Bride's brother accused of biting officer during melee at Long Island wedding
SAINT JAMES, Long Island (WABC) -- A man from Suffolk County is facing charges after he allegedly bit a police officer during a brawl at a wedding on Monday night.
It all happened Monday around 7:45 p.m. at a catering hall called Flowerfield Celebrations at 199 Mills Pond Road.
On Tuesday, authorities said an uninvited guest showed up to the event and that is what triggered the chain of events.
When police responded to a 911 call about the fight, officers found several skirmishes had broken out among the more than 100 guests.
As authorities were breaking up the fight, they say the bride's brother, 22-year-old Justize Murphy, bit an officer on the arm and shoved another.
Murphy was charged with assault.
His family was at court Tuesday to support him and suggested that the wedding crasher, who was not charged, brought a gun to the event. Police, however, have no reports of that.
"Dozens of officers responded, 130 people were at the wedding, I don't know how many people were engaged in the tumultuous behavior, but it was large number," said Suffolk County Police Department Chief Gerard Hardy.
Murphy was released with electronic monitoring after his court appearance Tuesday.
"My client has never been arrested before, has no prior contact with criminal justice whatsoever, has never so much as gotten a speeding ticket, this whole process was a shock to him," said defense attorney George Duncan.
A second man, Qeywon Wilson, shoved another officer who was attempting to break up the fighting, police say.
Wilson was charged with obstructing governmental administration and will be arraigned at a later date.
A spokesperson for the wedding venue said, "in our almost 35 years of operations, a situation of this type has never happened."
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