A man who threatened a police officer with a BB gun is doing well in drug treatment, according to reports given to Judge Charles Zambito, but that wasn't enough to keep him out of jail for eight months.
Brandon Fogg, 32, pulled out what looked like a handgun while wrestling with a police officer at a location on Cedar Street one night in early June and a citizen intervened and stepped on Fogg's hand.
That intervention may have saved Fogg's life.
A week later, he entered a guilty plea to menacing and since then has been through treatment at Bradford and Atwater and is currently in an outpatient house run by GCASA.
His attorney, Jamie Welch, argued for an intermittent jail sentence given Fogg's success and the potential for disrupting that success with a continuous jail term.
Fogg told Zambito that he's been eight months clean. He thanks Zambito for the chance to go through treatment and giving him his life back.
"Being sober, next to my children, is the most important thing in my life," Fogg said. "I've done everything you've asked of me and I believe I've done well. I stand here another man ready to accept whatever you decide."
Zambito said considering the seriousness of the offense, a jail term that served as a sanction was necessary.
"You mentioned you wanted to commit suicide by cop," Zambito said. "You're lucky that didn't happen because it certainly seems like the officer would have been justified. Even though it was a toy gun you pulled on an officer, only the intervention of a bystander saved you."
Zambito said he didn't believe eight months in jail would disrupt Fogg's path of sobriety.
