Hales twists "silver bullet" with dubious protective order
He went to Ohio to get a protective order against his Florida neighbors.
I have previously defined the silver bullet technique as, “using a bogus protective order to get leverage in child custody or divorce.”
Jeremy Hales is not {directly} involved in a child custody case with Lynette Preston and John Cook, but he got a bogus protective order against them and used it as leverage.
He continues to use the protective order as leverage and content.
In October 2023, Jeremy Hales went to Summit County, Ohio, to get a protective order against Lynette Preston and John Cook. He did this even though both are his neighbors in Otter Creek, Florida.
I could find no record of Hales going to a Florida court to get a protective order before switching gears and going to Ohio, however, Lisa from the Two Lees in a Pod podcast told me that Hales did first try to get a protective order in Florida.
However, during that time (there is a video of germ saying she started it so he was like OK lets go) he supposedly tried to get a restraining order against her and couldn't but I’ve never seen anything like that. Apparently, they don’t show records of filing for a restraining order if it's denied. Michelle can't even see that. Only Germ {Hales} can answer that really. A foia request wasn't made for that so no one really knows. Next thing known is he went to Ohio and got one there. which makes no sense how he could. but he did. He is friends with Mayor Dan and also paid or sponsored a k9 unit for Summit County and that's where he got the PO.
Going to Ohio for an order which would be enforced in Florida is called forum shopping. He went to where he could find a friendly judge.
His Ohio attorneys knew that Hales order request in Ohio was dubious when they argued for it.
His two Ohio attorneys, Tad Hoover and Eli Heller from the law firm of Hoover Kacyon and Associates LLC, argued that they could not “find any precedent for matters occurring in other states being excluded from consideration.”
They also didn’t include any precedent in their favor. That’s because residents of Florida generally don’t go to Ohio to get a protective order. They go to Florida.
In their motion, Hoover and Heller also stated, “Mr. Hales testified to a series of events starting in May and continuing in the summer {2023) and up to the hearings in front of this honorable court.”
Most of those events occurred in Florida, where Hales was- by his own admission- denied a protective order. What happened in Ohio?
I asked Hoover and Heller, and they answered like scumbag lawyers.
Because of the attorney-client privilege myself or attorney Heller would not be able to share any information with you unless expressly approved by our client. Sorry.
Bill Opal, a divorce lawyer from Illinois, tried the same lame argument in my story Horror in Kane County, Illinois. A good lawyer can answer questions without revealing attorney/client privileged information. Check out my interview with Missouri attorney Susan Ward as an example.
Hoover and Heller took a different tack from Ms. Ward and asked me to leave them alone.
We will not be making any comments about this. Good luck in your investigation, but please stop emailing us.
They would not honor my request for an interview with them and their client.
The evidence of stalking in Ohio was thin: an email sent by Preston to the mayor’s office in Peninsula, Ohio.
No objective judge should have given Hales a protective order based strictly on an email sent to the mayor’s office but Hales was likely not dealing with an objective judge but a ringer.
Magistrate Kandi “The Ringer” O’Connor presided over his case.
In October 2023, The Ringer granted Hales {and his fiancé Martha Rizk} a protective order against Preston and Cook for two years, according to the file provided by Summit County, Ohio, where Hales went for the protective order.
Since being granted the protective order, Hales has gone on a campaign to get a violation. In one incident, he drove by Cook and Preston’s home slowly trying desperately to get within ten feet. He did this while filming the event. {The ringer set the protective order at 500 feet, except at their home- since they are all neighbors- where she set it at ten feet} Cook was using a walker after surgery during this encounter.
Here is another angle of the same event.
In another incident, Hales claimed that Preston was menacing in a post office.
Acting like no person in genuine need of protection, Hales constantly talks about this protective order to his audience, boasting of his victories.
The Ringer granted him a protective order violation in January 2024, and fined Preston $100. In her order, she indicated that she didn’t bother to watch the videos, taking Hales word for it.
The Ringer had chutzpah to state in her order, “Hales testified that this action by Preston caused him to have feelings of fear and anxiety.’
He does not look like it in videos he posts.
The Ringer even claimed that using the first amendment was a violation of the protective order.
The Facebook page never mentioned Hales, but since Hales “testified it was his belief that the post was directed at him,” this was good enough for The Ringer.
In another incident, Hales ran ahead of cops he asked to protect him while filming the incident.
Florida law enforcement have refused to prosecute this farce.
Most recently, there was another confrontation at the local Walmart, which has led to more finger pointing and content.
Here is part of a police report.
I reached out to Hales main public relations YouTubers: That Umbrella Guy {TUG}, Shizzy Whiz Nut, and {my former friend} Megan Fox.
TUG responded. When presented with some of the evidence I had developed, he was appreciative of the tip.
Ah, the scumbag that admittedly takes advantage of female victims he covers slides into my messages again.
TUG didn’t care about the evidence because John Cook is a bad guy.
Lol, I'm not surprised you simp John Cook tbh. LP herself says the guy is an abuser. Drove his last wife nuts - they admittedly keep her remains in the shed.
But I imagine you skip all that, hoping they'll get you some more clout so maybe another unfortunate women might mistake you as a journalist.
No more wasted time on you today, scumbag.
After stating, “no more wasted time on you today, scumbag,” TUG proceeded to send me a dozen more messages. This included a dossier of John Cook’s alleged misdeeds.
Hey, don't skip my questions about your abusive past either.
I asked you some point blank ones on abuse and who/how many/is that your MO.
Here's the 1st and last freebie from me, bc I find you detestable. But here's a chance to tell some truth.
There's
1. Police body cam footage from JC arrest. Shara is one of many sources w it uploaded. Just search Cook.
In it, LP calls him an abuser. HER WORDS. Talks about his abuse too.
Says he drove his ex to end herself- and they keep the remains in the shed.
To the police. And she's done it with droves of others, from North Port to Otter Creek.
2. The messages to shara. I attached one with LP talking about JC re the kid.
3. BRUCE verified the messages AS REAL.
I attached his email complaining about doxxing old messages - NOT that theyre fake.
4. And - if you wanna know theyre liars, read the fucking police report on Cook arrest.
Lies on the gun. Lies on what he did all the way through.
LP is the one that rats him out when the police arrive with a warrant.
There, now either fuck off or answer my questions on how many women you yourself have abused, the years, etc.
When I pointed out that none of these alleged incidents had anything to do with the protective order, he called me a “fraud.”
What a fraud.
You asked for PROOF of ABUSE. You got it.
But 3 minutes pass and you IGNORE itI guess Bruce woukd be angry otherwise and no $$$
Or maybe it's abusers simping abusers.
Again, how many victims you've fucked over. How many women. 2017 and 2021. Are there more attempts? More victims?
Of course you do anything to deflect that, you scumbag.
It’s not proof of abuse, and it also doesn’t explain Hales behavior. He never explained Hales behavior and it’s unlikely he will post any of the material I provided. Despite that, he noted.
And maybe a rent to own scumbag like yourself can threaten or force vulnerable women into silence, but you aren't gonna threaten the truth {emphasis mine} into silence this time.
Shizzy and Megan did not respond. This is not the way anyone in genuine need of a protective order behaves. Jeremy Hales is a very dangerous person, and TUG is his pr person.
I reached out, through his law firm’s website, to Sean Martin who represented Preston and Cook, but he didn’t respond.
Update:
Dave over at Miltown’s Best did a video on the article. In the video, he noted that it’s not clear if Ms. Rizk is Hales fiancé. She definitely is his sometimes YouTube partner, so I will refer to her as that going forward.
Also, attorney Sean Martin reached out to me after publication. He left me a voicemail stating that he “had no comment at this time.”
Post-script
This is the third article in the Hales series. Find articles one and two here. Check out the fundraiser to help me create more articles.
Great article Michael. I didn't know that Hales got the PO in the same county that mayor is from and that it's the same county he donated to for the K9 unit. I'm pretty sure that's not even the county he lives in. I've been saying for a while that someone should look into whether Hales had any ties to the Ohio judge and I'm glad someone finally is. I hope this helps lead to the bogus PO being overturned. I also had no idea the judge didn't even review the footage of this "violation" of the PO and only went off Hales' statements. I guess that means Preston and Cook didn't even have any input before they were found in contempt? A complete miscarriage of justice in my opinion.