Witness to Punk Week arrests says he was interviewed by the FBI

Officers had responded to a report that people were smoking marijuana, lounging naked and having sex, the police report says. Ultimately, police arrested eight people, who were later charged with resisting and obstructing police and disturbing the peace. Two people who were naked were cited that afternoon for disorderly conduct.

Weber, who thought officers were unnecessarily rough with people and the arrests were unjust, wrote his name and phone number on a scrap piece of paper, which he gave to a young couple at the park, he said.

He offered to testify on behalf of the accused, then went fishing as planned and never expected to hear about it again. Days later, Weber was checking his voicemail and listened to a message from a man, who said he heard Weber was "offering" to be a witness.

“So…you are going to be a witness?” Weber says the caller said, according to an Aug. 25 narrative of the incident Weber said he provided to the FBI.

“Keep in mind that we know who you are and where you live. If you want to be a witness, just remember, we know who you are and where you live.”

Weber said the voicemail made “no sense to me at all.” He thought one of his friends might be playing a joke on him because he was a witness in a high-profile robbery case a week earlier in downtown Ann Arbor. Like most voicemails, he deleted it.

But he said it started to make him feel uneasy.

At the suggestion of a co-worker, Weber went to the Ann Arbor Police Department and asked to speak to a detective, telling a woman at the desk he received a disturbing phone call. The woman told him no one was available to speak with him, he said.

Weber said he was later contacted by an FBI agent who interviewed him for more than an hour about the message and incident at Bandemer Park. In addition to a five-page narrative of the incident at the park, Weber gave the agent cell phone records, which he had obtained from his provider. Weber was told it would unlikely result in prosecution because the message was not saved, he said.

FBI Special Agent Sandra Berchtold, a bureau spokeswoman in Detroit, did not return a phone call seeking comment Monday.

Attorney John Minock, who represented one of the eight people arrested, spoke to Weber in August about the incident as the case was pending against his client.

“I’ve interviewed Mr. Weber as a potential witness, and I am aware that the U.S. Attorney’s office does not believe there is a prosecutable obstruction of justice case because the phone message was not saved,” Minock said. “I cannot think of a justification for the Ann Arbor Police Department to not investigate this.”

Ann Arbor police did not investigate the call or conduct an internal investigation because Weber did not file a complaint, Deputy Police Chief John Seto said.

Police did conduct an internal investigation into the Punk Week arrests after two people alleged excessive force was used, and the officers were cleared.

Ultimately, Weber didn't have to testify. The eight people arrested pleaded no contest to disturbing the peace and were sentenced to time served. They had come to Ann Arbor from around the country for Punk Week, which includes events such as a shopping cart race.

Weber, who lives and works in Ann Arbor, said he suspects the caller thought he was a punk. He wants the caller identified, he said.

"I'm disturbed by the whole deal," Weber said. "I really am."

Lee Higgins covers crime and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at (734) 623-2527 and e-mail at leehiggins@annarbor.com.