Man accused of assault at Albuquerque bowling alley gets charges dropped, now suing
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A man who originally faced criminal charges for a fight inside a northeast Albuquerque bowling alley is off the hook. Now he says he was wrongfully accused and is suing.
Video from the February night at Main Event just off I-25 and Montgomery shows words being exchanged, a security guard punching a man later identified as Antoine Morris, and others then jumping in.
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According to court documents, some bowlers were telling minors in the next lane to stay in their lane. As the dispute escalated, the manager told the security guard to intervene. The security guard is seen punching Morris which he told police he did preemptively to protect himself and then accidentally hit Morris’ wife.
Security guard: “He had a balled fist, a crouch stand, very aggressive, that’s when I hit him.”
Officer: “So, when he did that you thought that he was going to…?”
Security officer: “Fight.”
A man who had a cut on his face also claimed Morris had hit him on the face with a piece of glass, which is why Morris was initially charged with aggravated battery. But the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office said the video doesn’t back that up. The DA has since dropped the charges, telling News 13 after further review that the evidence doesn’t support the charge.
The DA’s office said the video shows Morris throwing a drink at the man and setting the container down on the table and that evidence points to the man getting injured in the “subsequence melee.”
Morris is now suing Main Event, the security guard, the alleged victim, and the Albuquerque Police Department. In the lawsuits, he claimed the alleged victim lied to police and called out APD’s investigation.
The Bernalillo County DA’s Office sent this statement:
Our office diligently reviewed the security footage in this matter of an altercation involving multiple people. We spoke to several witnesses. The allegation of aggravated battery cannot be supported by the available evidence. After the altercation, it appears the defendant threw his drink on the alleged victim then set the beverage container back down on the table, and did not assault the alleged victim with a glass. Furthermore, the evidence points to the injury on the alleged victim as having occurred in the subsequent melee that happened after the initial confrontation.
Nancy Laflin, Communications Director, Bernalilo County District Attorney’s Office
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