Mendocino County Butcher Says Fort Bragg Police Retaliated Against Him for Refusing to Share Phone Video

Four people were arrested outside Fort Bragg’s Welcome Inn early Saturday morning on August 23, 2025 (photo by Elise Cox)

Zander Kain Garay, a 24-year-old butcher at a local supermarket, says his constitutional rights were violated after he was arrested at the Welcome Inn bar early Saturday morning on August 23, 2025 when he refused to share video footage from his phone with Fort Bragg police officers who had responded to a call.

Garay was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct and booked into the Mendocino County Jail on Saturday morning. He was released that evening on a promise to appear in court. Garay has since filed a claim against the city of Fort Bragg. The district attorney has not yet filed formal charges.

Garay acknowledges that he had been drinking and admits he may have slurred his words when speaking with officers, but he says he was not “hindering the public” by blocking the right of way nor was he “inebriated to the point that I couldn’t take care of myself.”

He also said he was under no obligation to hand over footage from his phone just because police requested it. He said he wants people to know “it’s OK to say no to the police without fear of being arrested.”

Fort Bragg Police Capt. Thomas O’Neal confirmed the city received Garay’s complaint and that the department had opened an internal investigation.

Here’s what happened from Garay’s perspective, partly corroborated by surveillance footage reviewed by Mendo Local.

Garay joined friends at the Welcome Inn on Friday night after finishing his shift in the local meat department. At 1:21 a.m. he exited the bar to join friends gathered on the sidewalk. The video shows five people talking. At one point, a man in a red shirt pats a man in a black shirt on the back as if to console him. They walk out of frame, then return. A woman is shown trying to draw the man in the black shirt down the street.

Garay can be seen standing to one side holding a glass. He hands the glass to a man in a red-checkered shirt, who takes a sip and hands it back. The woman faces the man in the black shirt, her hands on his arms. There is no sound in the three-minute video, and nothing suggests the group was doing anything other than saying their goodbyes at the end of the night.

The next video begins at 1:27 a.m. Sgt. Jarod Frank and Officer Antoinette Moore have arrived and talk to people standing outside. At 1:28 a.m., they cuff the man in the red-checkered shirt. He complies, and Moore leads him away. Frank continues speaking with others. Garay is not shown in this footage; he says he had returned inside the bar.

The third video starts at 1:33 a.m. A man in a white shirt and a man in a black vest are shown smoking. A woman with long blond hair appears in the frame, her hands cuffed behind her. Moore catches up and escorts her down the street and out of frame toward a police vehicle. Garay is not in this video either.

Garay said he was not present for any of the arrests but came outside after hearing a commotion. He walked to the end of the block, past the Golden West Saloon, and took out his phone.

At that point, Moore approached and asked him to send her the footage. He refused. She then asked him to sit on the curb, and he complied.

While he was seated, Frank approached. The two officers discussed the fact that Garay had been filming and was refusing to share the footage. Frank told Moore she could arrest him for public intoxication.

“I believe my First and Fourth Amendment rights were violated,” Garay said in an interview with Mendo Local. He described the scene in front of the bar as “drunken business.”

A friend, Arion Donn Eagle Kelsey, 29, was tased during a physical altercation with Frank. The sergeant suffered a head injury. Kelsey was booked on charges of conspiracy to commit a crime (felony), resisting or deterring an officer (felony), battery against a peace officer (misdemeanor), and disorderly conduct (misdemeanor). Another friend, Shanna Ray Bayless, 28, was arrested on charges of accessory after the fact (felony), resisting or deterring an officer (felony), conspiracy to commit a crime (felony), and disorderly conduct (misdemeanor). Jason Lee Fullbright was also arrested on conspiracy to commit a crime (felony), resisting or deterring an officer (felony), and disorderly conduct (misdemeanor).

Garay said the First Amendment protects his right to record police performing their official duties. California Penal Code Section 148(g) clarifies that recording an officer in a public place does not, by itself, constitute resisting arrest or provide reasonable suspicion for detention.

He also cited the Fort Bragg Police Department’s policy manual, which states in Section 428.2: “The Fort Bragg Police Department recognizes the right of persons to lawfully record members of this department who are performing their official duties. Members of this department will not prohibit or intentionally interfere with such lawful recordings. Any recordings that are deemed to be evidence of a crime or relevant to an investigation will only be collected or seized lawfully.”

Garay said he is speaking out because, from his perspective, the conduct of the Fort Bragg Police Department at the Welcome Inn on Friday night deserves public discussion. He said he did not take part in any altercation with the police, nor did he film the arrests — if he had, the police would have had the right to seize the phone.

By the time he began filming, his friends had already been arrested. But he also admits that he did not tell the police that there was no evidence on his phone, he simply refused to cooperate — as was his right. “It’s not against the law to have a few drinks,” he said.