My Cop Brother Stole My Car, Hit A Child, And Ran Away. Then My Parents Tried To Frame Me For It, Sa

He said.

“Show me what you’ve got.”

I pulled out my laptop and played the dash cam footage, all of it. He watched without saying a word, taking notes on a legal pad.

When it finished, he sat back.

“This is pretty clear-cut.”

I asked.

“What do I do?”

Robert Bishop said.

“First, we’re going to make sure you’re protected. Your family is threatening to make you an accessory to this, which means we need to get ahead of it.”

I asked.

“How?”

Robert Bishop said.

“We’re going to the police today.”

I asked.

“Today?”

Robert Bishop said.

“Right now, before your family can spin this. We’re going to walk into the police station, hand over this footage, and give a full statement about what happened.”

He continued.

“You’re going to tell them your brother took your car without permission, you only found out about the accident last night, and your family tried to coerce you into taking the blame.”

I said.

“They’re going to lose their minds.”

Robert Bishop said.

“Good. Let them. You’ll be on record as the one who came forward voluntarily. That’s huge.”

I asked.

“What about the threats? Do you have them in writing?”

I said.

“Just the texts asking me to help.”

Robert Bishop said.

“That works. We’ll include that in the statement. Document everything going forward. Any calls, texts, voicemails—save them all.”

I asked.

“What happens to Ryan?”

Robert Bishop said.

“Not your problem. But realistically, he’s looking at leaving the scene of an accident, failure to report, possibly obstruction if they can prove he was doing something illegal when it happened. His career is over.”

I said.

“My family is going to hate me.”

Robert Bishop said.

“They already tried to destroy you to save him. What do you owe them?”

I said.

“Good point.”

We went to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department at 8:00 a.m. Bishop did most of the talking, explaining the situation to a detective named Wallace.

I provided my statement, handed over the dash cam footage, and submitted copies of all the text messages from the night before. Detective Wallace watched the footage twice, his expression getting darker.

Detective Wallace asked.

“Your brother is a police officer?”

I said.

“Yes, sir.”

Detective Wallace asked.

“And he asked you to take responsibility for this?”

I said.

“Him and my parents both.”

Detective Wallace asked.

“They threatened you if you didn’t?”

I said.

“My father said they’d tell you I was complicit if I didn’t back up their story.”

Wallace nodded slowly.

“Okay, we’ll take it from here. Don’t contact your brother or your parents. We’ll be reaching out to them very soon.”

I asked.

“What about my car? It’s still at their house.”

Detective Wallace said.

“We’ll impound it as evidence. You’ll get it back eventually.”

I asked.

“Am I in any trouble?”

Detective Wallace said.

“No. You’re the victim here. Your vehicle was taken and used in the commission of a crime, and your family attempted to coerce you into making false statements. You did the right thing coming forward.”

We left the station at 9:30 a.m. Bishop walked me to my car.

I asked.

“What happens now?”

Robert Bishop said.

“Now we wait. They’ll investigate, interview your family, probably arrest your brother today or tomorrow. Then things get messy.”

I asked.

“How messy?”

Robert Bishop said.

“Your family is going to retaliate. Expect harassment. Expect them to try turning other relatives against you. Expect them to say you’re lying.”

He added.

“Document everything. Don’t engage. Let me handle it.”

I asked.

“What about the kid Ryan hit?”

Robert Bishop said.

“That’s a separate issue. The family will probably file a civil suit against your brother, maybe against you too since it’s your car.”

I asked.

“Can they do that?”

Robert Bishop said.

“They can try, but we have the footage showing your brother took your car without permission. Any decent lawyer will drop you from the suit once they see it.”

I said.

“This is going to get expensive, isn’t it?”

Robert Bishop said.

“I’ll be honest with you: this could get very expensive depending on how far your family pushes this. But I can work with you on payment plans. And if things go the way I think they will, you’ll have grounds for a countersuit.”

I asked.

“Against my own family?”

Robert Bishop said.

“Against anyone who caused you damages. Think about it.”

By noon, my phone was nuclear. Mom called 47 times.

I didn’t answer any of them. The voicemails were brutal.

Mom said in a voicemail.

“How could you do this to your brother? To your nephew? You’re destroying our family. Your father and I raised you better than this. You’re being selfish and vindictive. Ryan is facing criminal charges because of you. I hope you’re happy. You’re dead to us. Don’t ever contact this family again.”

Jessica sent a wall of text messages.

“Ryan was just arrested at work in front of everyone. His whole department knows. You did that. Aiden asked why the police took Daddy away. What am I supposed to tell him? You’re a terrible person for doing this. Everyone at church knows what you did. Nobody wants anything to do with you.”

Danielle’s messages were worse.

“You took my husband away from our son over what? Your stupid car? I hope you never have kids because you’d be a terrible father. Ryan was just trying to help someone and you destroyed his life.”

Dad called once and left one voicemail.

“You made your choice. You’re not welcome in this house anymore. You’re not family. Don’t ever contact your mother again. You killed her.”

I saved everything and forwarded it all to Bishop. Kevin called at 1:00 p.m.

Kevin asked.

“Did you hear?”

I asked.

“Hear what?”

Kevin said.

“Ryan’s been arrested. They suspended him pending investigation. It’s all over the local news already. Your dash cam footage leaked somehow. It’s everywhere.”

I asked.

“What?”

Kevin said.

“Check Twitter.”

I pulled up Twitter and searched for “Indianapolis Hit and Run.” Sure enough, someone had leaked the footage.

Ryan’s face was clear. His uniform was clear.

The impact was clear. It had 200,000 views and climbing.

The comments were savage.

“Cop hits kid then flees? Why is anyone surprised? This is why nobody trusts police. Hope he goes to jail for a long time. Coward in a uniform.”

The local news had picked it up—NBC, ABC, CBS—all running stories about a police officer involved in a hit and run caught on camera, arrested after his brother provided evidence. My phone rang with an unknown number.

I said.

“Hello?”

Jennifer Ortiz said.

“Mr. Hayes, this is Jennifer Ortiz with Channel 13 News. We’d like to interview you about your brother’s arrest.”

I said.