Former Master Sgt. Bryan Robins said he remembers the day he helped Lt. Wayne Honer place handcuffs on then-acting jail Commissioner Tammy Ross.
On the fourth day of the trial that could remove St. Louis Sheriff Alfred Montgomery, Robins recalled believing a confrontation between Ross and Montgomery was getting out of control. He called for the sheriff’s office’s top brass to come and assist but was “upset when I was calling for help [and] no one responded.”
Video evidence shows that other staff did eventually show up. Robins was tasked with providing security for the sheriff and managing his day-to-day scheduling.
When Robins arrived, he saw the sheriff and Ross arguing. Robins said he heard Ross say something like “go ahead and ‘cuff me.'” When Honer pulled out his handcuffs, Robins said he helped Honer place the cuffs around Ross' wrists because “handcuffing is dangerous.”
Robins said he did not recall hearing Montgomery giving orders to detain Ross.
“I was upset with everything that happened,” he said in the second week of a Missouri attorney general-led bench trial that could oust Montgomery from office. “I was embarrassed [for] arresting Tammy Ross with no reason why.”
Moving on to claims of retaliation, Robins recalled Montgomery referring to Tashana Syas, Tyshon Sykes and Lee Stokes as “the three” — people who allege they were retaliated against by the sheriff’s office for cooperating with federal authorities. Syas is suing the sheriff’s office, claiming retaliation.
David C. Mason, the sheriff’s staff attorney, doubled down on his assertion that the three individuals had not been retaliated against, mirroring his arguments from last week, and saying that disciplinary actions were not taken against Sykes and that Stokes didn’t face an employee review committee.
Mason said again in court that Syas was fired for shredding documents in the dead of night. While Robins said he, at one point, was standing in a courthouse bathroom with a translucent garbage bag filled with shredded documents, Judge Steven Ohmer cut off the line of questioning, saying it wasn’t relevant.
Robins also told the court that Honer was demoted because Montgomery believed Honer was also working with federal authorities before realizing he wasn’t and subsequently promoted him back to lieutenant. Honer confirmed the back-and-forth in rank last week — but said he believed he had been demoted as a so-called loyalty test.
The attorney general’s office finished its arguments Monday morning, with Ohmer declining to immediately remove Montgomery at that point. The sheriff’s office then began presenting its witnesses.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
