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Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Wanna-Be Ghost Hunter Arrests & Wrongful Arrest Lawsuit

Wanna-Be Ghost Hunter Arrests Are On A Rise Nationwide For Trespassing In Abandoned Haunted Places... Get The
Full Story Here On Haunted Society Paranormal News  ---  Subscribe To Our Paranormal News RSS Feed Here

Monday, September 24th, 2012
Article By: Phillip Brunelle
www.HauntedSociety.com

U.S. NATIONAL NEWS --- Recently, we reported on Ohio University's plans to demolish a historical building, whose reason for the demolition is because of the local folklore and claims of paranormal activity attracting thrill seeking students and ghost hunters to trespass, break in, and even vandalize the former tuberculosis ward for the old state hospital.

After digging further, Haunted Society discovered that break-ins and trespassing reports related to haunted places have been at an all-time-high, nationwide, and with the 2012 Halloween season approaching, police are warning people that plan to investigate haunted places without permission, legal action will be taken.

In the past few years, campus police at Ohio University have arrested 55 people for trespassing and breaking and entering into the haunted Ridges Building 26. These arrests were all from curious people and wanna-be ghost hunters that trespassed and broke into the allegedly haunted building, some of whom even vandalized the property to gain access. Similar incidents have been surfacing nationwide, and it's starting to give true paranormal investigators a negative reputation.

In the past month, over 200 police reports and arrests have been made for people who trespassed and broke into allegedly haunted places, including abandoned buildings, private property, and businesses currently in operation. A few weeks ago, in Trenton, Michigan two teens were arrested for trespassing at the old Riverside Osteopathic Hospital. The teens told police that they heard the abandoned hospital was haunted, and they were inside ghost hunting.

As paranormal investigators know, you should always get permission to investigate any place, whether it's private property, abandoned, and most public places, but sometimes getting permission is not enough.

A federal lawsuit was filed this month by a woman who was falsely arrested for trespassing at an abandoned house, which she was given permission to investigate. Diane Briscoe and her sons, Jonathan and Alton, were conducting a paranormal investigation inside a house in Upland, Pennsylvania in September 2010 when police officers barged in. "They held guns to us, and even though we told them we had permission to be there, showed them the key and gave the officers the owner's name and phone number, they still arrested us" said Diane Briscoe.

When she's not ghost hunting, Diane Briscoe is employed as a police officer with the Chester, PA Police Department, but this too was not enough to stop the Upland police officers from arresting Diane Briscoe and her two children for trespassing.

The charges against Diane Briscoe and her children were dismissed after she was able to prove that she was given permission to investigate the reportedly haunted, abandoned house, and now she has filed a federal lawsuit against the Upland police officers for false arrest and emotional torment for holding her and the children at gunpoint.

This is a perfect example that sometimes having permission isn't enough, and for this reason, Haunted Society suggests that ghost hunters should always first get permission to investigate a haunted place, and after you've got permission to investigate, if it's an abandoned location, you should always notify the local police about the investigation. This way, the police officers that normally patrol the area where the place is located will expect to see activity that night.

Could all the hype with paranormal and ghost hunting television shows be playing a part in this increased interest in ghost hunting? We talked to Alice Newgen, from Ellijay, GA, a columnist with Chatsworth Times, and she certainly thinks so. "I feel that part of the problem is with so many radio and TV shows highlighting the paranormal it's becoming more acceptable to be a ghost hunter" said Alice Newgen. "People need to be more careful, their actions could quite literally come back to haunt them... in more ways than one."

What do you think about this news story? Comment below with your opinion. If you're not yet a member of Haunted Society Paranormal Network, we invite you to Join Here. Haunted Society is a trusted source of today's top bizarre and paranormal news and a free paranormal social networking website.

Paranormal News Article Written By Phillip Brunelle, The Founder of Haunted Society Paranormal Network & Haunted Society Paranormal News Journalist. Phillip Brunelle Is Also A Lifestyle & Entertainment Journalist For Google News & Technorati News -- Email Phillip Brunelle Here -- Send News Tips Here

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Tags: 2012, Alice Newgen, Alton Briscoe, Break-Ins, Chatsworth Times, Chester, Diane Briscoe, Ellijay, GA, Georgia, More…Halloween, Hometown, Jonathan Briscoe, MI, Michigan, OH, Ohio, Ohio University, PA, Pennsylvania, Phillip Brunelle, Radio, Riverside, Savannah, TV, Trenton, Upland, abandoned, arrested, arrests, building, campus, college, ghost, ghost hunter, ghost hunters, ghost hunting, ghosts, haunt, haunted, haunted places, haunted society, high, hospital, increase, investigation, locations, news, officer, paranormal, paranormal investigators, paranormal news, places, police, reports, shows, society, story, teens, tips, trespass, trespassing, university

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Comment by Pete C on February 27, 2013 at 10:28am

if it is Abandoned then doesn't the bank own it? just because you have keys, does not mean you have title.  cops might have dismissed it because its more trouble then its worth.

Comment by Tom Lucas on January 1, 2013 at 7:39pm

tammie,

I apologize for my error on the term. You are obviously, correct. Thank you for correcting me.

Comment by tammie heazlit on December 31, 2012 at 11:11pm

Wow. must be angrier ghosts than we typically find. experienced everything considered typical at one time or another and then some. but never been punched or thrown into a wall. Tripped, pushed, yeah, but...

You might want to choose your terms more carefully. We have Hypotheses. We are no where close to theories. We also have "instruments", they're not technically considered scientific because they've never been scientifically tested. We have evidence that suggests the presence of paranormal activity, some of it quite convincing, but it does not meet the standard of Proof. If we want to be taken seriously, we need to make sure we all communicate accurately. Otherwise it becomes food for fodder. 

Comment by Tom Lucas on December 26, 2012 at 4:54am

Having the owners name mentioned has nothing to do with having your rear end covered if someone from your team injured during an investigation. And yes I've seen friends slammed against walls and had to have my ribs X-rayed after getting punched by something that wasn't visible to the naked eye. I've taken friends to the ER because of injuries sustained during an investigation and my group has never had an issue getting medical bills paid or ER visits covered. Being in the field for 35 years is great in and of itself, however, yes the "cant wait for the day we try to sue a ghost in court for trespassing on our property" is very snide. So was offended? Yes and I feel rightly so. The insuring company the insured our group knew exactly the field we are in (our groups name was the insured, not a person's name). My biggest point was that owners that don't want their names mentioned would rather see that IF, God forbid something happened on their property (if a waiver of liability is not in the contract when signed to investigate on their property) is seeing that you are covered, if, in the unfortunate case someone is injured or worse.
As I said having 35 years of experience is great, but that still doesn't make those comments tactful or less pointed.

Comment by Mr Bagabones McKavanagh on December 24, 2012 at 10:38pm

Most of cases i have dealt with Tom never want there names mentioned,were exactly there property is,cause human beings are still TOUCHY about paranormal world,neighbors might think there nuts etc,got you on insurance for your team etc but seen things go down that cant be insured,no matter what field we are in sorry to say there is always going to be scams, theft, I will agree with you on one thing sad to see a historical landmark go,civil war hospital,can imagine the energy that was ounce lock up inside it.of course just cause buildings gone,does not mean property is not be haunted.

Comment by Mr Bagabones McKavanagh on December 24, 2012 at 10:14pm

Been in the field 35 yrs,died ounce came back,got lots insurance,bitch collecting when you no your claims legit, here lies the problem,does insurance cover you when you are physically attack by a shadow person,or your slammed against wall by dining room table pushed by a poltergeist,lets see, when you witness a person loose his family,friends,his dog,then takes a match to his house and burn it to the ground,why,cause he states "it was haunted",guess what his insurance will not pay out on that one,snide remarks ? guess what material property does not mean a lot when your confronted by some thing that does not care about insurance plans.

Comment by Tom Lucas on December 24, 2012 at 8:11pm

Mr McKavanagh,

Herein lies your "problem". those places are owned by someone. Just as this old Civil War Hospital is owned by someone. The insurance we carried was to let the owner know that we were covered if someone got hurt while investigating. That way the owner is not held responsible. Owners are more apt to let you on their property if they know they are safe from any issues if something happened. You must have either very little experience or just don't think about things like that. It also saves your group IF some owner claims you damaged something or stole something. It will be investigated by not only the police but the insurance company. It does happen. We investigated a bar and the owner claimed we stole a bunch of liquor from him. We had a camera not only in front of the bar but behind it because claims were made by bar tenders. and it showed only someone setting the cameras up and then coming in taking them down and leaving. So insurance has to do with the human factor NOT anything else. So please keep the snide remarks to yourself.

Comment by Mr Bagabones McKavanagh on December 24, 2012 at 1:39pm

Trespassing In Abandoned Haunted Places,Law. to cast away, leave, or desert, as property,there are lots of them,anyone who is in the field knows he or she is putting themselves at risk when GHOST HUNTING or EXPLORING PARANORMAL,I do not think the OTHER SIDE what ever that might be is concerned about the law of the land,insurance,cant wait for the day we try to sue a ghost in court for trespassing on our property.

Comment by Tom Lucas on December 12, 2012 at 12:46pm

Wow, Michelle has not only torn down a wonderful piece of history but a place many Paranormal research groups would have loved to get into. Michelle you are right science hasn't proven beyond any doubt that ghosts exist but that's where our groups come in. We use scientific instruments to try a document activity. Even then these are theories.

As to this article my old group carried a $1 million insurance policy (paid by yearly dues) to absolve the property owner of any responsibility if something happened. Tripping over cables, wrong step on stairs in the dark, walking into walls, whatever. We were covered and the owner held no responsibility for our miss steps. Yes we had permission and yes we called local law enforcement or usually told them in advance because our investigations were planned far enough in advance.

Comment by tammie heazlit on December 10, 2012 at 1:55pm

There is such a competitiveness that has grown relative to ghost hunting groups vs working together, its just a shame. And part of that includes wanting to get onto a team and none being available. THen the newbies go out on their own without formal guidance on proper technique, which includes etiquette. Add to that the riff raff that exists everywhere, and you get trespassers (as well as bad "evidence"). I don't have the answers, but I think that as any "adventure" activity grows, this is typical of what happens. 


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