My story begins on July 21, 2013. That was the day my wife, Ashley, went onto the Internet in search of a new cell phone. It was on Craigslist that she found a white Samsung Galaxy S3 that she really liked. The seller was located in Northeast Philadelphia and he wanted $300 for the phone.

I took it upon myself to make the initial contact with the seller, Sardor Bolyaganov. I called the number listed (267.475.XXXX) to inquire if it was still for sale. Sardor was still in possession of the phone. He told me it was in excellent condition and good working order. We arranged to meet to exchange payment for the phone. The time was set to meet at 2:30pm. Sardor had wanted me to meet him at 735 Kentwood St. in Philadelphia. I preferred a more public location such as the Wawa on 10901 Bustleton Ave. Sardor responded that he could not meet there since he did not have a Driver’s License so it had to be at 735 Kentwood St. where he lived. Nevertheless, I agreed to meet him because the excuse sounded plausible.

My wife, who was pregnant at the time, asked my father to watch our two-year-old daughter because it was her nap time. We piled into my car and drove to meet Sardor. When we arrived, I had to call him because the address was to an apartment complex. Sardor walked down the parking lot driveway while still on the phone with me. My wife thought Sardor looked sketchy. We stayed in our car and rolled down the window when Sardor approached. He told me that he would return in a moment with the phone. I thought this was odd because the only reason we were meeting was to buy the phone. He then proceeded to walk in a different direction away from the apartments that we believed was where he lived. We found a parking spot down the street and waited for Sardor to return. After approximately 5 minutes, a black Honda Civic with dark tinted windows pulls up behind my car. Sardor got out of the driver’s side door with the phone in his hand. Sardor hands me the phone which I immediately notice has 2 cracks on it. I told him that I needed to show my wife the damage on the phone to see if she was still interested in it. My wife believed that putting a case on the phone would hide the damage so was ok with the purchase. Sardor was very shaky and fidgeting and I wasn’t sure if he was nervous or on drugs. I asked Sardor about the charger for the phone. He told me that it was broken and that this phone belonged to someone that needed money for rent and had asked Sardor to sell it for him. Sardor told me that he worked at a phone store and often had people asking for his help in selling used phones. Sardor was only willing to bring the price down to $290 due to the cracks and missing charger. I handed over cash and we shook hands. I got in my car and handed my wife the phone and we drove away.

We stopped at our local AT&T store in Bensalem for a new SIM card, case, and charger for the phone. It was 5:04 pm on and we ended up spending $68.90. Afterward, we headed to the Giant supermarket that was right next door for a couple of things for dinner. We got home and my wife tried to set up her phone. She was having problems with the phone and was unable to make calls or texts. I dialed 611 on the phone and spoke with an AT&T customer service representative. That representative told me that the phone had been reported stolen and that the IMEI number, which is like a serial number, was blacklisted. They said that the only way to unlock it was to have the owner call up and unlock it. If not, the only option would be to return the phone for a refund. I explained that we just bought the phone off someone from Craigslist. At 8:36 pm I texted Sardor from my phone asking if the phone was stolen. After speaking with AT&T, I immediately called Sardor thinking he could call up the owner and have it unlocked. I explained to him the problem it was having. Sardor responded that he wasn’t aware of the phone being stolen and that he no longer had a working phone number for the owner of the phone. I told Sardor that I wanted to meet to get my money back. I told him that I was not interested in a stolen phone. Sardor agreed to meet.

I was growing more nervous about Sardor and how everything he said appeared to be lies. So, I asked my father, Lonnie, to go with me to meet Sardor. Since it was bedtime for my daughter, my wife stayed home to be with her. I got changed into different clothes and grabbed my phone, my wallet, and my handgun before I left. I have a permit to carry a handgun in my state. I also always carry my handgun wherever I go. This is part of my normal routine. I even had it when I met Sardor for the first time that day. It was 9:40pm and while on my way to meet Sardor, I received a text message saying that he spent $90 of the money I gave him so he would only have $200 to return to me. I was a passenger in my father’s car as we headed to see Sardor.

I decided to call the police because I wanted to inform them of the stolen phone and report Sardor. I dialed 911 to see if police would meet me at the location to arrest Sardor and return the stolen phone. I also did not want the police to think I had a part in knowingly receiving stolen property. I told the 911 dispatcher that I was meeting Sardor so I could get my money back. I told them that I wanted a cop to come with us. When the dispatcher answered she informed me that I was being routed to Bucks County police at the time of the call and needed to be transferred the Philadelphia 911. I explained to the Philadelphia dispatcher the whole story. Keep in mind that all of my 911 calls are recorded. I told them we bought a phone earlier today and it was apparently stolen and that I am meeting the person that I bought the phone from for a partial return of only $200 of my money.  And that I wanted the police to be there to take the phone and return it to the owner and to arrest Sardor for selling stolen goods. I was informed by dispatch that an officer would meet us at the corner of Bustleton Ave and Verree Rd. In twenty minutes at 10:06 pm after my first call to 911, I called a second time to explain that an officer never showed up. I asked if they could put in for another request for an officer to meet me. Meanwhile, Sardor kept calling and asking where I was. I had to keep making up excuses to try and stall for more time for the police to arrive. Still waiting on the corner of Bustleton Ave and Verree with the car running I called 911 for a 3rd time at 10:23pm. I spoke again with the same dispatcher and told her the police still haven’t arrived. According to the 911 tapes, the officers kept blowing off my calls for help. Even when the call was upgraded to a “Priority 1” by dispatch, which is the highest priority so they would come right away. After waiting for about an hour or so for the police to show up, Sardor said he wasn’t going to wait any longer and sounded agitated on the phone. I told him we were on our way and called 911 back again and told them that I had to go meet Sardor to get my money back because he said that he was not going to wait any longer.

At 10:30pm I called Sardor to ask where he wanted to meet. He told me to meet at the stop sign on Ferndale and Kentwood. While still on the phone with Sardor I saw a black Mercedes pull up diagonally on the passenger rear side, toward the middle of the road. I saw that it was Sardor that exited the passenger side of the car. I exited our car as well. Sardor handed me the money. I counted it and there was only $200 dollars, which was still the $90 short of what I paid. I told Sardor that I was going to take the phone to the police so that the phone will be returned to the owner. Sardor started to raise his voice so my dad got out of the car to try and diffuse the situation.  As Sardor was talking to my father I walked over to the rear of his car and attempted to take a picture of the license plate. This is when Sardor’s wife exited the driver side door and began yelling at me. She did not want me taking photographs of the car. At this point my dad shouted to me to call the police.

Sardor turned and punched my dad in the face knocking his glasses off his face and knocking him to the ground. From my angle all I could see was my father going back and his feet sticking up in the air. When I walked over to my father, I witnessed Sardor repeatedly kicking my dad in the face and the upper body as he lay motionless on the ground. Sardor’s punch was so hard that my father was actually knocked out of his flip-flops and landed straight on the back of his head. I still have nightmares; I will never forget what happened that night. My dad was lying motionless on the ground while Sardor continued to punch and kick him all over his body. I then yelled “get off my dad” and tried to get in between them to stop Sardor from attacking my dad. Sardor then punched me in the face and I fell back hitting our car before falling to the ground. Sardor had broken my nose, I heard it snap and there was blood everywhere. Neither me or my dad ever hit Sardor at all. Sardor began to kick me in the face and upper body while I was down. My head was spinning, and I could do nothing to defend myself from being assaulted. Meanwhile I thought my dad was dead.

He was not moving. I did not realize he was still unconscious. I feared for my life and was worried about my dad.

Sardor reached into his pants and it looked like he had a weapon. I thought he was going to kill my dad and then come for me next. I thought I was never going to see my wife and kids ever again. I felt as if I had no other option but to reach for my firearm holstered in my waistband of my jeans. I fired two shots. One was a warning that did not stop Sardor from his continued attack on my father. The next shot was directed at Sardor. I had no choice but to shoot to save my father’s life and my life that would be in danger next. He was going to kill us. Sardor fell to the ground. I then ran to my dad.

It was 10:35pm and I got my phone and called 911. I was the first person on the scene to call for help. And I explained everything that happened to dispatch and including our location. I was in such a state of shock. I could not even talk correctly; you can hear that on the 911 tapes. My dad’s face looked like he had a melon on the side of it and his white shirt was full of his own blood. He was barely talking. I saw how swollen and how much blood was all over my dad. One more kick would have ended his life. I then told the 911 dispatch that my dad and I were being assaulted and that I feared for our lives and I shot this man in self-defense. She then asked for the location and I ran to the street sign and spelled them out to her. I was then transferred to rescue which I spelled out street’s names again for the rescue crews. I stayed on the phone until the first officer arrived when they did I put my hands on my dad’s car and they asked who had the gun. I stated I had the gun and that it was holstered on my back-right side. He came over and took my firearm and walked me over to the police van. Then I was placed in cuffs and put in the car.

I could not believe it when I heard the playback of this recording. I didn’t know at the time that I never turned my phone off when I placed it on my dad’s car. Also, in the recording I was telling bystanders to put pressure on Sardor where he was bleeding so he wound not bleed out. I was a firefighter so that training kicked in. I never wanted to hurt anyone but he was going to kill us.

The ambulance came and took Sardor and my father to the hospital. I told the police I was dizzy and my nose was broken, but they never took me to the hospital. My nose was clearly crooked and my eyes were black and blue. But the police neglected to take me for treatment. They also asked for my license to carry a gun. I told the police that it was in my wallet in my pocket. It was not there. They found it in the street where I got knocked down. Then they put it back in my pocket instead of leaving it for evidence.

My cellphone was ringing non-stop in my pocket and I knew that it was my worried wife. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, and I was very scared. I was taken down to the 15^th District where I was put into a holding cell for many hours.  I asked to make a phone call and the cop said, “Your wife doesn’t want to talk to you because you are a piece of shit.” I heard other police talking about what happened and they said it was self-defense, they would have done the same thing. I heard my dad come into the station when he was released from the hospital. Eventually, it got crowded in the cell so they put us together. He was really bloody, bruised, and swollen with shoe marks everywhere. The next day they interviewed my dad until the point of him blacking out and released him. He was in the parking lot when then police said the DA filed charges so they arrested him. Two plain-clothes special intelligence agents questioned me and then so did the detective. I wanted to talk to my lawyer before I made a statement so he took me down to get pictures of my face. That night we had a video hearing where they set my bail for $500,000 dollars, I think, and $25,000 for my dad. They transported us to county jail; the cop driving was running lights and stuff in the middle of the night in the rain for no reason. No light or sirens and we were flung around like we were in a carnival ride hitting everything. At jail we went through intake process which took 18 hours and that was very scary. This has affected my life and my family drastically in so many ways. Somehow I was found guilty and sentenced to 17.5 to 35 years in prison. I never was in trouble before. So many things went wrong during my trial.