SAULT STE. MARIE - An injured seagull teed off an altercation between two golfers on the 16th hole at the Sault Ste. Marie Golf Club last year.
One man was injured and a second was charged in connection with the Sept. 2 incident, which was caught on a five-second video that went viral.
Joel Sandie, 50, pleaded not guilty to assaulting another man with a weapon — a golf club — when he appeared in a local courtroom for his trial last week.
The London, Ont. resident, a former junior hockey player, is from the Sault.
The video shows Sandie yelling "I'll f...ing kill you" as he chases another player across the tee block.
Unable to catch that person, he swings his club at John Prgomet, who is standing near an electric golf cart, striking the man's left arm.
Ontario Court Justice Heather Mendes heard from three Crown witnesses: two city police officers and the young golf club employee who started recording the video when she realized the confrontation was escalating.
Const. Frank Carchidi testified that he and his partner responded to a call about two men who became embroiled in an argument and "one hit the other with a golf club."
A second caller complained she had been threatened during an altercation over a dead seagull, the constable told prosecutor Trent Wilson.
When they arrived, paramedics were treating a man who had swelling to his left forearm.
It wasn't a major injury but he was complaining it was sore and they were putting ice on it, the 11-year officer said.
Prgomet had just been struck with a golf club, was visibly upset and so was his son.
He indicated he wasn't going to the hospital and didn’t wish to press charges at that time, Carchidi told the court.
Prgomet "said he wanted to think about it and see if the injuries got worse."
The officer told the court he recalled seeing a seagull about 100 yards away on the fairway, near a golf cart, but didn’t know if it was dead or alive.
He said he didn't take any formal statements that evening.
Carchidi testified that he later received an e-mail from Const. Troy Miller, his partner on the day of the incident, who had been contacted by the complainant on Sept. 6.
Court heard that the victim had sent photos to the cops showing the bruising and swelling on his left arm and hip area, and indicated he wanted to proceed with charges.
During cross-examination by defence lawyer Michael Lacy, the officer agreed the short video clip didn't capture the lead-up to the incident, including why Sandie ran after someone with a golf club.
Carchidi also agreed he had received different narratives from the complainant and his son, and Sandie and his partner about what had occurred.
Lacy suggested his client and the woman were upset about the seagull, which was in the middle of the fairway near their cart.
They were in the direct line of someone teeing off and would be a hit by golf ball if a person did that, the Toronto lawyer asked.
"It's possible," the officer responded.
Miller testified that he spoke with two golf club employees and viewed the video one of them had recorded.
No statements were taken at the time because it hadn't been decided whether charges would be laid, the 18-year officer told Wilson.
He also didn't retrieve the video, but after the complainant indicated he wanted to go ahead with charges Miller contacted the two witnesses, sent statement forms to them and obtained the video clip.
Lacy questioned why the complainant was determining whether there should be charges.
The defence asked if he was a friend, to which Miller replied no, describing Prgomet as someone he saw from hockey.
Brooke Whillans told the court she and another employee received a call from the pro shop directing them to drive out to the 16th hole because something was wrong.
When they arrived, she saw a seagull — "it couldn't walk or fly, but it was alive."
Sandie's partner was on the ground tending to the bird.
She spoke to Sandie, who wanted the gull removed.
Whillans said she didn't want to touch it and talked to her boss, who indicated they would deal with it in the morning.
"We had people to do it after hours," Whillans said.
Prgomet was golfing with his son Jayce, who also worked at the club, and they showed up at the tee area.
The witness said she told the younger man what was happening and suggested they go around the hole.
Sandie drove over, got into an argument with Jayce and started to chase him around the cart.
Jayce said he was going to play the hole because "I paid for golf and I'm going to golf."
He was standing over the ball and swinging his club, and his father told him they should just move on, Whillans said.
Sandie grabbed a club and "I took the video because things had escalated."
That five-second clip was the only video she shot.
Whillans said she went over to John, who was on the ground moaning, and called 911.
The video was widely circulated online."I don't know how it got there. I didn't post it," she told the Crown, indicating she had shared it with two people.
During cross-examination, she agreed with the defence that Jayce was adamant he wasn't going to skip the hole, and both he and Sandie were yelling and using expletives.
Sandie said his girlfriend was down there with the bird and if he hit the ball it was going to hit her.
The young man didn't back down, he was practicing hitting the ball and yelling, Lacy suggested.
Whillans agreed.
Did Sandie say "if you hit the ball I'm going to f...ing kill you?" he asked.
"Yes," she responded.
