BROOKVILLE BOROUGH, Pa. (EYT) – A DuBois woman is facing charges related to a custody dispute over three children in Jefferson County.
Court documents indicate the Brookville Borough Police Department on February 26 filed the following criminal charges against 34-year-old Amber Dawn Menteer, of DuBois:
– False Swearing – Mislead Public Servant, Misdemeanor 2
– Hinder Apprehension/Prosecution-False Information to Law Enforcement Officer, Misdemeanor 2
According to a criminal complaint, around 5:17 p.m. on November 24, 2019, Officer Hollobaugh, of the Brookville Borough Police Department, was dispatched to Madison Avenue for a child custody dispute. He was advised he would need to speak to Amber Menteer at the scene.
Menteer reported she had an issue with her son on November 22, and he was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. She reported there was a domestic issue that sparked the incident with her son. She also said she had her neighbor take her children for the night, according to the complaint.
Menteer told Officer Hollobaugh her children’s father came to DuBois later in the evening on November 22 and took the children home to his residence. She said she was okay with the father having the children for the weekend, but when she went to pick them up on November 24, the father refused to send them home, and said he was “filling their heads with crazy stories and other things that did not happen,” the complaint indicates.
Menteer said her boyfriend had gone back to Pittsburgh and was not at her residence. She also reported her son had attacked her a few times, and that’s why he was in the psychiatric facility. She reported her boyfriend had grabbed her son by the shirt collar and held him away from himself in self-defense, according to the complaint.
Officer Hollobaugh then met with the children’s father. He reported that while speaking with his son, his son disclosed that he was choked by Menteer’s boyfriend on Friday during the domestic incident. The father noted he was waiting on a call from the officer involved in the incident from the DuBois City Police Department. Officer Hollobaugh then asked the father to stay inside with the children while he contacted Children and Youth Services (CYS), the complaint states.
While Officer Hollobaugh was speaking with the father, Menteer approached and began to yell at the children’s father, stating he was “lying and just trying to cause problems.” Officer Hollobaugh told Menteer to get back in her vehicle and stop yelling, or she would be arrested for disorderly conduct. Menteer then returned to her vehicle, the complaint indicates.
After finishing his interview with the father, Officer Hollobaugh went to speak to Menteer again. She reported there was no formal/court-ordered custody agreement and said she is currently listed as the primary custodian of the children. Officer Hollobaugh then explained that as long as the children are safe at the father’s residence, he could not force them to leave, but due to the circumstances surrounding her boyfriend and the children, he was getting CYS involved for the children’s safety.
Around 6:40 p.m., a Jefferson County CYS representative arrived at the scene and spoke to Menteer, and Menteer then left the scene. The CYS representative then entered the residence to speak with the children.
According to the complaint, the children reported two of them were fighting over the toaster when Menteer’s boyfriend came in and began yelling at the one child. He then allegedly shoved the child against the refrigerator and choked him by grabbing him by the windpipe. The second child told the CYS worker the first child then went to his room, crying and saying “F” everyone and “F” you. He said Menteer’s boyfriend then punched a wall and put a hole in it, and then choked the first child again. he also reported that the boyfriend was shoving the child and “had him by the back of the neck on his knees on the floor.” The second child said he then got involved to protect his brother, and the boyfriend then began to choke him, as well. He said the first child then went to the neighbor’s house, and the neighbor had called police, who had taken the first child to the hospital.
The complaint notes the children’s father told the CYS representative that he found out about the incident and went to the hospital to see his son. He then went to the neighbor’s residence to pick up the other children and took them back to Brookville.
According to the complaint, the second child went on to further report that Menteer had gone to the neighbor’s house and was threatening the first child and had struck him “a few times” before police were called. He reported Menteer had also pointed a gun at his head and threatened to shoot him several times in the past and had done the same thing to the first child.
The father also called the neighbor who was involved and spoke to him, on speakerphone, with Officer Hollobaugh and the CYS representative present.
According to the complaint, the neighbor reported there have been other incidents with the first child coming over, being undernourished and crying about getting hit by Menteer and her boyfriend. He reported that on November 22, the child came over and was on the front porch crying and had marks on his neck and shoulders. He reported the child said he wanted to kill himself.
The neighbor said Menteer then came over and barged in, yelling at the child and striking him in the face and other areas. She allegedly told him whatever the child told him was lies, without waiting to hear what the child told him. He noted that when the police arrived that night, the marks on the child had “gone down some, but were clearly visible,” the complaint states.
Officer Hollobaugh later searched for information on the man named as Menteer’s boyfriend.
According to the complaint, she showed a photograph of the man he identified to the children’s father, who positively identified the man as Menteer’s boyfriend. Two of the children also identified the man as Menteer’s boyfriend.
The complaint notes the man has a last name that is different from the name Menteer gave. It also notes the first child reported the man’s actual last name but noted the man would “knock their teeth down their throat,” if he told anyone the name.
The following charges were filed through Magisterial District Judge Gregory M Bazylak’s office on February 26:
– False Swearing – Mislead Public Servant, Misdemeanor 2
– Hinder Apprehension/Prosecution-False Info To LEO, Misdemeanor 2
A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1, with Judge Bazylak presiding.
No additional charges related to this case have been filed as of Tuesday, March 3.
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