John Morin stories

John Morin is a former Lansing resident who now lives in Holt.

Chronology of events

This is a chronology of the events described in the other stories.

1998 was the year I moved from Kalamazoo, Michigan to Lansing.  I was 42 years old. I rented a one bedroom apartment at Sutton Park apartments on Edgewood Blvd.   A few weeks after moving in I started work at a local McDonalds.  About a month later I started as a temporary painter at the apartment complex.  That would eventually turn into a full time job.  

1999  It was a warm summer afternoon and Sheri had been at the complex swimming pool the first time I met her.  It was later in the fall that my tools were stolen.  Officer Rob Vargas worked the complex area and I spoke with him a few times, once about the occupants that were involved in the rural larcenies, and another time regarding Sheri.  He was aware of Sheri having a warrant but chose not to pursue it.  We also discussed Sheri's drug habit.  He said that once a person becomes addicted to crack, there is nothing anyone can do to save them.  A grim outlook, but if you never try, you never know what might be.  On top of it all was that Sheri had a disability that affected her behavior.  For this she received disability from social security.

2-17-2000 On this date I was assaulted by Sharon Roper and her 2 daughters.  In the end, the medical costs were in the thousands. 

May 2000 is the month I bought the house on Francis Ave.  It was in disrepair and needed a complete makeover.  It took many years of hard work to make it one of the nicest in the neighborhood.  We made many friends over the years, including Frank Zeineh and his sons at the dollar store.  After Eddie had thrown the can of sardines at me, later his Dad apologized for his actions.  I had only met Eddie that one time.  Next time he had become a lawyer.  We enjoyed life during the next ten years living there.  Sure, there were problems, but we were confident we would do well.

6-17-2010 was the day Bernard tried to break into our house and ended up getting pinned to our garage door after assaulting Sheri and damaging her car.

2-12-2012 was a Saturday morning where I was at work and Sheri had given a girl a ride.  The result was our house being broken into with a lot of damage and a stolen television.

4-01-2012 was the second time in less than 2 months that we needed police response.  It was already frustrating having seen many of our neighbors broken into along with ourselves and the LPD no where close to catching anyone.  Having a bullet land at my feet and the police officer destroy evidence and willfully lie in his police report angered me, prompting calls to Det. Gill, then the Chief of Police, Complaint Officer Brantley, and to Mayor Virg Bernero  Not one person called me back.  Each time it cost me $500 deductible and then on top of it, my insurance company raised my rate without notifying me.  The financial cost of being a victim and having ineffective police consistently fail left me with few choices in living in Lansing.

5-28-2015 is an interesting date, just over 3 years after the previous events.  By now Prosecutor Dunnings has been in our neighborhood picking up prostitutes, usually Stephanie Kirby.  While trying to resolve why an LPD officer lied after the shooting and the numerous attempts to get any kind of accountability, I learned not to trust LPD, so when I was raided by the LPD and ATF, I figured it was just a bunch of criminals committing more crimes.  And of course this brought Eddie back into my life.  I worked on his properties all the way into 2016, just so he could swindle me.  

9-1-2015 was the date I had a careless driving ticket written against me (see Illegal Air Freshener).  I could have taken it to court, but I gave the Ingham County Officers the opportunity to fix it.  I knew I was not guilty.  It was too bad I had to go through extremes to make sure I was not railroaded by the cops or the court.

1-16-2016 in the mid morning hours Sheri was forced off US 127, eventually having a minor accident with oncoming traffic.  It led to a $400 charge from the city which I disputed and had thrown out.

4-2016 was the month Marc and I signed the lease creating a marijuana dispensary at 4700 Pleasant Grove with Simon.  We had spoken to numerous lawyers through Simon and Said in getting the paperwork filled out and submitted.  I was charged an extra $500 to have it done that day, as we were told it was the last day it could be done.  My garage was once again operating as a grow room.  I often paid upwards of $1500 per month in electric bills.  It was during this time frame Eddie had filed and began negotiating with the Lansing City Attorneys office for lawsuits that were planned.  When I showed up for a deposition, it had been cancelled without anyone notifying me.

August 04, 2016 was the date for the deposition.  It is really too bad because all of this could have been addressed then and I would not have incurred further losses.  Eddie had me believing that agreements were being reached for a total payout of $50,000.  That amount would have broken me even for my losses at that time, instead the losses are now much more.  

11-26-2016 was Thanksgiving Day.  I had had very little sleep the night before, sleeping in a recliner, mad as hell that a guitar that had belonged to my father was missing, taken by Sheri and sold to a customer at Marshall Music in Frandor.  I did raise my voice, but never threatened or hit her; not my way.  I could not allow the police to arrest Sheri, with her problems and the way police treat prisoners, no way would I leave her in their care.  If I had thought that I would go to jail, I would have left and gone to the lawyers house and dealt with it from there.  The loss I incurred from the thefts from my garage left me in financial peril.  And a few days later Sheri is in intensive care, either from assault or self inflicted. I guess it wasn't worth the time for LPD to investigate.  After I was allowed back home, I called the non emergency police line requesting an officer so I could report my losses.  No one ever showed up.

12-22-2016 I found myself financially forced to sign a release in full for a settlement of $12,500 for the LPD/ATF raid on my house.  Eddie had met me at a bank in East Lansing the day we cashed the check.  The money went from his hand to mine, but instead of all of it, he took over $4,000 for his services, contrary to what he had told me previously.  But he said that it was the other suit for the $25,000 that he would give me in full, to pay for all the work I had done for him.  It was just another lie, maybe a plot that involved the City Attorney.  I know Virg Bernero wants to run for mayor once again, but he once approved paying $130,000 to the City Attorney who shortly after quits with no explanation.  I was a tax-paying citizen who only did right by others and worked my ass off, and I should have just thrown twenty years down the drain for what I have to show for it.  And how many times did I call your office asking for help?  Numerous, until in frustration I asked your secretary if you left your balls in your wife's purse.  She chastised me, but I stated you obviously didn't have the balls to call me.  Ditto with LPD Chief Yankowski.

10-24-2017 was the morning I woke up and observed three people attempting to break into my garage.  They had folded the lower garage door panel and were able to slide underneath.  I can only imagine when they discovered that that only allowed access to a storage area about five feet in.  I was set to confront them when Sheri slammed the door after I had opened it, allowing them enough time to run away.

3-22-2018 In reviewing cameras I had put up around my house and garage, I found that a vehicle had been in the alley the night before and an individual had accessed my alley gate, entering and then searching my car.  It was a quick check; I believe they were hoping to find a garage door opener.  They left frustrated.

10-19-2018 was another attempt on my garage, this time the LPD officer and I counted about ten individuals involved in the attempt.  They were on the roof, tried to kick in the door.  I felt pretty secure after they spent well over an hour trying to get in.  When I reviewed the video I had the LPD officer come back out since there had been numerous unsolved break-ins along the Michigan Avenue and Kalamazoo Street corridors.  He concurred and a few days later an LPD detective contacted me saying that he was involved in a murder trial and when finished he would come out.

11-05-2018 was the day my garage was successfully robbed - the day before my birthday.  They were only able to access the bloom room, getting through an 8" by 8" opening where a vent had been.  They stole the buds off the plants which were more than a month from being ready.  In other words, they spent hours and got little.  I had an alarm in my office area, but they were never able to break into that area.  Which meant more money, more alarms.  I was ready.  I further ran another video cable from my camera set up in the garage to my living room.  Many nights Sheri would sit at the TV screen with multiple camera feeds, watching.  I had alarms throughout the yard, and a cat couldn't go down the alley and we not know it.

12-19-2018 and alarms are going off and we can see two vehicles pull behind the garage in the alleyway.  As soon as they start turning the cameras, I am on the phone with 911, explaining that my garage is about to be broke into.  As usual, there is stress and debate when begging for help from 911.  LPD shows up within five minutes and sets up on corners.  When they go down Prospect and directly shine their spot light on the one car still there, they continued on, and once again shined at them from Foster Street.  The people in the alley took their time loading their tools into the trunk.  I had Sheri call 911 again about the alley.  A few minutes later after they got into their vehicle, I ran out the front door to get a plate number and Sheri called 911 a third time.  I headed down Prospect and saw the headlights just around the corner. I could have caught them, but an LPD officer stopped me, and when I said the bad guys are right there in the alley, I was ordered home.  The officer sat there and allowed them to drive away.  My impression is that LPD may have known them and the break-in was sanctioned by the LPD.  Before you think "No way," I have a few stories on the subject that are first hand. But that is another time.

1-26-2019 was just two guys walking down the alley and after checking out the area, climbed the fence to move the camera direction, same as each time before.  Once again I was immediately up and getting dressed.  They were spooked, though, and left before I could get outside.

Feb/March 2019 was when the two LPD detectives finally came to review the videos.  After one saw the December 2018 incident, he felt that they needed to copy my hard drive at the State Police post.  I have told this story to some former police officers and they beat me to the punch line.  When my house was raided, their first question was Where is your camera system?  Why?  Because they do not want to record what they do: it may become evidence for the defendant.  So when the detective sees evidence of questionable behavior by fellow officers, he wants to copy the hard drive?  No, they want to damage the hard drive and destroy the evidence.  Never let the police have your videos and if you have video of the police, make many copies and go see a lawyer from anywhere but Lansing.  I did download some videos and have them saved and protected.  In this day and age, I hope what was done can be repaired so the entire story can be told.

2019 was when I discovered that all of the hard work led to nothing.  That I would continue to be victimized as long as I lived in Lansing.  My work slowed down and the bills were out of my control and thus I found it necessary to file chapter 7 bankruptcy.  That was the only thing I succeeded in while I lived in Lansing, Michigan.  I was under water with my mortgage.  Marc had managed to swindle me out of the dispensary, I'm sure with the help of both Simon and Ed Zeineh. 

March 2020, after months of packing and storing belongings in storage units and friends and relatives' garages, I was able to save enough money to put a down payment on a house.  It took months of looking, trying to decide how far away to go to still be close enough to fight over what had happened.  I once as a teen was victimized and discovered that I really had no one I could turn to.  Not a parent or a teacher, so I lived with it only to discover many years later that others were victimized after me.  That was a guilt I lived with for most of my life: not having the courage to speak up.  These stories are my way of speaking up, even after those who we give the right to govern us, each either passed the buck or never called back.  I voted straight Democrat this last year, but when I look at Lansing, I see politicians who care more for  police officers who work for the city, but don't live in the city, than they do for the citizens who work and pay income and property taxes and live in the city of Lansing.