[Dion]

Pastor Charged After Hitting Wife on Flight, Told Police He Was Upset That She Was Upgraded to 1st Class Without Him

A pastor faces a federal assault charge 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 Alaska Airlines flight 275 from Seattle to Anchorage, Alaska, on July 2, according to a criminal complaint reviewed by PEOPLE. Roger Allan Holmberg Sr. and his wife, whose name was not provided, had been traveling from Virginia for an event related to their ministry, the complaint states.

Holmberg formerly worked as pastor at the Grace Baptist Temple in Anchorage, KKTV and Alaska News Source reported.

In a statement to PEOPLE, Alaska Airlines said, “We can confirm that Mr. Holmberg has been banned from our flights and a simple assault charge was filed against him by the U.S. Gov’t. (FBI) on July 3rd.”

According to the complaint, Holmberg allegedly told his wife of 18 months, “How the hell did you get the upgrade?” The woman responded, “I'm a gold point member. Don't speak to me like that.”

Holmberg then handed his phone to his wife from the aisle, telling her to read it before giving her the middle finger, the complaint states. After that, a witness claimed they saw Holmberg “swing his arm” towards the woman. “[The witness] leaned forward to block the attempted strike, but [Holmberg] still appeared to strike the top of the victim’s head with his hand,” the complaint reads.

According to the complaint, another witness said they heard two passengers in the first class cabin being disruptive, with a woman saying, “You cannot be doing that.” Holmberg then headed to the first-class bathroom and when he got out, the witness told him, “if there were any further incidents, we would put him in handcuffs," the complaint states.

https://ca.yahoo.com/news/pastor-cha...201808351.html