Jury hands down conviction in resisting arrest case

Anderson contended police forcibly took him from residence without justification

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- A Blair County jury took about a half hour Friday to convict an Altoona man of resisting arrest on Christmas Eve 2022, despite the man's claims that he wasn't resisting.

Kuwait D. Anderson, 37, tried unsuccessfully to convince the jury that Altoona police forcibly removed him from his residence without justification.

"They're in my house," Anderson testified. "They could potentially kill me."

Police, who went to the residence in response to a domestic disturbance that left a woman with a black eye, initially couldn't find Anderson.

But after Anderson came down from the attic, police ordered him to put his hands behind his back to be handcuffed. Anderson reacted by asking why, then started pulling away from the officers, leading to a scuffle before officers started escorting him through and out of the house.

The jury, which watched police body camera video of the arrest -- and heard the yelling and exchange of foul language by Anderson and patrolmen Scott Glass and Noah Bollman -- deemed Anderson to be guilty of resisting arrest.

Assistant District Attorney Salua Kamerow asked the jury in her closing argument to consider the totality of Anderson's actions during the 15 minutes he's with the officers.

"It is everything together, a course of conduct, that makes it resisting arrest," Kamerow said.

The prosecutor also challenged Anderson when he testified.

"You said the police could have handled the situation differently, but could you have handled the situation differently?" Kamerow asked. Anderson answered that he did nothing wrong.

Defense attorney Mark Zearfaus told the jury in his closing that the police officers were responsible for what happened and not his client.

"The force they used on him was not justified," Zearfaus told the jurors. "Any American citizen has the right to ask: 'Why are you doing this?'"

Kamerow told the jury in her closing that Anderson knew why the officers were there and referenced a portion of the police video where he told the woman with the black eye that he never touched her.

"Why did he say that?" Kamerow asked rhetorically. "Because he knows he did."

President Judge Wade A. Kagarise, who presided over the trial, sentenced Anderson to nine to 18 months' incarceration. Because Anderson has been in the county prison for 13 months since being arrested, Kagarise granted him parole in this case. Zearfaus said his client is also incarcerated on a state parole detainer which will need to be addressed before he can be released.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.