Shortly after 8 p.m. that day, county police received a call from a frantic Ms. Ferrick, saying her ex-boyfriend was driving around her house on the 800 block of Nursery Road and threatening her. Eventually, he would be charged with attempted murder for driving his truck onto the porch and injuring Ms. Ferrick and her roommate's son Cody, 11.

Anne Potthast, a staff attorney for YWCA Legal Services, said she believes protective orders are "overall effective" in setting boundaries.

"Most people don't want to go to jail," she said. "It obviously can't prevent everything, but it is a good tool. The point is that most cases people don't go to the extremes (Mr. Brandt) went to."

She said most of the time, if a person is charged with violating a protective order "they totally get it."

"And many will obey the order," she said.

But she said a protective order can't prevent everything.

Police regularly arrest violators of protection orders. A person is charged separately for each violation, Ms. Potthast said. So if a person who has a protective order against them calls the person who filed it 10 times, then they will face 10 different charges.

For the first violation, a person can be sentenced up to 90 days, and up to a year for any violation thereafter, she said.

"It really depends on the situation," she said. "The judge has discretion like any other criminal case," based on the person's criminal record.

Typically there would need to be some sort of evidence for police to file charges, such as a voicemail message or a phone number appearing on a caller ID. But Ms. Potthast said police should be called every time a protective order is violated, even if it's a quick hang-up that doesn't leave much evidence behind.

"A lot of our clients get protective orders and if there's a violation, we encourage them to call anyway, any time it happens," she said. "We try to encourage them to call the police, and feel comfortable calling the police. That's what a protective order is for."

While some victim advocates have in the past called protective orders "just a piece of paper," Ms. Potthast said it's a good tool.

"I always say that it's a tool for the police to use to try to prevent a tragedy from happening," she said.

In a case like Ms. Ferrick's, Ms. Potthast said the victim did what she needed to do by calling police.

Ms. Ferrick said she knew Mr. Brandt was dangerous. In her application for a protective order July 20, she wrote that her ex-boyfriend had wished her and her "sick mother dead," had punched holes in her walls, thrown full beer cans at her head, and threatened to run her over with his pickup.

But she had no idea he would go this far.

"I think he went berserk is what he did," she said.

A good tool

After she left court last week, Ms. Ferrick spoke with a police officer about retrieving the black pickup she was later struck with, which is registered in her name. The officer went to Mr. Brandt's work, H&M Sign Inc., but told Ms. Ferrick he could not find the vehicle, she said.

Later, she said she called the Northern District Station at Hammonds Ferry to tell them she knew where the truck was. She said she was told to retrieve the keys herself, despite the newly issued protective order.

"He would have killed me if I went over there," Ms. Ferrick said. "I can't believe they told me to go where that maniac is."

Sgt. John Gilmer, a county police spokesman, said the county Police Department will investigate any allegations that officers neglected to assist Ms. Ferrick on July 28. He said typically officers would not tell a person to come into contact with someone they have a protective order against.

Dorothy Lennig, director of the legal clinic at the House of Ruth, one of the nation's leading domestic violence centers, agreed that protective orders are effective for many who get them.

"It doesn't protect every person every time," she said.

She said those who get a protective order should talk with someone with a domestic-violence program or a courthouse advocate to see if they should take further steps.

"For some abusers, standing in court having the judge say stay away and don't abuse them is enough," Ms. Lennig said. "But for some, they just don't care and are going to go after them anyway."

In most cases, a woman or man knows best what their ex is capable of.

"And they need to decide, is this somebody who is going to follow it (a protective order) or disobey it?" she said.

If the person thinks they are in danger, they should take extra precautions, such as alerting co-workers, family and neighbors to be on the lookout, and even changing routes to and from work.

"The other thing is to take these threats seriously, always," Ms. Lennig said. "All of us, domestic violence advocates, judges, court commissioners, police have to take those threats seriously and act as though they're going to be carried out.

" ... If he says to her he's going to run her over and she really thinks he's going to do it, we need to take that very seriously."