Earlier this year, a Centre County disabled veteran filed a federal suit claiming that a State College area business refused to let his service dog into the store. Now, several months later he's encountering new frustrations.
Christopher Taylor, of Bellefonte, and his service dog Zeke, who Taylor says is his lifeline, is by his side almost constantly.
What sparked the federal lawsuit happened in February.
“I was threatened with arrest for having may service dog in the Nittany Mall in a store.”
Taylor says a store employee told him they didn’t have insurance coverage for dogs, and Zeke might trigger a customer's allergies.
A State College police officer was called and, according to court documents, told Taylor the store has the right to exclude anybody, and he could be arrested for trespassing.
Taylor suffers from a degenerative joint disease and is an Army combat veteran of the Vietnam War.
“I was in a VA hospital for two years being put back together. It’s almost more than you can bear. I couldn’t get a job, couldn’t get hired. I got $14 a month to live on. I was homeless. No place to go. Somebody does this to me, it’s just more than I can handle.”
Taylor filed a civil rights federal suit under the Americans with Disabilities Act, but after problems with his original legal counsel, he's now looking for help.
“I also contacted at least twenty attorneys in Centre County, and elsewhere, and cannot get any representation whatsoever.”
The last court filing in the case was last month and a response from State College Borough, who was also named in the suit, denied any wrongdoing on behalf of the police, saying the officer's conversation with Taylor was recorded on her body camera.