16 | JANUARY 9 • 2020 False Report? Temple Kol Ami cantorial soloist allegedly stages stabbing to get out of his contract. W hen police officers arrived at Temple Kol Ami to investi- gate a reported anti-Semitic stabbing, it did not take long for them to believe the story had been fabricated by the supposed victim. Sean Sammit, the synagogue’ s cantorial soloist and music teacher, initially told police he had been stabbed in the parking lot on Dec. 15 by a man who expressed anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant epithets. However, detectives soon believed the evi- dence did not support Sammit’ s story. “Early in the investigation, it was becoming increasingly clear there were a number of inconsistencies that did not add up. We believed he had made a false report and that there was no threat to the community,” said West Bloomfield Police Chief Michael Patton. According to the police report obtained by the JN, Samitt did not call 911 after his alleged attack. Instead, he drove himself to the emergency department of Henry Ford Hospital, where a security staff member called police. There, he told detectives a detailed story that included specifics about the alleged perpetrator’ s appearance and clothing and the blows they exchanged during the alleged attack. Meanwhile, officers on the scene said they did not find any evidence of a stab- bing in the synagogue parking lot. Once inside, they said they discovered bloody tissues in Samitt’ s office and in the men’ s bathroom and a bloody knife in the kitch- en area. When police confronted Samitt about the inconsistencies in his story, he claimed he lost consciousness while washing dishes at the synagogue and accidentally stabbed himself, the report said. He told police he made up the story about being stabbed due to having been teased by other employees about his medical condition. Officers later told Samitt they had examined the health data on Samitt’ s Apple watch and found he did not lose consciousness. The report said officers also informed him surveillance footage from a nearby camera did not display any signs of the attack he had described. According to the police report, Samitt then admitted he had decided to stage his own stabbing because he wanted to get out of his contract with Temple Kol Ami. Once Samitt confirmed he had fabricated the attack, West Bloomfield police report- ed the incident to the Oakland County continued on page 18 Jews in the D Temple Kol Ami in West Bloomfield FACEBOOK “Very early in the investigation, it was becoming increasingly clear there were a number of inconsistencies that did not add up. We believed he had made a false report and that there was no threat to the community.” — CHIEF MICHAEL PATTON, WBPD