Frisby
WILKES-BARRE — An Exeter man was found guilty Friday of biting the thumb of a Wilkes-Barre Township police officer and threatening to shoot a manager at the now-closed Dream Girls adult entertainment venue.
Brandon Lee Frisby, 46, was found guilty of aggravated assault and terroristic threats after a Luzerne County jury deliberated for nearly one hour following a two-day trial before Court of Common Pleas Judge David W. Lupas.
Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Dende, during his closing argument Friday morning, told jurors Frisby used his mouth as “a weapon” when he clamped down on the left thumb of Officer Brian Saylor.
Saylor and Officers Isaiah Guerrero and Robinson Pena responded to the business on Mundy Street on a report that a man, identified as Frisby, threatened to shoot manager Amanda Morgan just before 1:30 a.m. on Jan. 31, 2025.
Outside in the parking lot, Guerrero encountered an intoxicated Frisby, who was detained for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct.
After a struggle to get Frisby inside the rear seat of a police cruiser, Saylor entered the front seat to activate the interior surveillance camera when Frisby bit his left thumb.
During the trial, Dende showed video footage from Guerrero’s body camera and the interior cruiser. Dende told the jury Frisby had his head in the open partition window when he used his “mouth as a weapon” to bite Saylor’s left thumb and leaned back onto the rear seat.
Dende told the jury Frisby engaged his bite for 16 to 17 seconds before he released his bite when stunned by a Taser deployed by Guerrero.
Pictures of Saylor’s bloody thumb were shown to the jury.
Saylor was treated at Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center. He testified that it took three to four months for the sensation to return to his left thumb.
Frisby’s attorney, Ellen M. Granahan, argued Saylor was aggressive and “shoved his hand” in Frisby’s face.
“This was a panic reaction to an aggressive action,” Granahan told the jury during her closing argument. “This situation was created by a shove in the face.”
Granahan told the jury Saylor failed to give commands to Frisby to remove his head from the partition opening, but instead shoved Frisby’s head.
Frisby remains free on $25,000 bail. He is scheduled to be sentenced on May 28.
