Brother assaulting sister: what options does she have?

[mikep81]

My g/f recently got into an argument with her brother. (She's 24 and he's 21). It excalated from just an argument, into him throwing a punch and her turning away and getting hit on the back instead of in the face. So I guess the question I have is what kind of options does she have?

A little background: from what I hear from my g/f, no one can control her brother. Her parents are afraid to even say anything to him in fear that the tinyest thing will set him off. And once he goes off I guess there's really no stopping him. Just last week he punched a mirror when he got mad and now has glass in his hand from it.

He's been arrested before. Not for a domestic assault, but I guess for just overall him terrorizing his parents as well as his sister and them not being able to calm him down.

But now it's gotten to the point where my g/f is afraid to even be around him and has no clue what he may do at any given moment. And like I said, her parents can't control him. So she has no one to turn to to try to handle the situation.

Seeing as how they've had him arrested for this kind of thing before, they would be willing to do it again. But that only seems like a temporary solution. Not to mention they would have to put up the money to bail him out of jail.

So I guess I'm wondering what she should do about her brother? Is him getting arrested if it happens again the only option or are there other ways to go about handling this? I personally am scared for her to even be in the house with him cause if he goes off there's not a thing she can do to defend herself. Nor should she have to live in fear of what might happen any given day.

And we're from Illinois and her family all live in the same house. (that info is probably important for legal issues)
Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

Mike

[chaser]

Call 911 and wait outside for Officers to arrive and they will take care of the rest.

[Legoate]

Not to mention they would have to put up the money to bail him out of jail.

Now why would you bail him out if you had him arrested?

[mikep81]

his parents (also her parents) would bail him out cause its their son and they don't want him to sit in jail. He stayed in overnight the time he was arrested, but they bailed him out the next day.

I understand it seems pretty cut and dry: he assaults her, he gets arrested, he sits in jail, goes to court, and then they go from there. But looking at it from her parents point of view, i can see how it would be terribly difficult to let their son sit in jail.

Should she just go it on her own and call the police if something happens and not worry about the consequences that may arrise from her parents being mad or them bailing him out of jail the next day? Inevitably, she still has to live with these people.

[BJJVad]

Tell them to stop bailing the turd out. If incidents like this occur again, call the police.

Again, I am not you, but I would suggest moving away from people like that. There are some financial issues generally surrounding moving, but it will more often than not, solve the issue.

[Samuel]

She's 21. Sounds like she ought to leave home...

[JakeLock]

That's DV here, I agree with the above stop bailing him out.

[mcsap]

Would be DV here as well. She COULD even get a court protection order kicking HIM out of the parents house. And she doen't need her parents permission to do so. And they can't "bail him out " of a court order.

[Samuel]

If it falls under DV guidelines for Illinois, I'm sure there are plenty of social services available for her, including confidential shelters...

[manahmanah]

Now why would you bail him out if you had him arrested?

I was scratching my head thinking the same thing. Your girlfriend should just move out and the parents need to grow a pair.

[ChesCopPodz]

Every time it happens she needs to have him arrested. Then she needs to STICK with the charges. No changing her mind a week later. He will either A) get the message or B) be a moron and end up stuck in jail with no bond because it's his 7th DV charge. 3 or more here is a felony.