ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – A 25-year-old Jacksonville man accused of trying to get a 21-year-old woman to smoke marijuana and then trying to force her into his SUV was ordered held on $25,000 bond Thursday morning on a charge of attempted kidnapping.
William Ross Cesery III bonded out of the St. Johns County Jail later in the day.
Lawyers contended that Cesery has "significant medical issues" resulting from a boating accident in 2007.
According to St. Augustine police, Shanna Kuenzi was walking on a sidewalk along Orange Street about noon Wednesday when a Chevrolet SUV pulled up beside her.
"I was walking down by the city gates toward U.S. 1. A guy started following me, and he started asking me if I needed a ride," Kuenzi said. "For five minutes, he kept following me and asking me if I needed a ride. And I told him that I didn't."
Cesery also offered the woman lunch and marijuana and told her that she was beautiful, all while asking her if she needed a ride, according to the police report.
After telling the man "no" countless times, Kuenzi said he wouldn't take no for an answer.
"He got tired of me saying no and he pulled out in front of me into some random guy's driveway and was like, he got out of his car, and was like, 'You're beautiful' and started grabbing me. And when he grabbed me, he pulled me into his car like he was going to take me forcefully," Kuenzi said.
Kuenzi said she was able to fight him off and the man then sped away. She immediately called police.
"I wrote a report and that's when I got in the vehicle and I was on my way back to the police station at this time and the police officer asked me, 'Just out of curiosity, why, is it this vehicle?'' And I said, 'That's the guy. That's the exact vehicle,'" Kuenzi said. "And he got out of his car with guns and was like, 'Get on the ground. Get on the ground.'"
The judge ordered Cesery not to have any contact with the victim and to be monitored with a GPS tracking device if released because of previous charges.
Cesery has been arrested six times since 2007. In 2011, he was arrested on multiple charges, including possession of drugs and resisting an officer. He faced two criminal traffic citations for speeding and reckless driving this year and he is on probation for battery.
In 2012, police said, Cesery was involved in a physical fight during the Florida-Georgia football game and that he was knocked unconscious.
The comment about Cesery's previous injuries during his first appearance will likely be challenged.
"You can't just come into a courtroom and say, 'He's been in a prior accident. Therefore, that justifies
what he did,'" said Gene Nichols, an attorney not connected with this case. "There's going to have to be a substantial history of this through medical records, and then to have doctors come in and testify after examination."
Dr. Joe Czerkawski, M.D., who practices sports and internal medicine at Baptist Medical Center, has never treated Cesery, but said traumatic brain injuries can have lasting effects.
"A boating accident, that is severe enough. That's a high velocity sort of traumatic brain injury that would be very significant. I don't know the details, of course, but as you know, there could be implications later on," Czerkawski said. "There's definitely implication for further neurocognitive changes, attention deficit, decision-making, executive decision-making. And then, what we're really looking at, what you're asking me about is mood disturbance and behavioral implications, we're seeing more and more."
Over the last 10 years, Czerkawski said, traumatic brain injury and concussion management has evolved significantly. He said if someone suffers from one, it's important to be treated.
"If there's depression involved, suicide or acting out with aggressive behavior, that would be treated with medication, counseling, psychiatric help," Czerkawski said.
There is no word yet on when Cesery is due back in court again.
