Hector Santiago being escorted out of the Council chambers by police in 2022
By Dan Murphy
Hector Santiago, better know for his role in creating and operating the Stop & Shake initiative in Yonkers, which aims to better relations between the community and the police, settled a lawsuit that he filed against the City and the Yonkers Police Department after an incident that he claimed resulted in his injury at the hands of a cop.
We have to go back to the City Council meeting held in Nov. of 2022. The Council was debating and voting on the extension of term limits. Emotions were extremely high on both sides of the issue. Ron Matten correctly dubbed it Yonkersmania.
Several Yonkers police officers were in the packed chambers, with more offices outside. There is video tape of the council meeting.
Santiago got involved with an officer in the council chambers after he was asked to leave. As he was leaving, a confrontation ensued with police officer Russell Killgore. Kilgore says that Santiago lunged at him and missed, resulting in Kilgore striking Santiago and placing him under arrest. Santiago said that Kilgore assaulted him.
There is no video clearly showing what really happened. Santiago was placed under arrest for resisting arrest and spent the night in jail. Santiago sued the City, YPD and officer Kilgore, for false arrest and imprisonment, and settled recently for $50k.
There are mixed opinions about the settlement. Most understand that municipal governments look to settle cases for a smaller amount all of the time. If the case went to trial, Santiago’s attorneys would have argued that this is a case of police brutality, even though there is no proof of that.
One person is law enforcement told us, “It’s $50,000. After the attorney takes a third, what will Hector come home with?”
Others are not happy that Santiago got anything from the City, and its taxpayers. “I watched the video. He was asked to leave numerous times and refused. Eventually, he had to be let out of the chambers. That seems reasonable to me. I’m more concerned about the sex abuse settlements from the 1970’s that we are paying. I wish you would cover that and total that up,” said a Yonkers homeowner.
We wrote two stories about the incident, and our relationship with Santiago. I appreciated the work that he did with the police and Stop & Shake, and was happy to report on his good community work.
But I was disturbed by what I saw on the video. The Council chambers that evening was getting a little crazy. Councilmembers and the public started getting into heated exchanges, and that tension is also related to what happened between Santiago and a few Yonkers cops. ‘
The police report from that night includes- “While at scene the room was filled to capacity and tensions began to escalate as speakers from the public discussed City matters for 3 minutes at a time. While City council members were addressing the room several arguments began to erupt between the occupants of the chamber. The City Council President (Lakeisha Collins Bellamy) on several occasions advised the patrons in the room that if any individual continues to be unruly, they would be asked to leave.
“An argument began to escalate in my proximity between a male Hispanic (later identified as Hector Santiago S1) and several males. Mr. Santiago(S1) was also standing up and yelling at the City Council members. Mr. Santiago was cupping his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice which continued to disrupt the proceedings. As Mr. Santiago continued to yell at the city council, the City Council President again asked for order several times referring to the crowd.
“As the crowd began to settle, Mr. Santiago continued to amplify his voice by again cupping his mouth and directing his words at the city council causing the proceedings to cease and numerous people to redirect their attention away from the meeting and towards his actions.
“The assigned Detective then approached Mr. Santiago with the intent to speak with him and defuse the situation. With a low even tone I asked Mr. Santiago to lower his voice. Mr. Santiago then shouted at me stating “Fuck That Tell that shit to these guys” pointing in the direction of other members of the chamber.
“I again advised Mr. Santiago to lower his voice to which he responded, “I don’t have to do shit!” I then advised Mr. Santiago that if he did not cease his actions, I would have to escort him out of the chamber in order to allow the proceedings to continue peacefully. Mr. Santiago then turned towards me in an argumentative manner and shouted “I ain’t going nowhere!” causing several people to turn and look to see what was going on. I then advised Mr. Santiago that due to his actions he had to leave the Chamber.
“The assigned Detective then attempted to guide Mr. Santiago in the direction of the exit by placing my hand at the small of his back. Mr. Santiago continued to yell, causing several people in the chamber to respond to our side of the room to see what was happening and again redirect their attention away from the meeting.
“Mr. Santiago was then escorted out of the chambers. As the assigned Detective began to guide Mr. Santiago towards the stairway area, Mr. Santiago yelled “Get the Fuck Off of me!” and struck the assigned Detective in the chest and neck area with his left elbow and forearm with an upward motion forcefully jolting me back. At this time the assigned quickly reacted and struck Mr. Santiago once with a closed fist in the face in order to stop his actions and to place him under arrest.
“The assigned Detective then attempted to detain Mr. Santiago by grabbing a hold of his upper torso. As he continued to actively resist by turning away from me and refusing to comply, numerous Officers then grabbed hold of Mr. Santiago and took him to the ground. Detective Specialist Licht was then able to place Mr. Santiago under arrest without further incident,” end of report.
Santiago denies almost everything in the Police report and has a different version of events. “For clarification , There was no fight, I did not argue with anyone sitting in the benches, nor was I attempting to “resist” .. I have been working in the field long enough to know how that plays out .. However , I now understand how “ Stop Resisting” is used to gaslight audience.
“After being manhandled by police out of the city council chambers , I was struck in the face and tackled to the ground while in a cast & sling from shoulder surgery I just got . This ordeal has put my healing journey in real jeopardy . I was accused & arrested by a plain clothed New Rochelle detective but was taken to Yonkers jail.
“The 8 years that I put in for Stop & Shake is gone. I know the routine, but when I got to the hallway I was assaulted and arrested by a New Rochelle police officer. I had surgery on my rotator cuff and was not involved in any fight. One Yonkers police officer recognized me and helped me get into the lobby. City Hall has no cameras. I thought that the council chambers would be a safe place for me to be,” said Santiago, in several interviews with us 2 years ago. He was charged with obstructing justice, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
Santiago said that he believes the video of the Council meeting shows a highly charged police officer strike at him. Here is the video link so you can decide. (https://youtu.be/WcXO-HUtDiY).
The City Council has to approve any settlement made by the City’s Corporation Counsel and Law Department. This settlement will be on a Council agenda in September. Usually the council rubber stamps settlements after being advised by Corporation Counsel that this is the best legal option for the city and the taxpayers.
There are some who believe that Santiago was simply expressing his constitutionally protected free speech in the council chambers and the police are at fault.
Yonkers resident Eileen O’Connor, posted two years about her recollections of the council meeting that night.” I witnessed this event at Yonkers City Hall at the City Council meeting, and it made me sick and angry. Hector was standing in back of me telling Tasha Diaz to “stop talking and Vote”.. He repeated that several times, then was surrounded by Black shirts who told him they wanted to talk with him outside. No IDs as cops; couldn’t tell who they were. They force walked him outside the Chamber to the hall and that’s where I lost sight of him.
“The Black shirts triggered this incident. Hector Santiago, founder of Stop and Shake, was a casualty of police/black shirt violence. Despicable. The Yonkers underbelly was on full view both nights. I see this as a call to all decent minded people to stand up to this mob/goon mindset. The Yonkers City Council needs to stand up and start showing leadership here. The statements made by the YCP president and Councilwoman Tasha Diaz set the stage for this. It all seemed orchestrated.”
