Teacher charged in upstate homicide

Central Valley - Thomas Sebald, the Monroe-Woodbury social studies teacher who worked on weekends as a bouncer in a Hunter Mountain bar, has posted $10,000 bail in connection with the death of a patron. According to police, Sebald, 27, of New Paltz, intercepted a fight between two bar patrons on Feb. 4. Police said he picked up Peter Shine, 45, of Long Island, and threw him out of the Hunter Village Inn. Police initially said Shine died as a result of hitting the bumper of a car. Autopsy results later found that Shine died from asphyxiation when police said Sebald put him in a stranglehold. Sebald pleaded not guilty to a charge of criminally negligent homicide when he appeared earlier this week in Hunter Village Court. The case goes to a grand jury. He is on paid leave from the school district “while the legal system runs its course,” School Superintendent Joseph DeLorenzo said. Sebald’s salary is $47,000. The district sent a letter home to parents, advising them of the situation without mentioning specifics. Student reaction was mixed. Some students were chanting “free Sebald” during a lunch period. Others wondered if he would keep his job. Still others said they did not really blame him because it was his job - as a bouncer. One teacher, who asked that her name not be used, said Sebald had a good reputation among his colleagues and his students. That view was shared by one of his students, who exclaimed, “Noo .. my awesome government teacher ... he was so cool.” Another put it more simply: “I think it’s a sad story.”