Speaking of hard to figure out- I read this 4 times and tough to ascertain what actually happened.
Monday, September 27, 2010
August 2009
On August 19, 2009 I came home to Selinsgrove from Philadelphia to sell some furniture to my friend because I was planning to move to Atlanta on September 1.
I went to BJ's in Selinsgrove on August 20, 2009 because when I was walking my dog in the downtown, I noticed there were two gay men in the cafe with their dog. We started chatting. They had never been to BJ's before. My friend Robert (BJ) Kirkpatrick Jr. was bar tending that evening. He came outside and hugged me because we had not seen each other in years. Then he went back in to work the bar again. I suggested that the gay guys, Don and Terry, try the Bongo Bongo dip. I left my dog, Parker, with the guys and went inside to order the dip.
I can honestly say that I was probably having a bi-polar spike moment/episode and may have been a little loud and the such. The manager at the time, Pam Watkins, kept questioning me as to whether or not everything was alright. I explained to her that everything was fine.
When I went in to the bar area, I had planned on ordering a glass of wine and the Bongo Bongo dip for the table out in the cafe with the guys and our dogs. Pam once again asked me if everything was alright. I said to BJ, "Can you please tell this woman to leave me the fuck alone?" He replied, "Bryan, this place is a lot different now from the time that you worked here. You can't talk like that." I then told BJ that I wanted to Bongo Bongo dip for free (why I thought this was a reasonable accommodation, I do not know) and that if my demand wasn't met, I would be telling the world that he and I had previously had relations. He must not have liked this because between he and Pam, they decided to call the police on me. I guess they must have asked me to leave maybe twice. I did not leave the first time, but the second time I did.
I went outside and was not even on BJ's property any longer. I was on the sidewalk in front of The Stereo Shoppe. This is the business next door to the restaurant. When the cops pulled up in front of BJ's, I immediately approached the officer. It was Officer Scott Grove. I said to him, "I think you are here for me." He asked, "What is your name?" I replied, "Bryan Santer." At this point, he immediately asked me for my ID. I asked him if I was under arrest. He did not reply confirmation nor denial to this question. The police report inaccurately states that I refused to produce or identify myself, but that is a flat out lie because I told him my name as soon as he asked. This being Selinsgrove where I have grown up all my life, I would imagine that everyone knows me. In fact, I remember delivering pizzas to Susquehanna University when I was a teenager and running in to Scott Grove all the time when he was an SU security officer. Regardless, when he asked me to provide identification, I refused because I was not driving a vehicle and I provided my full name and in my mind I couldn't understand how I would be required to show ID due to the fact that I might not have a driver's license nor a state ID card.
At this point, Officer Grove wants to put me in handcuffs. Keep in mind that he has not told me that I was either under arrest nor being detained and definitely not for any reason that he made clear to me. I had my dog on his leash in one of my hands and my cellphone in the other. At this time, I made an attempt to start the video recording on my cellphone to document what was happening. I had my hands full and my back to the officers (at this point two more officers [Officer Mark Wolfberg and Sergeant Fred Dyroff] arrived on the scene). With my back to the officers and causing no threat to them or other people on the scene or myself, they instructed each other to get their tasers out. The three of them now had their tasers pointed at me and in desperation I surrendered to their demands. I did not want my dog to get tased through the leash and perhaps kill him. The police report states that at this time, Sgt Dyroff grabbed my dog's leash and Officers Wolfberg and Grove took me to the ground. The police report states that Officer Grove took me to the ground and told me to place my hands behind my back. The report says that I refused and kept my hands under my chest. The report says that at THIS point the officers all removed their tasers as an attempt to get me to place my hands behind my back. So, if this is true, I was on the ground with my hands under my chest posing no threat to myself, others, or the police. It is my understanding that The Police Executive Research Forum says tasers "should be used only on people 1) actively resisting or exhibiting active aggression or 2) at risk of harming themselves or 'others.' A federal appeals court ruled that cops may not use tasers unless "the suspect poses and immediate threat to the officer or a member of the public."
At this point, I am cuffed and thrown in the back of Officer Wolfberg's cruiser. It was extremely hot and there was no air conditioning on inside the car. I remember Wolfberg saying to me, "You're gay." I then started making comments about his religion and his weight. At this point, Sergeant Dyroff and Officer Wolfberg are making comments about me being gay and Dyroff actually got out his cellphone to take pictures and video of me while I was in the back of the cruiser. Now I am well aware that maybe what I was saying to them might not have been proper, but they were way out of line and not serving the public by making fun of my sexuality and ridiculing me in return. If I was having a bi-polar episode as doctors have diagnosed, I feel like these officers should have recognized the symptoms and been able to properly manage the situation.
They next take me a block away to the Selinsgrove Police Department. When I am taken inside, they keep the handcuffs on me and shackle me to the bench in the station. I must have been making unkind comments about Wolfberg's wife Kathy when both my mother and brother arrived at the station. Wolfberg asked my mother what to do with the dog. Hearing my comments and not knowing the scope of the situation, my mother told Wolfberg to kill my dog. Wolfberg replies, "Kill it? That would be easier." To which I responded verbatim, "If you kill my dog, then your son better watch out," because in my mind this dog is my son. Keep in mind that at this time, I didn't even know that Officer Wolfberg actually HAD a son. Growing up next to him, he and his wife Kathy only had one child. That was a daughter named Laura.
When he said about killing my dog, this enraged me even more than I had previously been. Even though I was handcuffed and shackled to the bench, I somehow managed to get up on the bench and push the plexiglass out of the dividing wall next to me.
When they took me to the magistrate's office, bail was set at $100,000.00 straight. As I did not have the cash nor any items of value to put up to cover the bail, I was transported to Snyder County Prison.
Officer Mark Wolfberg is the sole officer driving me to SCP. On the way to the prison, I was handcuffed and in the back of the cruiser. Approximately every 500 feet, Wolfberg would slam on the brakes of the cruiser so I would bounce of the divider between us and he would defiantly scream, "GAY! GAY! GAY!" Then when we got to the jail he made it a point to tell me before we went in, "Say 'hi' to Bubba for me." (Making an allusion to the proverbial big black guy that was going to rape me in jail.)
My public defender, Patrick Johnson, told me that the cops were forcing the DA to give me a felony. When I questioned how or why this could be possible, he told me that the DA Mike Piecuch was actually only appointed at that time because the old DA became a judge and it's election year. The acting DA needed the cops on his side to actually get elected to the position.
While I was in jail, I saw many different tele-psych doctors. I went in to the prison having been on the prescription medication Celexa for approximately two years. Exactly one week before I got arrested, my doctor in Philadelphia titrated/doubled my dosage from 20mg to 40mg. I honestly believe that this is the cause for my actions the evening of my arrest. I was not sleeping for that week prior and I was restless and I felt like I was jumping out of my skin. My whole being was "off" and it actually felt like I was on a cocaine binge. One of the first tele-psych doctors I saw took me off of the Celexa without weening me at all. He just stopped the medication. He also put me on several other bi-polar and mood stabilizing medications. Apparently this doctor went on vacation because the next time I saw the tele-psych doctor it was a different one. This happened a couple of times. After being on these new medication for a little while, the new tele-psych doctor again discontinued the administration of these medications. This created a huge detriment to my well being. I essentially blacked out for about a week and a half with no recollection of events that took place in the prison. In this time, it was documented that I did things that I would never have done if I was in my 'right mind' like throwing a glass of milk in a CO's face or placing a paper medicine cup up my bottom when the nurse gave me pills one day.
The DA at the time, Michael Sholley, ordered me to Warren State Mental Hospital for an evaluation because of these events that occurred in the prison. The medication discontinuation was never considered a factor for why these events/actions transpired.
I went for a reduction in bail hearing at one point after I had been incarcerated for six months and had returned from Warren State Mental Hospital. The ADA Michael Hudock told the judge that I should not be released and my bail should not be reduced because I was a menace to society. When the judge, Louise Knight, questioned why I was a menace to society, Hudock offered one reason. He said, "Mr. Santer placed a cup in his rectum." The only reason I could think that Mr. Hudock would say this and try to make it seem like I shoved a 32oz Big Gulp up my butt instead of a paper medicine cup the nurse dispensed medication in is because he wanted to shed a negative light on my sexuality in the judge's eyes.
When I went to court June 2 and they accepted my plea, beforehand my lawyer was speaking to the ADA to see if my felony could be downgraded to a misdemeanor because it was actually a ridiculous charge. Apparently ethnic intimidation needs to be graded one degree higher than the offense it is coupled. The DA coupled the ethnic intimidation charge with the terroristic threats. I have no idea how this is even possible because the two had nothing to do with each other. The terroristic threats apparently stemmed from me saying, "If you kill my dog, your son better watch out." This statement had nothing to do with race nor religion. It was a direct reaction to Wolfberg telling me killing my dog would be easier. As for the ethnic intimidation, I called Mark Wolfberg a fat Jew. He, in fact, is rather overweight and Jewish.
The ADA Michael Hudock told my lawyer that if i wanted the downgrade, "He'll have to go to trial and I'll make sure he's the last case that gets put on the docket," meaning I would rot away in jail for more time (at this point I had already been incarcerated for 9 1/2 months) while I awaited trial. I wonder how this is considered the right to a speedy trial. Hudock actually said this in front of me, my public defender and two of the probation officers for Snyder County.
These were the charges that I was originally charged with:
AGGRAVATED ASSAULT
DISORDERLY CONDUCT
SIMPLE ASSAULT
TERRORISTIC THREATS
ETHNIC INTIMIDATION
SIMPLE ASSAULT
RESISTING ARREST
DEFIANT TRESPASS
INSTITUTIONAL VANDALISM
I ended up with a plea bargain for: Ethnic Intimidation, Defiant Trespass and Resisting Arrest. Unfortunately, this felony charge has effectively ruined my life and my dreams. I wanted to be an elementary education teacher. I can no longer do that with a felony. This is a crushing blow to me and I do not know what to do at this point with my life. I am sure a pathway will open up and things will turn brighter. It is just a really horrible situation because I really wanted to be that teacher that helped his students learn compassion and understanding so they do not have to grow up in a world filled with hatred and ignorance.
ffftt:
