5/25/2022
It was a peaceful evening on the 100 block of Evergreen Lane in Bloomington, IL on Saturday May 7th, 2022. Children played gaily through yards, and neighbors enjoyed the young spring night.
Until a 911 call was made.
Dispatcher: Bloomington 911, what’s the address of your emergency?
Caller: There’s a pit bull in my back yard that bit my son and is literally on my porch tearing up my house. If this dog don’t get out of my yard in about two minutes, I’m going to shoot this dog. You don’t bite my kids.
Dispatcher: Sir, help is on the way. Don’t shoot the dog. Just stay away from him. There’s officers on the way; they’ll handle it.
Caller: I won’t shoot it. I promise
This call sparked multiple Bloomington Police Department (BPD) officers to respond. When officers arrived on the scene, they ascertained that the dog (which was still loose) was owned by one Fitzgerald Samedy. Samedy is a Republican Precinct Committeeperson and is a D87 elected School Board Member.
This according to incident reports & body-cam footage obtained via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request from BPD.
Dog Attack Report
DUI Report
Samedy stood in his neighbor’s yard with a cowboy hat and boots on. His pants had a noticeable urine stain on the crotch area, and his eyes were glazed like Krispy Kreme donuts. BPD Officer McCall said in his incident report:
At times, Fitzgerald had slowed and slurred speech. Fitzgerald’s movements were slow and lethargic. When asked questions, Fitzgerald had some delayed responses as if it took him a period of time to think of what to say. I could smell the strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his breath. The odor grew stronger as Fitzgerald spoke. I noticed Fitzgerald would often stare off into the distance after I asked
him a question.
The 911 caller (all names of victims & witnesses are redacted in the police reports) said Samedy’s dog, a pit-bull named Budda, escaped from Samedy’s fenced-in back yard, broke into the caller’s yard through a hole in the fence, and bit his son. The victim’s father kicked Budda in the face before retreating into his house.
Pit bulls are not inherently dangerous dogs. They are a big, strong breed and have a lot of energy. Owning a pit bull requires training, socialization, plenty of exercise, and a disciplined owner.
Samedy does not exude any of these qualities.
Samedy claims Budda is fully vaccinated, but officers were unable to find any record of the dog’s vaccination history in McLean County. Budda is also not currently neutered, and Samedy says Budda is about two years old. Budda was taken by animal control to be quarantined for ten days. Samedy later claimed during his interrogation that Budda was vaccinated at Blaine’s Farm & Fleet. Farm & Fleet did used to offer pet vaccinations, but hasn’t since 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Samedy claimed he was inside his home when the dog attack occurred. The victim lives in the house behind Samedy’s. Instead of merely walking behind his home to his neighbor’s house, Samedy got into the family’s white SUV and drove around the block to his neighbor’s home. His car was parked outside the victim’s house when the police arrived. Regardless of being intoxicated, his license is currently suspended.
Police quickly learned that Samedy had driven to his current location. Samedy’s own wife unintentionally snitched on him by stating Samedy drove over. Officers attempted to perform a field sobriety test on Samedy. Samedy refused to comply, accusing the officers of trying to set him up and stating he wouldn’t talk to officers without a lawyer present.1 Officer McCall placed Samedy under arrest. Samedy did not resist arrest.
Samedy was transported to the BPD station for further interrogation. During the car ride, he stated he didn’t understand why he was being arrested because of what his dog did. Officer McCall had to repeat multiple times throughout the interrogation that Samedy was not under arrest because of his dog, but because he drove drunk on a suspended license.
While at the police station, Officer McCall attempted again to get Samedy to submit to a breathalyzer. Samedy refused, stating he needed his lawyer present. Under Illinois law, by acquiring a driver’s license, you have already given implied consent for officers to test you if they believe you are intoxicated. Refusal of a sobriety test is an automatic six months suspension of your license, if you’re a first-time DUI offender. This is Samedy’s fourth DUI. McCall told Samedy that because he is a repeat offender, refusing would lead to his license being further suspended for another three years. Had Samedy submitted to the test and tested positive for an illegal amount of alcohol, he would have only received an additional one year suspension.
As I’ve reported previously, Samedy has made public statements declaring that his children and himself–and now apparently his dog as well–do not have to follow any rules they don’t believe in.
This is further evidenced by Samedy already driving without a license. When Officer McCall warned him of the three-year license suspension if he refused to voluntarily comply with a breathalyzer, Samedy brushed it off as if it would have no effect on his life. It’s not like his current license suspension has changed his behavior.
Samedy only became more erratic as the night wore on. McCall left Samedy in the custody of Officer Brennan while he went to acquire a warrant to test Samedy’s sobriety.
While Officer Brennan was monitoring the school board member, Samedy began to blame the victim’s father for the incident. Samedy stated the victim’s father wanted to shoot his dog and kicked Budda. Samedy was reminded by Officer Brennan that this was in response to his dog attacking the father’s son. Samedy continued claiming his neighbor had a vendetta against his dog and frequently antagonized his dog. Samedy even alleged his neighbor had thrown bricks & bowling balls into his yard in an attempt to harm his dog. Samedy felt his neighbor was responsible for the earlier incident. He further stated that everyone in the neighborhood knew about his neighbor’s behavior. He also alleged that the victim’s father had a history of abusing children.
BPD did canvas the neighborhood about Samedy’s dog. For some reason, his neighbor’s paint a very different story. Several claimed Samedy’s dog frequently escaped Samedy’s yard and ran rampant throughout the neighborhood. While no one claimed to have been previously attacked by Budda, one neighbor stated they were almost attacked and feared for their elderly mother. The neighbor alleged his mother no longer felt safe outside because of the dog. Officer Brennan stated to Samedy he had met Budda and felt he was dangerous. Brennan alleges Budda attempted to bite him.
Samedy made two phone calls, both to his wife. On the second call, Samedy told his wife to, “call the McLean County Republicans and say come get me.”
Officer McCall returned to the interrogation room with a warrant from a judge to breathalyze Samedy. Samedy continued to state he needed his lawyer present before he would take a test. Had a lawyer been present, the lawyer would be legally bound to encourage Samedy to comply with the judge’s order. Samedy stood up, teasing the possibility of him complying with the warrant. However, he ultimately refused.
Samedy was then charged with an additional felony for obstructing justice because of his refusal to comply with the warrant. Samedy was taken to the McLean County Jail and booked into custody.
This isn’t the end of the story though. The plot thickens.
According to Officer McCall’s report, Samedy had several suspicious conversations with his wife while incarcerated:
Fitzgerald asks “Did Budda break out? Like he broke through the fence?”
[His wife] stated “I just know that when you came in you told me… we got a big problem… We gotta go find Budda.”
Fitzgerald then tells how he can justify what he did. It sounds like Fitzgerald says something to the effect of the kid being in danger because of Budda. Fitzgerald says if anyone asks why he did things the way that he did, he would claim that was “in the shower.”
Fitzgerald goes on to say “I was the only one, by the time 911 showed up, because I’m hearing screaming, yelling. I went down and it’s faster to drive than to walk.”
Fitzgerald continued by telling [his wife] that he refused all breath and blood tests and field sobriety tests. He stated that the police screwed up by not “testing” him for “alcohol.” Fitzgerald added that the “police didn’t catch me driving.”
I found it odd that he was asking if Budda broke out since it was clear that Budda had broken out. Due to my conversation with a [neighbor], I know [the neighbor] told Fitzgerald that his dog broke out and was in the neighbor’s yard. [The same witness] said Fitzgerald started walking down the side of his yard, but then turned around and went back up front. It should be noted, if Fitzgerald had continued walking down the side of the yard, he would’ve been at the neighbor’s yard where Budda was. He could’ve called for Budda and that would’ve been the fastest way to help if Fitzgerald truly believed the child was in danger.In addition, Fitzgerald never called 911.
Another phone call on 5/8/22 at 0411 hours was made from Fitzgerald to [his wife]. In the call Fitzgerald asks if she is okay. [His wife] says “Hell no I’m not okay. I wanna cuss your ass straight the fuck out. The hell was you thinking?” From her comments, I believed she was displeased with the way Fitzgerald handled the situation. She also added that he should’ve put the dog up when she told him to, and that he is at fault for what happened.
Samedy is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
