ACCESS DENIED

The above was written shortly after the incident, you can tell my frame of mind;

Below is the document I filed with the Mt. Shasta Police...

Statement of Dave Thomason

Dave Thomason

P.O. 1206

Mt. Shasta, Ca.

96067

530.938.3940

Appx 0800 hrs 7/4/03 I left for town with my Service Dog. Unbeknownst to me at the time, he had a working day ahead of him. We parked at the north end of town in a vacant isolated field. I need to avoid the crowds as much as possible, and had about a quarter mile walk to the center of town. I met several runners warming up for the famed walk/run. I was not going to do the walk/run but since it had been delayed half an hour I decided to go to the center of the city, make my way with my dressed Service Dog through the runners/walkers congregating and waiting for the start, take a shortcut and get to the area on Pine Street by the hospital where the runners would be going and perhaps a skydiver would drop in. My plan was to take photos for a web page.

My day had started well enough, I had taken quite a few pictures and was on my way back to the center of town but enter the "race official".................

I got the usual ignorant attitude from him, "get that dog outa here!" I have been through this many times before; I went into education mode...I tried, I really did, I explained, I showed him a card with the state law etc...But no, the race official took a very aggressive stance towards this issue up to and including grabbing my dog’s leash and pulling him towards the sidewalk. I took 3-4 steps with him and my dog (I wear him on a leash belt) before I was able to take control of the leash from higher up. This seemed to irritate the race official so he grabbed my right bicep with his left hand and continued to try to physically move myself and my now alert and on duty service dog to the side of the roadway... I had to remove his hand from my arm all the while going through a “flashback”… My Dog got my attention as he is trained to do preventing things from escalating.

The "race official" was yelling and calling out to others that we passed that they where witnesses to this event and made a radio call for the police. I continued my walk in the direction I was already heading, I had been leaving the area before the runners would come upon me... The runners were running northbound on Pine street in the southbound lane, my side (northbound lane) was clear.

The race official walked hovering around me to the corner where we would contact the first police officer, a Mt. Shasta police officer...the race official was babbling in a loud voice about an arrest: all the bystanders heard this exchange.

I handed the police officer my card with the California Service Dog law on it whereas he called for help. The next thing I see is four uniformed police officers and county deputies walking towards me and the race official...Then it started...The race official started talking loudly about an arrest because I had to physically take his hand off me and away from my dog. As I was trying to show and explain the law regarding Service Dogs to the sheriff sergeant, he became agitated and said that he would “put my ass in jail” (violation of 422.6 California Penal code) then rudely snatched my paperwork from my hand in an intimidating manner. At that point I feared for my safety. I was pressured to reveal and prove my disability against my wishes and the Americans with Disabilities act.

After reading my doctors paperwork; the Sergeant said "its copasetic" to the race official and turned to walk away... I called out after the deputy and asked him to inform the "race official" of the law and the violation.

He refused to do so and refused to accept my citizen's arrest of the race official, (142 California Penal code) for violation of California Penal Code section 365.5 (c).

I was embarrassed, humiliated and my brain injury started giving me problems, I could not safely remain in town the rest of the day and had to leave the 4^th of July festivities.

The Top of Black Butte During a Private Sunrise	The Start of the Day The day started by driving from the brilliant sunshine in the distance into the brilliant shade of the morning shadow of Black Butte...Just another beautiful drive to town but this time I got the picture. Hmmm Maybe that should be the thyme for the day,................... "I GOT THE PICTURE"

How could a day go wrong when it starts like this...
	The walk to the center of town started with this helicopter flirt'in around the skies overlooking the city...I spotted the folks whom had gone to town earlier...they took their piece of sidewalk into custody awaiting the parade...The run/walk had been delayed a half an hour.


This Dogboy is not a Happy Puppy		The Conclusion After reading my doctors paperwork all the Sergeant Deputy did was say "its copasetic". to the "race official", turned and started to walk away... I called out after the deputy and asked him to inform the "race official" of the law and his violation. He refused to do that and refused to talk about a citizen's arrest on my part for violating of the California Penal Code.
The above pictured "race official" was yelling and calling out to others that they where witnesses to this event and made a radio call for the police. I continued my amble in the direction I was already heading... The runners were coming, I could see that; but as an intelligent human being I knew how to get out of the way. Mr. race official walked shadowing me to the corner where we would contact the first police officer, a young Mt. Shasta Cop...Mr. Stooge was babbling in a loud tone about an arrest, Yup, Me??? I handed the Cop my card with the California Service Dog law on it whereas he called for help and said stay here...Since we were standing in the sun fronting a loud music system I said "I'm going over there (pointing) to the shade where it is quieter. It was so loud there "normal" conversation took place in an elevated tone to just be heard. The cop said he could not leave his post but I was already on the way. The next thing I see is four uniformed police officers and county deputies coming towards me and Mr. Idiot...Then it started...The race official started babbling about an arrest because I had to physically take his hand off me and away from my dog and the cop in charge developed an attitude reminiscent of the pompous attitude that I had when I wore a badge. The clue to his level of pompousness displayed it self when the threat to take me to jail accompanied by the normal colorful rude language of a jaded unprofessional cop. I was pressured to revel and prove my disability against my wishes and the Americans with Disabilities act.
dave@iamdave.us Apology expected

		< Hay Starts they day with a hey Hay from a child, he is good at that...

	<"The Supremes" > This Lady Was doing some singing that seemed to echo off the morning face of Mt. Shasta...
	< Thumbnails Click for full size picture >

	< The run/walk has started >

	The leaders of the run...Frozen in time...


Far Right > On the far right are photos of the groups there to motivate the runners and walkers with refreshments and entertainment, I met several on my early pre-walk...They are thumbnails Click to view

	The view just before the access confrontation	I left for town with my Hay boy, Mr. Service dog had a working day ahead of him. We parked at the north end of town in a vacant isolated field, I need to avoid the crowds as much as possible, and had about a quarter mile walk to the center of town. I met several nice runners warming up for the famed walk/run. I was not going to do the walk/run but since it had been delayed half an hour I decided to go to the center of the city, make my way with my dressed service dog through the 5000+ runners/walkers congregating and waiting for the start, take a little shortcut across the railroad tracks and get to the area on Pine Street by the hospital where the runners would be going and perhaps a skydiver would show. My plan was to take photos for a web page as you can see here. This was supposed to have had a different celebratory tone though...


The Violator ........................> Update: Two weeks later the now disguised race official, the race coordinator and myself met for breakfast and discussion. It worked out well and there should never be anymore service dog access issues at this event.
		My day had started well enough as you can tell from the pics, enter the above "race official"................. I got the usual ignorant attitude from this fellow, "get that dog outa here!" I have been through this many times before, stand-by education mode...I tried, I really did, I explained, I showed him a card with the state law etc...But no, Mr. Pompous took a very aggressive stance toward this issue up to and including grabbing my dogs leash and pulling him towards the sidewalk. I took 3-4 steps with him and my dog (I wear him on a leash belt) before I was able to take control of the leash from higher up. This seemed to irritate Mr. Ignorant so he grabbed my right bicep with his left hand and continued to try to physically remove myself and my now alert and on duty service dog to the side of the roadway...