Bride's brother accused of biting officer responding to brawl at a St. James wedding venue
Suffolk police say dozens of officers responded to Flowerfield after a brawl broke out at a wedding reception.
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A wedding reception in St. James erupted into chaos Monday night with two people ending up under arrest.
Suffolk police say dozens of officers responded to Flowerfield after a brawl broke out at a wedding reception.
"From preliminary reports, it looks like an uninvited guest showed up and that triggered a chain of events, which ended up turning into a large fight," says Suffolk Chief of Patrol Gerard Hardy.
Police say when an officer tried to restore order, he was bitten in the arm by Justize Murphy, of Mastic Beach. According to court documents, Murphy bit the officer while the officer was attempting to restrain him during a physical altercation involving multiple persons. The injured officer had "immediate pain and redness" on his left forearm.
Murphy's attorney George Duncan says his client is the brother of the bride.
"My client maintains his innocence. We look forward to a thorough investigation," says Duncan. "My client has never been arrested before, has no prior contact with the criminal justice system whatsoever, has never so much as gotten a speeding ticket."
Police say the other person arrested is facing harassment charges and obstructing governmental administration for shoving an officer.
Flowerfield says in its almost 35 years of operation, a situation of this type has never happened.
Murphy was released with GPS monitoring.
