Locked In with Ian Bick - Fight At Mcdonalds Turns Violent | Brandon Schneider

Episode Date: December 10, 2023

Explore a compelling story of resilience and redemption in this episode, tracing a journey from childhood troubles in Milford to life after prison. We delve into family dynamics, legal struggles, and the harsh realities of prison life. Despite facing adversity, including a toxic relationship and a violent street fight, Brandon Schneider's journey is one of overcoming challenges and finding strength, culminating in a remarkable comeback story. Big thanks to FACTOR for sponsoring this episode. Go to https://www.factor75.com/pages/podcast?c=LOCKEDIN50&mealsize=8-1&c_comms=PERCENT&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=cpm&utm_campaign=podcast50off&utm_content=act_podcast_podcastads&vs_campaign_id=07a8da85-76a7-4540-8dc1-4e6861f6b4c8 and use code lockedin50 to get 50% off your first box. Follow Ian Bick on Instagram: @ian_bick & Snapchat: ianbick Connect with Brandon Schneider: IG: https://instagram.com/brandon_aao?utm_source=qr&igshid=YzU1NGVlODEzOA== TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brandonmichaelf.o?_t=8i13Lb9JnDS&_r=1 Buy Merch: https://lockedinbrand.com Use code lockedin at checkout to get 20% off your order Connect with Ian Bick: https://www.ianbick.com Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Intro 00:03:06 - Family Background 00:06:34 - The Impact of Family Dynamics 00:09:55 - Rebellion and Troubles in Adolescence 00:13:03 - On the Run in Florida 00:16:18 - Going to Court 00:19:21 - Fueling on Flavor with Factor Meals 00:22:06 - The Experience in Prison 00:27:57 - Chomos 00:30:43 - Life After Prison 00:33:50 - Toxic Relationship 00:37:02 -Mcdonalds Fight 00:40:13 - Panic Mode at Her House 00:43:23 - Story of the Police Interrogation 00:46:20 - Arrested and charged 00:49:15 - Challenges after Prison Release 00:52:26 - Overcoming Challenges 00:55:32 - Finding Solace in the Gym 00:58:35 - Digging Deep to Overcome Challenges 01:01:35 - The Comeback Story Powered by Creative Evolution Studios https://creativeevolutionstudios.com Produced by: https://www.instagram.com/shanedanahy https://www.shanedanahy.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey, you there, in the baby registry rabbit hole. The thing experienced parents agree on, a Nanit smart baby monitor. One camera, one app for video, breathing motion monitoring, and personalized sleep insights. All in one place. Check in from anywhere. Get real-time safety notifications and capture every sleepy smile and good night kiss. The best part? Those insights help you get more sleep.

Starting night one. Add it to your registry or shop at Nanit, N-A-N-I-T-com. Hey, you there, in the baby registry rabbit hole. The thing experienced parents agree on? A Nanit smart baby monitor. One camera, one app for video, breathing motion monitoring, and personalized sleep insights. All in one place.

Check in from anywhere. Get real-time safety notifications and capture every sleepy smile and good-night kiss. The best part? Those insights help you get more. more sleep starting night one add it to your registry or shop at nanit nant-n-i-t dot com they start arguing back and forth and um i eventually pull her back in the car they go and they park at the end of the mcdonalds in the parking lot i could see him right at the end of the drive-thru and i'm like listen we're just going to

get our stuff and we're going to go i said don't do anything crazy please so the guy at the window. He says, is everything all right? You guys good? I'm like, yeah, everything's fine. We're good. So get our stuff. I go to pull around and just pass them. And as I, I pulling by them, I'm looking in my side view mirror. I see them throw a bottle at my car. Instantly, I'm like, it's go time. On today's episode, we have Brandon Schneider, a fellow Connecticut resident to share his story of childhood trauma and how it led to a troubled life as a young adult, including brandishing a gun at a high school party, which lands him in his first prison stint, and how a fight at the McDonald's parking lot leads to a felony assault charge and multiple years in Connecticut state prisons.

I'd like to thank Factor America's number one ready-to-eat meal delivery service for sponsoring locked in with Ian Bick. Skip all the meal prep hassle and get Factor's delicious fresh, never frozen meals delivered to your door. I absolutely love Factor Meals and eat them multiple times a week. And with my promo code, you can too. Head to FactorMeals.com slash Lockedin 50 and use code Lockedin 50 to get 50% off. Thank you, everyone, for all the love and the support you give to this podcast week after week. I hope you sit back, relax, and get ready to lock in with Brandon Schneider.

and welcome to the show today, man. Pleasure having you. You are another Connecticut guest. We've had quite a few Connecticut guests on the show the last few weeks, and I've been reading some of the comments, and the audience has been loving the Connecticut stories. So where are you coming to us from today? From Milford, Connecticut, actually. That's where I was born and raised my whole life. So, yeah. What's Milford like for people that aren't from Connecticut? it. Milford is a pretty diverse town. You know, we're in between New Haven and Bridgeport.

So it's, we have everything there. We have our own mall. It's by the beach. I love it there. Honestly, I'll never leave there. I was born, raised, and that's probably where I'm going to die. They're going to bury me there as well. But it's a great, it's a great town, you know.

It used to not be as good. you know, because I grew up in the 90s. I was born in the 80s, so it was a different time back then, you know. Everybody was into partying and whatever, you know. How do you guys grow up, like whole family parents together, upper class, lower class, middle class? I would say we were lower middle class. Um, my, so stepping back into that, that would be, um, you know, my family, we had a lot of, you know, it was a broken home for sure.

I, uh, I didn't find out my stepfather was my stepfather until I was about eight years old. I always thought he was my real father. Um, because I found a book that said state of Connecticut on it. And it had my name with my first name and what was my mother's maiden name on it. And I'm like, what is it this? You know? And she's like, well, I didn't really want to tell you. I was going to wait until you were older.

But, you know, your father adopted you to his last name. And, you know, that's pretty much how that happened. And, yeah, he was abusive dude. He was definitely. Your stepfather was. Oh, yeah. How so? So it progressed from when I was younger.

From about three years old, I remember coming downstairs to see my grandma to show her my ass because it was black and blue. Like, and then it just got worse over time. I believe because of their relationship, he took a lot of it out on me. like physically i've been slammed through my back door um the yelling the all my friends were scared of this dude like no one wanted to come to my house ever like that's how bad it was but the last straw like probably when i was about 15 16 i remember we came home um i was with my mom and my brother and we walk in the back door and you hear this loud hissing sound.

So my mom looks at me and she's like, stay right here. She goes and walks down the hallway into our living room. She comes bolting back out. Get out, get out now. We run out the house and jumped in the car and we took off.

She told me that he was sitting in there with a propane tank on with a zippo lighter, ready to blow us up. That was the, the last straw for that. Did the house blow up? No.

But that's just the psychological. Psychological, man, being threatened with two baseball bats. This dude used to smash up our house. Like, it was crazy. Did your mom know he was abusing you? Oh, yeah. She would, it's crazy because my mom, I love her to death. That's my rock.

But she would try to, like, push me too to, like, you know, go hug him and, you know, show affection towards him. Like, no, I'm good. I don't want to do that, you know? Looking back on it now that you're older, why do you think women stay in abusive relationships like that, even when they're kids at stake too? Because now it's not only her well-being,

but it's your well-being, too. I feel like she stayed to try to make it work because she wanted her family to be okay. And she thought that maybe it would just kind of roll over and get better, but it never did. So, yeah. That's got to be tough. Well, yeah, I mean, it sucked.

It made me rebel, for sure. And that's where I ended up getting into a lot of trouble. You know, I never wanted to be home. I ended up dropping out of school in ninth grade and running the streets, partying. That's all we did like to do back then, too. you know. No, do you think you would have had an even worse effect on you if she didn't tell you

that that was your real dad or wasn't your real dad? Do I think it would have had a worse effect on me? Yeah, because think that if you didn't find that out and you thought he was your real dad, then you could have... Maybe he tried to make it work. Or you could have made it in your mind that you became a troubled person because your own biological father was troubled. Well, my actual biological father, he committed suicide when I was a year and a half old.

Oh, wow. So my mom was married to him, mind you. She left him because he was a raging alcoholic, pretty much. And a crazy story, too. My grandfather, years later, committed suicide the same exact way. You went parked in front of a train. grandfather on your father said do you think that runs in the like it by a lot it gets passed down genetically oh yeah those thoughts could be in my head for sure i've been there you know i've you know thought about it

and you know because i've been in really rough situations in my life to where i'm like where am i going with my life is my life even worth it to keep going you know i've been in those shoes and you know and i think of my biological father i think i think of my biological father i the time like he wasn't strong enough to make it through that so he ended up you know taking the easy way out and you know did you have siblings at all i have one brother yes were you guys close during this yes very close um it's funny because i was the one that always used to get the beatings but his father is my stepfather so we have two separate fathers is there are you guys Same mother. Half brothers. Okay. But the same mother. But the same mother. So he's older or younger?

Younger. Younger. Four years. How did he feel about the relationship with your mom and his father? He is very timid. So a lot of the times he didn't say much. So he pretty much just would run and hide. You know, because I was the one always taking all the, you know, the abuse the everything were you a shy kid back then i mean i was pretty outgoing i loved being outdoors and running around the neighborhood with my friends we would play manhunt stick wars in the woods like you know i liked being out of the house anything that didn't keep me in the house because i knew i didn't want to be around him and i would always always be outside riding my bike, playing sports with all the other neighborhood kids.

So I wasn't a shy kid. I definitely was more outgoing than my brother is. How to make you feel that your friends didn't want to come over to your house? It sucked. I had some, a couple of my friends that one time, I think we were about 14 years old. and we were smoking weed in my room, and we didn't know he was coming home. I heard his truck pulled up. So I said, hide in the closet. They went in hidden the closet, and he smelled the weed.

So he came right upstairs, threw me across my room onto my bed, and he actually had two baseball bats in his hand at the time. And I'm 14. I probably weighed 130 pounds. soaking wet he's a big dude so when I land on the bed and he just comes over with them two bats man I thought I was going to lose my legs right there and I got mind you I got two of my friends sitting in the closet he doesn't even know they're in there so after that happened and then he stormed off they ended up coming out and uh I was like I snuck him out the back door and shit

and I seen him a couple days later, like, oh, you okay? Like, you know, they really felt bad, you know, because they all have their families that are nice families and they have good things going on in their families. They have good jobs. And I'm over here, like, dealing with, you know, this as a 12-year-old. Did you envy that? Did it make you feel like, why am I not good enough to have that?

For sure. Oh, for sure. You know, I loaned for that at points in times, you know, because I see that in other people. I'm like, man, I wish I could have that, you know. But it definitely made me rebel a lot, for sure. Yeah. So ninth grade, you drop out. Where does life go for you next?

So after I dropped out, that would have made me. So I caught a few cases, possession of weed. And I was running around. I was burglarizing houses and stuff like that. By yourself? No, we're friends. And I ended up catching a few cases. I was on probation.

And then I ended up, while I was on probation, I had another case. I was at a party. And it was a friend's party. And his parents were away. And, you know, everybody was drinking and having good. time everybody was hanging out he left for a little while and i went into his room and i was hanging

out in there with a girl and uh everybody started breaking everything in the house and acting crazy and a little backstory i knew that his mom kept her pistol in um in her top drawer because he showed it to me so you know where this is going yes so me at the time at the time I was drinking too drunk everybody's drunk at the party how old are you god I was 15 16 16 maybe um so I go into the room and I grab the gun and I come out and I start waving it in there and tell everybody to get out my intentions weren't to hurt anybody you know plus I'm 16 at the time young dumb drinking everybody ran out and the police were called I ended up not getting arrested then, but I knew that that charge was coming.

So we ended up, me, my mom, and my brother, thought it would be a great idea to pack up and move to Florida and run. Did your mom know? Oh, she knew. Oh, wow. But just like everything kind of snowball effected, a snowball effect into, you know, up into that point where I'm like, you know, I'm not going to go to jail. like, I'm going to go on the run.

So I go down there. We're in Florida for about almost a year. I was working and living down there with, it was my grandmother, my mom, and my brother at the time. And they end up, you know, doing their detective work and finding out maybe through mutual friends. I'm not exactly sure, but they found out I was in Florida. And then at the age of 18,

they arrested me down there and I had to wait to get extradited back from Florida to Connecticut. So I was down there for maybe about two weeks until they came, pick me up. 18. I had to fly back on a regular commercial shackled, right, with two police going on a plane. I'm 18. I looked really young then, too. You know, with no hair on my face, I probably looked maybe like I was 15. at the age of 18.

You know, and I have people staring at me in the airport. I'm all shackled up sitting next to them. They try covering it with like a freaking jacket. So it's like the TV shows. Yeah, they flew me right back on a regular commercial airplane with everybody. What are they wearing? They were just dressed in regular suits or something. Yeah.

I think they had their badge on. I don't remember if they had their guns. On the plane, okay. This was in, now mind you, this was in 2000. So things were different back then. Yeah. This is a long time ago. Pre-9-11.

Pre-9-11? No, this was, I'm sorry. This was 2001. It was after 9-11. Okay. Yep. So. But yeah, then flying back on a regular commercial plane with, you know.

Like, what was the charge? So for the not, what was it? Give me a sec here. It's, we're going back, you know, to, 2001. That was, so I had the burglaries, I had possession, I had a VOP, and the, uh, maybe unauthorized use of a firearm or something like that. Yeah, I forgot exactly what it was, but it was to that extent. And that was a felony? It was a felony, correct, yeah. So they bring you back, what happens? Uh, I go to, uh, county jail, and I'm waiting, going back and

court to court there and I ended up copying out to 10 years suspended after four with five years probation for that. They gave a 16, 17 year old that long? Well, I caught, I caught those cases. Those cases were from when I was 16 and 17. But when they brought me back, I was 18. They charged me as an adult. They're able to charge you as an adult even though you committed that? They charged me as an adult, yes. Wow. So what's it like to go to county jail from county jail to court? like describe that process from the morning when they like say you're going to court that that call it bullpen therapy you yeah it sucks so you get up early in the morning then they sit you in the the rooms with a hundred other people who are so going to court for whatever

they're going to court for and you're waiting you're waiting you're waiting everybody's complaining about their court cases it sucks and then you get to you get to the court cases it sucks and then you get on the ice cream truck, go to whatever courthouse you're going to, then you sit there and you wait. And then you're wherever there. And for where I was, it was below the courthouse.

You had to wait. And then they bring you up for the 10 minutes. They may just continue your case because, you know, you're not getting sentenced or you're not, you know, you're going to have to come back anyway. Then you go back downstairs.

They feed you baloney and cheese sandwiches. Which aren't that bad. No. Mm-mm. I cannot. You don't like it? No.

I love a good, you know, like baloney and cheese sandwich. Maybe from baloney out here, but that bologna is no. And back then, they used to put these peppercorn in there. Like. Okay, that's weird. Yeah, very. And it had a green tint to it. I never ate it.

So I take the bologna off and I'll eat the cheese with just the bread. I'm good with that. I need your attention. for a minute, folks. This past July, I tried factor meals for the first time, and I fell in love. Now I look forward to my factor meal delivery every week, and as someone who went to prison for lying, and is now traumatized by the thought of lying, you could trust me when I say that there has not been one factor meal that I've tried that I have not enjoyed. This bustling holiday season, you might be looking for nutritious, flavor-filled meals to fuel you on jam-pack days.

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bus back to go back to county and it's a long day you know and you're not just waiting on your case you're waiting on all the individuals that came with you everybody correct yeah do you think they make it that long to get someone to take a plea deal i mean probably you know because they want to see how long you're going to hold out because it's miserable to be waking up every because they wake you up at what like five in the morning something five six yeah six in the morning because i used to at one point in time i mean i've been to jail twice or prison twice and i had to go to court from big cheshire and they wake you up even earlier and big cheshire's the level four so you have to wake up really early because then you go pick up people from other prisons and then you go to county to pick up those

people and then you go to your court and then you go back to county then you got to wait for a bus to take you back to your prison i remember uh when i was in like holdover the guys would just say i'm refusing to go they would refuse to cuff up i mean now after covid they have virtual hearings where it's a lot easier probably more cost effective for sure because they had to have guards transport people every single day five days a week to court yeah it's a big money expense that they do pretty good on so you end up taking the plea deal for the you signed for those years yeah i ended up uh copping out to the 10 after 4 um and then because i was in bridgeport county um man that place isn't and back in 2001 2001

2002 it was i mean it's probably still dumpy now but it was really bad they had uh north wing which they knocked down and they rebuilt i'm not sure if you're familiar no i've never been in connecticut prisons so In Bridgeport County, they have the main building. Then they have two trailers, which are like Fairmont. They're like low bond. The main building houses, they have two dorms, Memorial 1 and Memorial 2. Then they also have the blocks, which is like high bond.

And then they also had North Wing, which was like, it could be either low bond or not super high bond, but like 200,000 or less, I believe. Don't quote me on it because it's been a long time since I've, you know, even been there. But I ended up going to North Wing. It was like, I would compare it to like a 150-year-old basement. Yes. Like, it was dingy, disgusting, and nasty. And they used to have windows, plastic that you could open.

And you could actually talk to people on the street. Like, that's how old. this building was. And then they had this, it was four wings. And then they had the basement where you initially start. The basement's the worst, because you just want to go, you know,

upstairs and be in either a regular cell or it's just, it was disgusting. Wow. So what's present, what's your like prison experience like? So, well, which time?

The first time, the first, for the six, six or four, four years. So for the four years. years. I ended up after I copped out and got sent up the way to, I went to NYU and I'm sure you heard NYU before. There was a guy on the podcast before spoke about it. Yeah, a couple of guys.

Gladiator school. And everybody says the same thing. Oh, it's gladiator school. But really it's just a bunch of young individuals who had came from either broken homes or, you know, we all were the same. and everybody was just, you know, trying to do their time. You know, yeah, there was fights there, but, I mean. Are they trying to scope you out the first day, like some of the guys have talked about on the show? Oh, yeah, they'll definitely push you. I mean... Did they push you?

No. When I first went in, I went in late, too. So, like, everybody was just looking out their door. No one really said anything to me. I went in myself and, you know, talked. to my cellie and you know no one really fucked with me so are you scared at all of what at that time at first yeah a little bit you know because you hear gladiars school and i'm i have to fight like i mean i've been fighting my whole life so if i got to fight somebody it's not a big deal like whatever

now who tells you it's gladiator school all the older heads so the older like kids no the older uh you know like people who wouldn't go there like all the older inmates and what are they saying Welcome to Gladiator School. No, they're like, oh, when you go there, you're going to be fighting every day. I'm like, great. Now I'm going to have to fight every. And I'm thinking it in the back of my mind, but I'm like, it can't be much worse than county because, you know, everybody here. There was plenty of fights in county too, you know.

You know, I give people like you credit because I'm not built like that. Or at least I wasn't back then. Like, I wasn't going into prison thinking I'm fighting and stuff like that. Right. So for you guys, a lot of the guys that come on the show, they're ready to go. You have to be because you don't really know, you know. I mean, you're subjecting yourself to, you know, possibly have to fight. You don't know, you know.

People will test you for sure. And if you don't stand your ground and be stern, you know, they're going to notice that. And they're definitely going to take advantage of that. I mean, I'm sure you know that. You know, it's not if you, like I said, if you're stern and you stand on your own, most of the time no one wants to mess with you anyway and a lot of times as being a white kid from milford you know you're getting looked at automatically like who's this little white kid from milford maybe we should push up on them but then they find out you're not just in there for like

just drugs and robbing or stealing from somebody you know you're actually kind of i wouldn't say about that life but like you'll get it in you know and then you're you're realized that and they know who to push and who not to. How are younger individuals treated that have like a rape charge or a sexual assault charge in prison? So my experience in Connecticut, they have a jail that is specifically for sex offenders. Really? It's called Brooklyn. Yes. And they get treated way better than any of the whole inmate population. They get to order ice cream and pizza and watch movies on the weekends. Why do you think that is?

I don't know. I mean... I don't think it's like that now, though, is it? Because I have a friend that he has a friend who is in prison for a sexual assault charge, and they're throwing them in with killers and murders and all this. Depends on what level two. If you're a, you'll never go below a level three. You cannot be a level two inmate in the state of Connecticut.

I don't know about any other states. but you can't be a level two inmate with a sexual assault crime, whether it's towards women, children, or anything. Your level will never drop below a three. So you'll always stay in either a level three or level four or they have a five, which I've never been to. Now, this is early 2000s. What's commissary like back then?

What was like the biggest staple item? Because brands have evolved since then. It's pretty much all still the same. I mean, your ramen noodles, your rice, your tuna, your, the beef sausages. But they used to come with a Christmas package that you could buy where there was, like, different items on there that you normally couldn't get. And it was only around Christmas time that you could get it. So everybody would be hyped trying to get, yeah, you know, trying to get money sent home

so that they could get the couple extra items. Yeah, and the feds, they give you a whole Christmas bag for free. Yeah, we got. they walk around like the day before Christmas or two days before before the unit staff go on vacation. Yeah. It's a saran wrap bag. They've gotten smaller in recent years, but it's all like it's the Keebler's cookies. It's the hostesses.

It's like a nice pack. It's like a $40 toward the commissary you're getting for free. For free? Yeah. And then the ones that are religious get it and then sell it to individuals. People will sell their Christmas bag a year in advance and say, yo, give me, you know, like 20 max, macros, ramen noodles, whatever for that Christmas bag. So that they could get that. Yeah, because like the Muslims won't accept it because it's the holiday.

The Jewish folks won't accept it. So things like that. Yeah. Federal is different from state time, you know, for sure. You know, there's not a lot of programming in state time to like, you know, when you reintegrate back into society, you know, they have the halfway houses. And ultimately, it's really. really up to you to really turn your life around, you know, I feel, which I have.

Were you forced into like a GED program or anything? No. I actually went and got my GED when I came home. So after I went to NYU, I turned 20. It was about when I turned 20. They ship you out because you're old enough now to go to adult prison. I ended up going to a level two prison and I did the rest of my time. there and I went to a halfway house where I started working and I was able to study and I got my GED Central in Bridgeport. I'm surprised they didn't make you take the class as well. When, when, yeah, well, when you're in MII, they do have school. But like, you could, most of the time the kids were just going there just to go to get out of the cell. Like, you do have to go to

school, but like, you don't have to, you know, they don't have to, they can't make you do anything. So out of those four years, how much time do you actually end up doing on that first sentence? I did two years. You did two. You come home. What happens next? I started working at a fish market. A fish market. What were you doing at the fish market? Cleaning dishes, doing whatever. Where was this in like Fairfield or something? No, I was in Shafford. I'm at the halfway house, and I was taking the bus back and forth. You know, I came home. My mom at the time, she doesn't work. she doesn't, you know, have any, she financially doesn't have it. So I don't have any backing there, really.

But I, my uncle, who was kind enough to take me in, you know, I knew I was going to eventually go there after the halfway house. So I'm working at the fish market and going back and forth. And I realized that instead of taking a bus, I ended up riding my bike back and forth because it was easier and faster, actually, too, because the two cities are really close to each other or towns. It's Bridgeport and Stratford. So I would ride my bike through the hood all the way to work every day. He's a little white kid. 18, the time, I was 20.

So running back and forth. I started to work again and get my life back together. I was staying with my uncle. And one of my other uncles, took me under his wing. He would do side work in construction, and I started working with him and learning to work with my hands.

And I took a lot out of that. I worked with him for probably, like, I don't know, a good year. And I ended up, we did some plumbing stuff too as well, some HVAC stuff. And I was like, wow, it was pretty easy work. I could do this. You know, why not?

So I ended up going into plumbing. and I was working and doing plumbing then. And I was still on parole. And let's see. That's when I started dating this girl and we were together. I ended up moving out of my uncle's house and kind of staying with her and her dad. And she liked the party.

we like both I worked she worked we you know we go out on the weekends and drink have fun but uh she was definitely a firecracker and you know being someone that you know I kind of like fighting sometimes so she also has that same mentality so we were like pretty toxic together I would say and uh you know I got him a few fights with just dudes just because because of, you know, she would run her mouth, like, she was a type. Let me tell you, we'd be walking in the mall. And a guy would check her out. She's like, you're not going to say nothing to him?

And now I got to say, now I feel I got to say something and, you know, cause a problem. When it's really not that serious, there was other times that shit would happen. And, you know, I ended up got into one fight at a party. because something silly with a guy that's like not even, I'm not even trying. Hey, you there in the baby registry rabbit hole. The thing experienced parents agree on, a nanit smart baby monitor. One camera, one app for video, breathing motion monitoring, and personalized sleep insights. All in one place.

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for video, breathing motion monitoring, and personalized sleep insights. All in one place. Check in from anywhere. Get real-time safety notifications and capture every sleepy smile and good night. kiss. The best part, those insights help you get more sleep starting night one. Add it to your registry or shop at Nanit, N-A-N-I-T dot com. To fight anybody, I'm just trying to have a good time.

So, yeah. Then one night after partying, we come back from, we come back from partying and we're like, well, let's stop and get some food at McDonald's. And we're waiting. And we're waiting. waiting in line and there's a car ahead of us. So she starts, I'm driving, she's in the passenger seat, she starts beeping my horn at them because they're taking so long. Mind you, it's like one in the morning, you know, so she sticks her head out the window. There was a girl in the driver's seat. She popped her head out the window and they're arguing back and forth.

And I'm like, yo, what are you doing? Like, chill out. It's not that serious. You're starting shit with people for nothing. So they start arguing back and forth. And I eventually pull her back in the car. They go and they park at the end of the McDonald's in the parking lot. I could see him right at the end of the drive-thru.

And I'm like, listen, we're just going to get our stuff and we're going to go. I said, don't do anything crazy, please. So the guy at the window, he says, is everything all right? You guys good? I'm like, yeah, everything's fine. We're good. So get our stuff. I go to pull around and just pass them.

And as I pulling by them, I'm looking in my side view mirror. I see them throw a bottle at my car. Instantly, I'm like, it's go time. I threw my car in park. I reach it in the back. I grab the wrench because I have tools. I hand her a wrench. You're in your girl at wrench?

Yep. Well, in my mind, right, I'm thinking they have bottles. They have weapons. Like, you know, that's, if it's going to be that to that extent, then we should be prepared. And no one's going to just throw shit at my car, you know, like. So we stop. We hop out. She runs over and she start, and mind you, I have a knife on me.

So I pull my, I brandish my knife. And I say one on one, because there was two girls. and there was one guy. I didn't know there was even a guy in the car at the time. I just thought it was two chicks. This is in the middle of the drive-thru. Well, not in the middle of the drive-thru. It was in the back in the parking lot.

So they start, she runs up. She hits her in the head with the wrench, and the wrench at some point gets dropped. And they're tussling, they're fighting. I have my knife out. And the guy and other girl clearly see that. Like I have no, let them fight. One's jumping, you know, let that be what it is.

And someone drove by behind me, yo, the cops are coming. I'm like, oh, great. So I go over there. They have each other by the hair at this time. And I go over there to grab her to get out of there. Now, I don't know if this guy thought that maybe I was going to do something else. Maybe, you know, try to stab somebody. But that was not my intentions.

I'm on parole at the time, mind you. I'm trying to get out of Dodge. Like, let's go. So when I go over there, at some point in time, he picked up the wrench and cracked me over the two girls, hit me in the top of my head. And I saw a white flash, and when I came back to,

I just seen him and I stabbed him in his head. I almost, if it was a little farther up, it would have been in his temple, but it was right about here. and it went into his skull and it lacerated his brain. Yeah, it was pretty serious. But when he stepped back and he was like, why did you do that?

And at the point in time, I didn't know I was leaking from my head, but I knew I got hit with something because I've been in fights. I've been punched, been punched by pretty big dudes. You know, I can take a beating. But that was not no punch in the head. I knew it instantaneously.

So it's either, you know, fight or flight at that point for me. And I chose to fight back. So we end up getting in the car, running, getting in the car, drive down the street, I throw the knife out the window. We go to her house and I'm in full panic mode now. Like, great. They're, you know, they're going to. going to find me what am i going to do i'm bugging on her so we're at her house and i call one of my

friends who still was up he drove by the macdonalds he said bro it's all taped off right now there is about 20 cop cars there i'm like you still stop lying to me he's like no i'm like great So now, I'm thinking in my head, hopefully they don't know, like, somehow link it to me. So I didn't go to sleep either. And I'm just waiting and I'm waiting, waiting. They end up coming to her house. And you know how they found out that it, to come to her house? Because the guy, the manager, who runs that McDonald's knew her by first name.

and her name is I'm not going to put her name out there obviously but it was a unique name that and she's been in some trouble before so they're like well let's go pop over her house and see what's going on there so they show up and

I'm still leaking from my head at the time and they took us down to the police station and uh did they like swarm the house are they treating you like a hostile it was only a couple cop cars because at the time they didn't have much to go off of

the police were called somebody got stabbed and you know they didn't really have much to go off of so they pulled us down to the police station what do you think you're like why do you think that your first reaction was to get out of the car and fight with them just because they were instigating

with you why not just drive off do you think that goes back to how your your step father treated you when he was angry and you and that kind of like kicked in with you i mean always had a lot of built-up anger in me and i like to you know sometimes i would like to fight like it was just instilled in me you know what i mean like especially when times that i couldn't fight back you know like so you know being 14 years old someone who's you know my stepfather at the time he's a 250 pound man 6-5 it's a big dude you know like definitely instirative you know

put a lot of fear in me for sure so there's a correlation between that between the two incidents yeah i would say so i'm for sure you know i just think we're quick as society to judge someone based on their actions in that moment without hearing the backstory and why a person is the way there they are not that it's wrong or right or whatever you know but it's just that that moment we want to know as individuals what caused you to get out of that car at the time like fight or flight i mean yeah i'm sure a lot of you know my childhood trauma has something to do with it i'm sure you know but so what do you end up they charge you i'm guessing right at the at the station no so they didn't have enough to go off of So this is a pretty funny story.

So I just told you what happened the whole story there. Now I'm not going to tell the police that, yeah, I stabbed somebody in the head with my own knife. You know, I'm not, I'm still somewhat of a criminal at the time. I'm on parole. So I tell her a story to tell them. You know, yes, we did get out and, you know, you did have a rent. you hit her, you know, you guys fought. And when I went to break it up, he hit me, we tussled. I grabbed whatever he had in his hand, and I hit him back with it. And that's the story that I gave

the police. I was in and out of the interview room with them in probably a half hour. They brought me out and brought her in, and I was sitting around waiting and waiting and waiting. And I'm thinking in my head, I'm like, great. She's telling the whole thing, which sure enough she did, which, you know, you're getting interrogated by the police. You know, they're going to push you. They're going to want the truth. They're going to want to know.

So they got it out of her. She ended up telling them where the knife was, where I threw it. But they couldn't arrest me right there. So after they interrogated her, they brought me back in, sat me back down. They said, granted, you don't want to tell us the truth? story? I'm like, I told you my story. He's like, you sure it wasn't a knife? I'm like, yes, I'm sure it wasn't a knife. I said, I told you my story. I'm standing on that, like knowing I'm obviously lying at the time. But I said, well, if you're not going to arrest me, then I need my keys

in my wallet so I could go. He said, you could have your wallet, but we impounded your car. It was used to, uh, we're taking as a police investigation. So they ended up taking my car that I just had gotten at the time too. Yeah. And that's when they put everything together and they... Well, they had to let me go because they didn't have, you know, they still had to work their case and they ended up coming about two weeks, about two weeks after. I would call the detective and like, are you guys coming to get me or what?

Yeah, I'm calling. Like, I need to know. Like, I'm still trying to work a little bit. come and get me. Yeah. So they end up coming and getting me and they arrested me, charged me an assault first. And I was on parole at the time. I made bond. They gave me bonds, though. Made bond. I got out and I had to go turn myself into parole two days later. And then they booked you on parole. Yep. I had to go sit in Big Cheshire level four because it was an assault first. Hey, you there in the baby registry rabbit hole. The thing

experienced parents agree on, a Nanit smart baby monitor, one camera, one app for video, breathing motion monitoring, and personalized sleep insights. All in one place. Check in from anywhere, get real-time safety notifications, and capture every sleepy smile and good night kiss. The best part, those insights help you get more sleep, starting night one. Add it to your registry or shop at nanit, nannit.com. Hey, you there, in the baby registry rabbit, hole. The thing experienced parents agree on, a Nanette smart baby monitor, one camera, one app for video, breathing motion monitoring, and personalized sleep insights. All in one place. Check in from anywhere. Get real-time safety notifications and capture every sleepy smile and good night kiss. The best part? Those insights help you get more sleep, starting night one. Add it to your registry or shop at Nanit, N-N-I-T.com. So I had to go to a maximum security for six months. Wow.

Until my parole was up. And then I had to, they end up letting me walk out the door from there. But then you're still fighting the other case. As I was going back and forth to court for that case. Isn't it crazy how it works in the state system where it's like you can literally be on bond for one case? They can get it revoked. Or you could, it's just like it's so complicated. It is. When you look at it and like people like arrested multiple times when you like look in the Connecticut database or whatever, you could see like six different charges. One says bond. One says no bond. Like it's super complicated. So how much time do you end up getting for that?

So I end up they wanted to give me 12 years and you know, thank God for my mom because she's been my rock like I said. And she was the one that posted my bail for that. It costs her seven grand. And then. For the lawyer, I think we paid almost 10 grand. She actually just got a, at the time that I got bonded out, she just had gotten a lawsuit or something. I forgot exactly what it was. But she used that money to come and bond her son out, you know? And they ended up wanting to give me 12 flat, but I ended up copping out to 12, suspended after 7 with five years probation.

How is this not a self-defense case? You know, I could have really tried to push it, but my lawyer told me, he said, you know, Brandon, we might not win because I have to prove that he actually hit you in the head with a wrench. I'm like, what more proof do you need? I have pictures of my head leaking. I still have those same pictures to this day. But I would have to do with the order of the attack, right? Because then he could argue that he hit you after you stabbed him. He could, yeah, because in back then, I mean, this was in 2005. 2006, I think it was, when I call my case. You know, the camera system might not have been as good. You know, could we go base off of that?

Looking back on it now, do you wish you took it to trial? I mean, it would change my path in life right now. So, I mean, maybe I would have got out sooner and did something else that might have landed me back there or dead. Did your ex go to prison at all for this or no? No, she got probation. And do you think you would have gotten probation had you not had a record before? No, because it's still an assault first. Okay.

And when I copped out, they dropped it to an assault second. But, you know. What about the guy that attacked you? Did he go to jail at all? No. They contacted him. And in his statement, it said he wanted me to do 20 years at least. See, that's the thing that,

sucks about like having a record is that he automatically becomes the victim and then you automatically become the fall guy and you guys can both be equally responsible but because of your record that that's held over you look worse yeah it makes you look at the the worst guy which you know I mean it should have never happened altogether if we're being honest you know because I don't really go out looking for trouble even though yes I do like you know I have that race in me, but I know that, so I limit myself from that stuff. That's why I don't go out to this day. I don't like to be, I don't go out to bars.

I don't do any of that stuff. Nothing ever good comes from those late night things. It's crazy. Drunk drivers, fights at bars. I don't know how people do the whole, the same club every weekend until two in the morning. I can't do it. I used to be like that, but I can't do it.

You know? but that's just a phase I feel it was for me you know so so you went when you get out after those six years so I got out in 2012

okay it was you know 11 years ago what were some challenges when you got out man you know what's crazy I went back to the same halfway house yep

a redo yeah that's my biggest fear redoing what I went through yep went back to the same halfway house I went to the same job working at the same fish market, they allowed me to go back there. And, you know, started my life over again. I ended up meeting now who is my wife. We actually had mutual

friends and just went out for coffee and that was it. We've been together ever since. Wow. Did she, were there any challenges of her finding out about your record? No, she, so, um, she, you know, we knew each other, when we were younger, like, because we all have, like, kind of the same friend group. Um, so she knew of me. She knew my, you know, I've been to jail. She knew even when we started talking, I just came home recently, too. So she was, uh, fresh out of a bad relationship. And, uh, you know, we just came together and now we're still here. Were there any challenges from her family, like judging you before maybe even meeting you or anything? anything like that because of your record?

I didn't really let her sisters know, you know, of my past and being in prison and stuff like that. Her mother and father not so much, but, you know, over time I, you know, relate some of that information to them so that, you know, I didn't just drop it on them like that. You know, I don't, because it's a touchy subject sometimes. People automatically judge you like, oh, you've been to jail, you've been to prison. And you're just, you know, you're nobody, you're nothing, you're, you know, you get that label. Yeah. Actions speak louder than words, too, in those situations.

It takes a lot, though, to show someone that you're different and that you can change. Well, I mean, for me, I've had so many, you know, challenges in my life. And to where I am today, you know, it was hard, man, because I've come home with not. much help, you know, and I've built myself up to then lose it again, to then come home, to have to rebuild myself again, to then, you know, it's like how many times am I going to keep going down this path until I can like really step back and, you know, limit myself from going back to jail or, you know, ended up having another falling out too. where I ended up hurting my leg really bad.

And I end up going to a doctor and they end up prescribing me pain medication. And I partied and stuff. And I love, you know, going out, drinking, smoking weed and stuff like that. But I never really was addicted or, you know, come to the, have to wake up every day to take drugs, but I ended up in that situation too, which was another, it's like, man, how many times am I going to fall down? In life, yeah. You know, and it's a lot of it, you know, I hold myself accountable, you know, to this day.

But I ended up, you know, pay medication became hard to find. and I ended up having a buddy who was trying to find me some and he's like, no, I didn't want to offer you, but I do have some dope. And I was sick. You know, and I'm like, all right, that kind of spiraled into a whole other thing too, which I had to dig myself back up out of.

Your life's just been a series of up and down and up and down. I'm really glad you made it through it. it though. Thank you. Because not a lot of people can make it through it. And you just like you have like that aroma to you that like you've been through ship but like you're you could tell when you meet someone the way they carry themselves and stuff. Like you have a tough, that tough edgy look to you. Yeah, but like you're just a man that's experienced pain that and you've worked through it. How do you like keep it together through those moments where you might want to get provoked for something, like to keep the anger in.

Does that ever really go away or have you worked through that? What's that like? My outlet has been going to the gym. It was my outlet even when I was in prison. I would work out like anybody that seen me all the time. You know, that was my thing. You know, like that's how I take my frustrations out. I go to the gym and I don't have to think about anything.

You know, I just, I go there and it's like my getaway, you know. It's helped me a lot. So, but that's one that always keeps to be grounded, you know. And I just, repetition, I just, I don't. It's like, you know how when you're in jail you have a schedule that you have? You know, every day is the same. You wake up, but you're, slippers on, you go get your coffee. It's the same thing. You wash your clothes on the certain days.

You keep that same type of schedule. You know, you keep it basic. That's what I did. And that's what I still do to this day, you know. Can't rush anything. That's for sure. What's life for you, what's life like for you now? Oh, it's great. I have Asani's four. You know, I work. And I mean, everything is good. I can't complain. I'm just glad that I could wake up every day because I have a lot of friends, too, that didn't make it, you know, that died from drug overdoses, countless numbers. And especially in my town, it's crazy. The amount of people, you know, over the course of the last 20 years, I don't have enough fingers and toes to count on, you know, and it just seems like it was a, you know, almost a product of our environment, you know, we, we grew up in broken homes and we had

parents that were, you know, partying and maybe even using drugs and, you know, I would have to, sometimes we would come home and no one's home. And I'm like, well, mom's not here. She'd be at the bar with her friends. You know, I got to go over there to get some money so that we could go get something to eat or whatever the case may be. Because back in the next, 90s, you know, it's not like today we were latchkey kids. I don't know if you heard the terminology before. No. No. So basically, you come home after school and no one's there. You have your own key to get in and you do your own thing because you took care of your own self. That's, that's what a latchkey kid is. You know, you raise your own self because your parents are either working or, plus it

was different than, you know. I wouldn't leave my son home by himself now, you know. What do you want the biggest lesson to be for your son from your story? Like if he watches this, you know, 10 years from now, what do you want him to learn from you? The dad was never a quitter. That's good. I like that. And what about for the people watching? Maybe people that are experiencing the rocky roads of life and going through shit and feel like they can't catch a break and, and get knock down all the time. What do you want them to know? There's light at the end of the tunnel, even though it's a pinhole. In my darkest days, you know, when I didn't want to keep going, you just got to dig deep and you've got to really, really dig deep and try and, you know,

always better yourself, find things that make you happy, you know, and just keep striving. Because no matter what you do, you know, you're always going to feel like it's never enough. You know, you could always be doing better, you know. And if you're stuck in those type of situations, you know, when you're doing good, good comes, you know, doors will open. They do. People like to hear your story. If you've been through a lot of shit, you know, honestly, that's what makes you who you are, you know. I would just keep pushing and you got to, you can't stop, you know.

Now, something you brought up earlier is that you're, you're starting to get into content and getting your story out there. Why are you feeling more comfortable talking about it now after all these years? Well, so, you know, I came home in 2012 and I did time, you know, early 2000s. It's like we didn't have TikTok and all that type of stuff. I do like to help people, you know, because people tell me all the time, like, Brandon, you're so strong. I don't know how you kept, how do you keep going?

How? Sometimes I don't know. I just go. You know what I mean? I can't stop because there's friends and family who want me to keep going, you know? They always have been rooting for me. And the people who aren't here, you know, I think of them, you know, childhood friends that we were supposed to grow old and, you know, see each other do good in life.

That's good, man. Well, Brandon, thank you for coming on the show today. It's been a pleasure talking to you. And thank you for trusting me to share your story. What the world will, you know, we'll plug in your social media in the description for people to check out your stuff. And, you know, if you need any advice or help. Yeah, definitely. Yeah.

I know people really feel a connection with our guests and they like to go follow them and check out what they're doing and everything. Yeah. Yeah, people do. They like to hear the comeback story. You know, I'm that comeback story, man. I can never go back. You know, all the shit that I've been through in my life, like, there's no turning back for me now. Like, I work every day and I strive to be better.

That's all I can do. Yeah. No, you're going to make your. your son proud man you really are and you know just keep pushing and and and and keep being you