SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — A father and son involved in a confrontation about a different type of "birdie" at the Sault Ste. Marie Golf Club testified at the trial of a former junior hockey player charged with assaulting the older man.
Joel Sandie, 50, has pleaded not guilty to assaulting the complainant with a weapon — a golf club — stemming from the incident on Sept. 2, 2023.
The altercation revolved around an injured seagull, and occurred shortly after 8 p.m. on the 16th hole of the Queen Street East course.
It was caught on a five-second video that went viral.
Ontario Court Justice Heather Mendes heard testimony earlier this month from three Crown witnesses, as well as a defence witness, on the second day of the London, Ont. man's trial.
On the first day of the trial on June 19, a teenaged employee, who captured the escalating situation on her cell phone, and two city police officers testified.
On Sept. 3, another young woman who was working at the golf course, along with complainant John Prgomet and his 19-year-old son Jayce, took the witness stand.
Prosecutor Trent Wilson wrapped up his case following their testimony.
Mendes again heard the complainant initially told police he didn't want to press charges.
The court also learned Prgomet's wife had posted the video on Facebook.
A teenaged employee, along with her co-worker, were dispatched to the 16th hole after the pro shop received a call about an injured seagull.
They spoke to Sandie and his wife, who was taking care of the bird and was on the phone trying to get help, the high school student testified.
Usually we move the birds into the bush, she said, but Sandie indicated they would look after it.
The teen told the Crown they asked the Prgomets, when the pair arrived there, to skip the hole, but Jayce started taking practice swings in the tee-box.
Sandie "came up and said please don't do that, my wife is down there," and "looked frustrated when Jayce said he was going to tee off,” the teenager said.
The accused finally had enough and began chasing Jayce, yelling: "I'm going to f...ing kill you," the witness said.
"When he couldn't catch up with Jayce, he hit John instead."
During cross-examination by defence lawyer Michael Lacy, she agreed that Sandie "was concerned his wife was in harm's way and could get hurt."
The teenager also agreed that if Jayce had listened to their request to skip the hole, nothing would have happened.
Instead, he was enraged, annoyed, and loudly insisting he wasn't going to do that because of a "f...ing bird "and it looked like he was going to tee off, the defence suggested.
Again, the witness agreed.
Jayce Prgomet testified that when he and his father arrived at the hole, they were told by the two club employees that a bird had been hit, and a couple on the fairway refused to leave until animal control came to deal with it.
Jayce said he was taking practice swings when Sandie approached him, suggested he was going to hit the ball, and urged him not to do that.
"I said I wouldn't do that," the witness told Wilson. "I was saying move on please."
He admitted they were swearing at each other, and "I told him to get the f--- out of here...I just wanted to play," and Sandie said something about a bird on the fairway.
Sandie "grabbed his driver and started chasing me, yelling he was going to f---ing kill me."
The six-foot-one, 200-pound young man told the Crown he ran because "I'm not a fighter."
He said his father came over, said something to Sandie and "he hit my dad."
The Crown asked Jayce if he or his father had swung a club at the accused, and he replied no.
During cross-examination by the defence, Jayce told Lacy he doesn't remember the two girls suggesting they skip the hole.
"You don't accept that you said: 'I'm not skipping the f---ing hole over a f---ing bird,'" the Toronto lawyer asked.
"I don't remember that," Jayce replied.
He admitted his father had told him he was being stupid and urged him to move on.
Jayce agreed that Sandie hadn't come up there "until you started going on about the bird, after you start making a scene."
When John Prgomet took the witness stand, he told the court his son was practicing his swings while they were waiting at the 16th hole.
Sandie came up, started yelling that Jayce was going to hit a woman on the fairway, then grabbed a club from his golf cart and chased after the teen.
"When he came by me I put my arm out to try to block him," the 56-year-old complainant said.
"I turned around and he hit my left arm, just below the elbow, as well as just above my hip bone. I went to the ground, got myself back up and told the girls to call the police."
Prgomet testified that he hadn't made any gestures and had nothing in his hand when the man approached them.
Police and paramedics were called, Mendes heard.
The six-foot-two, 220 pound complainant said he suffered bruising, wasn't hospitalized and the only medication he received was Advil.
Wilson noted the five-second video showed him being struck, but not what happened prior to that.
Prgomet said while his son was practicing, "I was taking swings in the background."
The court heard he told the officers he didn't want to press charges and if he changed his mind he would call them.
During cross-examination, Lacy suggested "you thought it was unfortunate that things had got out of hand and Jayce had played a role in it."
The witness agreed, but denied that he had changed his mind because his wife was upset that he hadn't pressed charges and had posted the video online.
Prgomet said he wasn't aware that Sandie's partner had contacted the police because of Jayce's conduct.
He also concurred when the defence stated that Sandie had actually said: "I'm going to kill you if you hit the f...ing ball."
Lacy called his first witness — his client's partner — who outlined her recollection of the incident, which she described as frightening.
Michelle Blake said when she saw the injured bird on the fairway, she went over to check on it and then called the clubhouse.
When the two employees arrived, she asked them if they were there to help with the bird, which she thought had a broken wing, she told the court.
When one of the girls indicated she was just going to throw it in the bush because that's "what we do," Blake called 911 because "I'm from out of town and didn't know who to call."
The operator said she would see what could be done, and soon called back.
"I told the girls they weren't taking the bird because animal control is on the way and I'm going to stay here and protect the bird."
Blake said she didn't think it would be a big deal to get people to go around.
A group of three golfers came by and skipped the hole.
Minutes later, she saw the young women interacting with the Prgomets.
"They were gesturing, laughing and mimicking me," she testified. The men "started practice shooting and pretending to take swings."
Sandie drove his cart over to ask them to go around.
Jayce "got pretty loud" when Sandie said "you're really not going to hit the ball."
He replied: "Clearly, you're not from here. Nobody's coming. This is f—ing stupid."
John told his son they should leave and Jayce ran back to the tee-box.
"I thought he was going to tee off and hit me with the ball. I was screaming at Jayce," Blake said. "I called 911 again. I was scared."
Lacy played a recording of the call where she told the operator what had happened and that one of the guys was threatening her.
The witness said when she spoke to the officers they didn't ask if she would provide a statement.
"I was adamant that I wanted to press charges," she said
Blake will be back on the stand for cross-examination by the Crown when the trial resumes on Oct. 28.
