16-year-old Sam has had a really difficult life. He was abandoned by his mother at 8 years old while his father, Joe, was deployed. Sam was in the foster care system for 3 years because his parents were not married, and his father was unaware of Sam's whereabouts. Once Joe found Sam, he was able to obtain custody of Sam. Joe and Sam began the process of rebuilding their father/son bond, but Joe, being a member of the military, was very strict and tried to instill discipline in 11-year- old Sam. Sam was definitely not used to the level of restriction and discipline and complained that Joe was mentally abusing him. When school personnel heard Sam's complaints, they reported Joe to CPS which immediately began an investigation and oversight process. Joe was infuriated by Sam's accusations and the already strained relationship began to deteriorate further. The investigation revealed no child abuse, but Joe was required to take a parenting course. Joe refused to take the course saying that if there was no violation, he should not have to take the course and that his religious beliefs dictate his parenting and to take a course teaching "western" methodologies of parenting as the only appropriate form of parenting would directly conflict with his religious beliefs. CPS cited Joe's refusal to take the course as a violation of the conditions of CPS oversight and initiated proceedings to terminate his parental rights to Sam. This further infuriated Joe who started an in-person, letter writing and social media campaign against CPS, which has garnered substantial regional media attention. Joe has been interviewed on several local TV channels and has been very vocal about how "crooked" and "biased towards fathers" organizations like CPS and schools are. CPS and the school intend to sue Joe for defamation. Meanwhile, Sam, who had continued to become more and more frustrated and angered by all the chaos in his life, decided to run away. He stole a car from the neighborhood post office and left town. A couple towns over, in the middle of the night, Sam crashed into another car, killing the occupants. Sam did not call for emergency help and ran away prior to anyone else coming on the scene. Sam stumbles into a local hospital with some minor injuries and when the medical staff becomes alarmed at Sam's condition and his refusal to explain where he got the injuries, who his guardians were, and where he lived, they call the police. Sam is detained and interrogated, without a parent or attorney present, and confesses to stealing the car and causing the crash that killed the occupants of the other car as he was driving under the influence of illegal drugs that he obtained from Joe's bag. Charges are brought against Sam for vehicular manslaughter, grand theft - auto, and possession of a class 2 narcotic. Charges are also brought against Joe for possession of a class 2 narcotic and child endangerment lity: Investigate