Ballston Spa

On a sunny final full day of summer, Amanda Conant came to the Ballston Spa police station Sunday afternoon with her father's cat, a memento of the man she called "beautiful."

She also had questions about his death the night before when police used a stun gun to subdue him.

Police said Daniel Satre, 43, of Saratoga Avenue, fought wildly with six officers, prompting them to hit him with electric shocks multiple times during an incident that became an ugly physical struggle outside his home.

But why?

Police said Satre was screaming and walking in front of cars on that street just before 11 p.m. Saturday when two Ballston Spa officers called for backup to help arrest him on disorderly conduct charges.

Two officers from the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office and two state troopers arrived, and all six attempted to apprehend Satre, police said.

Stun guns were then used by the officers to bring Satre under control, and he became unconscious after being handcuffed. Police said officers attempted to perform CPR at the scene, but Satre was pronounced dead at Saratoga Hospital just after midnight Saturday.

At a news conference Sunday, Village Police Chief Charles Koenig said Satre was warned several times that officers were preparing to stun him. Koenig said criminal and internal investigations are being conducted, and that no disciplinary action had been taken against the officers who used the stun guns on Satre. Officers from both Ballston Spa and the State Police stunned Satre, officials confirmed.

Satre's daughter and girlfriend both spoke outside the news conference but declined to discuss the incident from the night before.

Instead, they described Satre as a "beautiful person" who wouldn't hurt anyone.

"The last time I saw him, he was cuddling with his cat and he said, 'I love you,'" Conant said. "That was the last thing I heard from him. That's the person he was, you know? That's how I want to remember him."

Outside Satre's home Sunday afternoon, police kept watch over the property as neighbors occasionally peered out from their doors and porches. Those who spoke with the Times Union said they didn't know Satre personally.

George Goss IV, 17, said he was inside his family's home next door to Satre's residence when he heard a commotion coming from outside.

Goss said he saw Satre being combative with officers.

"They were trying to get him to calm down," he said. Goss added that he saw police try to wrestle Satre to the ground, and that while he did not hear officers use a stun gun on Satre he heard the electronic buzzing.

Goss' father, George Goss III, said Satre hadn't had any run-ins with police in the neighborhood before.

Satre appears to have run a T-shirt printing and embroidery business in Albany at one point. He attended high school in Vermont and studied at Mitchell College. Conant said her father was a salesman.

All six officers who were involved in the arrest were treated for minor injuries.

Satre's autopsy is scheduled for Monday.

Amanda Conant said she and her father were looking forward to building a better relationship and that he had begun visiting her in Vermont.

"We had a rocky start to our relationship. I met him when I was 15, but he was there from that moment on and tried constantly to make up for lost time," she recalled. "We spent all last week together, and the whole time he just kept looking at me. He's like, 'You're a mini-me.' He kept looking at my hands because we have the same hands," she continued."

"He was a good guy," Satre's girlfriend, who would identify herself only as Mila, said. "He would never hurt anybody."

mhamilton@timesunion.com • 518-454-5449 • @matt_hamilton10