ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A man who initially faced criminal charges for a fight at a bowling alley in northeast Albuquerque is off the hook. Now he says he has been wrongly accused and is going to press charges.
Video from the February night at Main Event near 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 told minors in the next lane to stay in their lane. When the dispute escalated, the manager told the security guard to intervene. The security guard is seen hitting Morris, which he told police he did pre-emptively to protect himself, and then accidentally hitting Morris’ wife.
Guard: “He had a clenched fist, a crouched position, very aggressive, then I hit him.”
Officer: “So when he did that, you thought he was…?”
Security guard: “Fight.”
A man with a cut on his face also claimed Morris hit him in the face with a piece of glass. That’s why Morris initial charged with aggravated battery. But the Bernalillo County Prosecutor’s Office said the video doesn’t support that. The district attorney has since dropped the charges, telling News 13 after further investigation that the evidence does not support the charges.
The district attorney’s office said the video shows Morris throwing a drink at the man and placing the container on the table, and that there is evidence indicating the man was injured in the “follow-up fight.”
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 for APD’s investigation.
The Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office sent this statement:
Our office has carefully reviewed security footage of an altercation involving multiple people. We have spoken to several witnesses. The allegation of aggravated injuries cannot be supported by the available evidence. After the altercation, it appears the suspect threw his drink at the alleged victim and then placed the drink container back on the table, and did not attack the alleged victim with a glass. Furthermore, the evidence indicates that the alleged victim’s injury occurred during the ensuing fight that occurred after the initial confrontation.
Nancy Laflin, Communications Director, Bernalilo County District Attorney’s Office
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