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REP. BOB FILNER CITES FRUSTRATION AND DELAY IN

AIRPORT ALTERCATION -- House Vets' Chair faces assault

and battery charges because of incident at Dulles airport.

 

Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) - House Vets' Chair

 

For background on the Filner assault and battery fiasco (with backlinks), click here...
http://www.vawatchdog.org/07/nf07/
nfAUG07/nf082107-8.htm

For more on Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/ses
search.php?q=filner&op=and

Story here... http://www.contracosta
times.com/bayandstate/ci_674
9966?nclick_check=1

Story below:

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Rep. Filner cites frustration, delay in airport altercation

By ERICA WERNER
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON—Democratic Rep. Bob Filner said Wednesday he regrets an incident at Dulles airport earlier this month when he allegedly pushed a United Airlines baggage employee, resulting in misdemeanor assault and battery charges.

Filner, D-San Diego, offered no apology or details of the incident in a three-sentence statement issued after he returned from a week in Iraq.

"On Sunday, Aug. 19, 2007, I was tired after a delayed flight and frustrated by the subsequent further delay of the entire flight's baggage," the statement said. "But I did not want things to turn out as they did, with offense obviously taken and much misunderstanding.

"This is an episode that I regret and hope to move beyond."

His spokeswoman, Amy Pond, didn't immediately return messages seeking additional information.

In the incident, Filner is accused of trying to enter an employees-only area, pushing aside an employee's arm and refusing to leave when asked, according to Courtney Prebich, assistant media relations manager for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

Filner previously disputed accounts of the incident as factually incorrect and said the charges were "ridiculous," but he didn't elaborate on that in his statement Wednesday.

The female employee, whom United declined to identify, did not require medical attention.

However she decided to press charges, and a Loudoun County, Va., magistrate issued a summons for Filner to appear on the assault and battery charges on Oct. 2 in Loudoun County General District Court.

Filner had not been served with the summons as of Wednesday because it must be delivered to him directly, Prebich said.

She said airport authorities were in touch with Filner's attorney.

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Larry Scott  --