By Bruce Cadwallader
The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ousted Columbus firefighter David Santuomo has apologized to his family, fellow firefighters and the public for the problems created when he shot his two dogs to death and lied about it to investigators.
One letter appeared on a union blog and the other, released by the Franklin County Municipal Court late yesterday afternoon, was a revised copy approved by prosecutors.
In both letters, Santuomo, 43, said he has been fighting depression and alcohol problems and that he was off his medications on Dec. 3 when he shot the family dogs in the basement of his Northwest Side home.
“I do not clearly remember the day I shot my dogs. In my state of mind, I believed they had drunk antifreeze,” Santuomo wrote yesterday.
“I also made a threat against a Columbus police officer via text message. I was not sober at the time, but that is no excuse ... to threaten one of my own was inexcusable and I have no intent on doing anyone any harm.”
Santuomo was fired by the city on July 16 but is now fighting to get his job back after 13 years as a firefighter. The International Association of Fire Fighters Local 67 will not back him in that effort.
The first letter, originally intended for the public and obtained by WBNS-TV (Channel 10), was rejected by an assistant prosecutor because she said it didn’t show that Santuomo was remorseful and it contained several inaccuracies.
Santuomo filed the letter this week on the firefighters’ union Web site. The site is password-protected and not available to the public.
In it, he said he had stopped taking his medication, which caused “severe confusion and irrationality.”
“I had also begun using alcohol to self-medicate to alleviate other stressful issues I had in my life,” Santuomo wrote.
At Santuomo’s sentencing in June, Municipal Judge Harland H. Hale ordered him to serve 90 days in jail for animal cruelty and pay $4,500 to the county and the Capital Area Humane Society to cover the costs of their investigations. As a condition of his sentence, Santuomo had to write an apology letter and submit it to The Dispatch and a national firefighters’ magazine.
Assistant Prosecutor Heather Robinson said she rejected Santuomo’s first letter because it “contained several factual inaccuracies, and I refuse to give Santuomo a platform from which he can lie to the public.” She declined to be more specific.
In the second letter, Prosecutor Ron O’Brien added a note saying his office “does not concur with several factual statements contained in the letter, but cannot edit or censor content.”
A probation officer said Santuomo has surrendered all of his weapons, has agreed to random home inspections, will undergo drug and alcohol counseling and isn’t allowed to own a pet for the next five years.
He will begin 200 hours of community service when he is released from jail in November.
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Text of David Santuomo’s second apology letter, approved by the court and released yesterday afternoon:
“My name is David Santuomo. In December 2008, I shot my dogs, killing them. Let me first begin by saying I am truly sorry for my actions. Shooting my dogs was a selfish, wasteful and profoundly stupid thing to do and it was wrong. I had an obligation to care for and protect those animals and I failed miserably in that obligation. After years of denying I had mental-health issues, I began taking an antidepressant.
“Over the past several years, I had also begun using alcohol to self-medicate to alleviate other stressful issues I had in my life. In November 2008, I ran out of all of my medications. By the time I received my medications by mail as directed, I had been 2 weeks without it.
“The antidepressant I am on has been proven to cause severe confusion and irrationality when it is stopped suddenly. I do not clearly remember the day I shot my dogs. In my state of mind, I believed that they had drunk anti-freeze. I did not lie to the Columbus Fire Department because I firmly believed it.
“I also made a threat against a Columbus police officer via text message. I was not sober at the time, but that is no excuse. Firefighters and police officers depend upon one another when it comes to protecting the public. To threaten one of my own was inexcusable and I have no intent on doing anyone any harm. After this incident came to light, my family staged an intervention and I consented to go to rehab for alcohol issues and to get my medications regulated.
“I spent 5 weeks in rehab over the holidays and have not touched a drop of alcohol since my return. I am now on the correct dosage of medications and have been seeing a therapist since my return. I did love my dogs and have never hurt another animal as long as I’ve been alive. This was an isolated incident. In no way am I trying to excuse my behavior, but wanted the public to know that I do have medically diagnosed mental-health issues that I am seeking help for.
“I want to apologize to the Fire Department and all of the firefighters for the embarrassment and trouble I’ve caused them. I want to apologize to the public for my actions and causing the outrage it produced. And I want to apologize to my family for the grief I have put them through. In Ohio, It is illegal to torment, poison, beat, needlessly mutilate, maim or kill any companion animal. I committed this act, and I apologize for having committed it. Teddy and Rose were great dogs and they did not deserve to die. If I could bring them back I would. Again, I am so truly sorry.”
Note from Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien: “Although this apology letter was submitted as a condition of probation in case 2009 ERB 72198, the Prosecutor’s Office does not concur with several factual statements contained in the letter, but cannot edit or censor content.”
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