Roger Allan Holmberg Sr. is charged with simple assault after allegedly hitting his wife in the head on the July 2 flight.
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Alaska Airlines
A pastor faces assault charges after allegedly hitting his wife during an Alaska Airlines flight because she was upgraded to first class without him, authorities said.
The alleged incident occurred on July 2 on Alaska Airlines Flight 275 from Seattle to Anchorage, Alaska, according to a criminal complaint reviewed by PEOPLE. Roger Allan Holmberg Sr. and his wife, who was not named, had traveled from Virginia to attend an event related to their office, the complaint states.
As KKTV and Alaska News Source reported, Holmberg previously worked as a pastor at Grace Baptist Temple in Anchorage.
In a statement to PEOPLE, Alaska Airlines said: “We can confirm that Mr. Holmberg was banned from boarding our flights and the U.S. government (FBI) charged him with simple assault on July 3.”
According to the lawsuit, Holmberg told his wife of 18 months, “How the hell did you get the upgrade?” The woman replied, “I’m a Gold Point member. Don’t talk to me like that.”
Holmberg then handed his wife his phone from the hallway and told her to read it before giving her the middle finger, the complaint states. Afterward, a witness claimed he saw Holmberg “swing his arm toward the woman.” “(The witness) leaned forward to block the attempted punch, but (Holmberg) appeared to strike the victim’s head with his hand anyway,” the complaint states.
According to the complaint, another witness said he heard two passengers in the first-class cabin causing a disturbance and a woman saying, “You can’t do that.” Holmberg then went to the first-class restroom and when he came out, the witness told him, “If there were any more incidents, we would put him in handcuffs,” the complaint states.
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During a police interview, Holmberg allegedly said he was “upset” that his wife had been upgraded to first class because he wanted her to travel with him and sit next to him. He also claimed he was “not a violent person” and “had no intention of hurting his wife,” according to the indictment.
Holmberg claimed he “patted his wife on the head as he passed by to get her attention,” the lawsuit said, adding that he was “unsure how others would interpret his interactions with his wife,” the lawsuit said.
He also allegedly told authorities that the two had been to marriage counseling and that his wife “often showed disrespect and had angry outbursts” toward him. Holmberg described an alleged incident in which his wife grabbed his leg while driving and broke his finger.
According to the complaint, Holmberg’s wife told police that her husband had “abused her before and had broken her finger in an incident last September.”
She claimed that Holmberg “hit her on the head with his knuckles” during the flight while she was sitting in the first-class cabin, the lawsuit states. The alleged victim added that “(Holmberg) knew she had epilepsy and that touching (her) head could trigger a seizure.”
The flight crew notified police after learning of the alleged incident, and Holmberg was arrested at the Anchorage airport on a charge of simple assault, according to the complaint. He was subsequently taken to the Anchorage Correctional Center but later released on several conditions.
According to an order setting conditions of release reviewed by PEOPLE, a judge ordered, among other things, that Holmberg not come within 100 yards of the alleged victim’s home and place of work, agree to provide a DNA sample and appear in court.
It is unclear whether Holmberg has confessed, and records show his public defender was fired on July 8. His next court date is scheduled for July 29, according to court records.
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