ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — An Orchard Park parent and gym owner, who has made headlines before for opposing COVID restrictions, is back in the spotlight after getting arrested before a school board meeting on Tuesday night.
2 On Your Side is looking into this because a Facebook post by Robby Dinero has gone viral. He posted a photo of his arrest and said he was trying to get into the Orchard Park school board meeting, was wearing a mask, but was arrested for allegedly not wearing a mask on a previous occasion.
So we wanted to look into what happened Tuesday night and give this situation context.
First some background. Robby Dinero is an Orchard Park parent and owner of Athletes Unleashed. Dinero has made headlines for protesting gym closures and sued over state regulations that shut gyms down during the height of the pandemic.
Orchard Park Police are shown in the Facebook post. Wednesday, they released a statement saying they arrested Dinero just before 7 p.m. Tuesday night for criminal trespass in the third degree. They went on to say Dinero reportedly has violated the Orchard Park Central School District code of conduct in the past and was already told his privilege to be in any school district building was revoked. Police also say Dinero went into the high school before the school board meeting and, "Dinero was stopped outside by school staff and told he was not allowed to enter the building. He entered the building and was subsequently arrested for criminal trespass by officers."
2 On Your Side also asked a spokesperson for the Orchard Park Central School District about Dinero's arrest. He told us in a statement, that does not mention Dinero by name, that in November, the district was "forced to ban an individual from coming inside school district buildings due to the individual's conduct."
On multiple occasions, the district says the person would wear a face mask to enter a school building, then remove it once inside, and refuse to put it back on when asked. The district also says this person disrupted Board of Education meetings by shouting threats and inappropriate statements. So the district says it told this person in writing last month about the ban, but that last night, the person went into one of the buildings.
2 On Your Side talked with Dinero's attorney on the phone Wednesday afternoon.
"I sent a push back letter, you know, qualifying their legal ability to do so, and then they sent us a final letter saying that the prohibition would remain in place until he was complying with the code of conduct and the COVID-19 policies. So we showed up last night fully complying with the COVID-19 policies and the code of conduct. He was wearing a mask and we walked in and the first words from the police were Mr. Dinero, we, you know what we have to do, and they proceeded to arrest him," said attorney Todd Aldinger.
Aldinger says it was their understanding that Dinero would no longer be banned if he was following COVID policies.
Orchard Park Police say Dinero was released on an appearance ticket and he is scheduled to be in court on Dec. 28.