Episode 347

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

**Jacob LaRosa** (0:12)
I heard screaming and stuff, so I just left. I couldn't stay there no more.

**Lieutenant Adkins** (0:17)
Where did you leave from?

**Jacob LaRosa** (0:19)
That old lady's house.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:23)
Hello and thank you for joining us. This is season 13, episode 340, what? 347 of Sword and Scale, a show that reveals that the worst monsters are real.
It's March 1st, 2015 in Niles, Ohio. Yeah, Ohio again. Niles is an aging steel town in Trumbull County. The narrow streets are lined with ranch and Cape Cod homes where families have lived for generations. On Lafayette Avenue, the houses sit close together, with alleys running between them and neighbors that notice when something is out of place. Just before dinner, a teenage boy stumbles home and into the front door. He's not hungry and he's not thirsty either. In fact, he's already had too much to drink. And he's a drunken mess.

**SPEAKER_6** (2:13)
911, what's your emergency?

**SPEAKER_7** (2:15)
Hi, my son came home and said he got drunk by several people and he's not acting right.

**SPEAKER_6** (2:21)
Okay, where does that occur?

**SPEAKER_7** (2:22)
Wait, Mr. bathroom, I'm at 502 Lafayette. He said he was at Cedar Park.

**SPEAKER_6** (2:27)
Okay.

**SPEAKER_7** (2:28)
And he has blood on his hands and stuff.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:31)
Her voice echoes through the house as she speaks to the dispatcher. She's not in panic. He doesn't look injured. But he has blood all over him and he's not wearing pants. He's been staggering through the neighborhood in his underwear and a T-shirt.

**SPEAKER_6** (2:48)
He has blood on his hands?

**SPEAKER_7** (2:50)
Yeah, and on his shirt and he's like coming in and out of it. How old is he? He's 15

**SPEAKER_6** (2:59)
15?

**SPEAKER_7** (3:00)
Yeah, he's not...

**SPEAKER_6** (3:02)
Okay, so you need an ambulance?

**SPEAKER_7** (3:04)
Yeah.

**SPEAKER_6** (3:05)
All right, I want you to come down to the station when he's done.

**SPEAKER_7** (3:08)
Okay.

**SPEAKER_6** (3:09)
And file a report.

**SPEAKER_7** (3:10)
Okay.

**SPEAKER_6** (3:11)
Okay, stay on the line.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:13)
So far, his mom doesn't seem to notice somehow that his breath also reeks of alcohol. Or, at least, she doesn't report this.

**SPEAKER_7** (3:22)
How old is your son? He's 15
He said he was drunk. When you say he's not acting right, what do you mean? He's laying on the bathroom floor, and he tries to lift up his head, and his eyes roll back, and he throws himself back down. Can he be able to talk to you? He mumbles, and he has blood on his hands and his shirt.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:48)
Her son, Jacob LaRosa, tells her he's been attacked by some other teenagers.

**SPEAKER_6** (3:54)
That's Niles. I have a caller on the line at 502 Lafayette. Our 15-year-old son was at a fight, and he came home, and she said he's not acting right.

**SPEAKER_4** (4:04)
The Niles squad car pulls up quickly. It's only a short drive to the station. The Lafayette houses are cluttered tightly in a neighborhood where officers can cross yards and alleys in seconds. Inside, he finds Jacob on the bathroom floor. An ambulance gets there in just minutes, and they whisk Jacob away to the hospital where he's interviewed.

**Lieutenant Adkins** (4:29)
Mind if I come in?

**SPEAKER_8** (4:31)
No, sir. No, sir.

**Jacob LaRosa** (4:33)
You can come in whenever you want. How are you doing, sir?

**Lieutenant Adkins** (4:36)
Jacob, how are you?

**Jacob LaRosa** (4:38)
Doing good, sir.

**SPEAKER_8** (4:40)
Good.

**Lieutenant Adkins** (4:40)
My name is Lieutenant Adkins.

**SPEAKER_9** (4:43)
Don't talk or move yet, okay?

**SPEAKER_8** (4:45)
Lieutenant?

**Lieutenant Adkins** (4:46)
Yeah, you sit still for this young lady first, though, okay?

**Jacob LaRosa** (4:52)
I'm just going to move.

**SPEAKER_10** (4:53)
Don't talk and don't move.

**Lieutenant Adkins** (4:55)
You're moving, so you're going to screw up your test, buddy.

**SPEAKER_8** (4:57)
Don't talk, don't move.

**SPEAKER_4** (4:59)
That nurse wasn't playing games and didn't have the time for her drunk patient.

**Jacob LaRosa** (5:06)
You know where my mom is?

**Lieutenant Adkins** (5:08)
She's out in the waiting room.

**Jacob LaRosa** (5:11)
These guys came up to me with a gun.

**SPEAKER_4** (5:17)
It happens. The streets can be violent, especially in Ohio.

**Lieutenant Adkins** (5:22)
Tell me, how'd you end up here tonight?

**Jacob LaRosa** (5:24)
Well, this kid, this kid, Derek Davies and Devontae Jackson, they put a gun to my head.

**Lieutenant Adkins** (5:32)
Okay, Derek Davies and what was the other guy's name?

**Jacob LaRosa** (5:35)
Derek Davies and Devontae Jackson.

**Lieutenant Adkins** (5:37)