A Florida attorney was arrested after allegedly assaulting a man at a wedding during a line-cutting dispute in the buffet line, according to authorities.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of a battery during a wedding reception in Boca Raton on Jan. 18, according to local news outlets.
When deputies arrived, they interviewed the victim who told them that he was waiting in line at the prime rib carving station when his daughter, his niece, and a friend requested to join him.
The alleged assailant, 52-year-old Mark Roher, overheard the discussion and got into a heated confrontation with the victim after claiming the girls were cutting.
The victim stated that he tried to step away, but Roher hit him in the head with a plate, shoved him, and then grabbed him by the collar, according to a police report cited by The Miami New Times and BocaNewsNow.com.
“The slimmer man ignored the man yelling at him and did not respond,” the police report reads. “Without provocation, the large, bald man struck the slimmer man on the head with a dinner plate. From thereon, a melee began between a large number of the wedding guests.”
The report also included a statement from a witness who corroborated the victim’s account and confirmed “the plate had shattered” when Roher allegedly struck the victim before other guests separated them.
When authorities showed up, Roher initially refused to speak about the situation but later confessed that he pushed the victim.
“[The defendant] stated that he was upset that he was being cut in line and … did get into an argument with the victim,” deputies reported. “Mark also admitted to making first contact by pushing the victim.”
Roher also alleged that he too suffered injuries when the confrontation started to escalate and involve several other guests. The police report states that Roher indicated he “was hit in the face, undearm, and shin.”
Bodycam footage obtained by Law&Crime shows Roher demanding deputies arrest one of the individuals who attacked him.
“I want to press charges against him because out of the numerous people that beat me up, he’s the only one I could identify as kicking me,” Roher said. “So he kicked me. I saw him. He’s the only one I saw kicking me, so I don’t know why he’s not getting charged.”
He also told deputies that he didn’t drink alcohol that night since the wedding was a “dry party.”
Roher was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
