A 75-year-old pastor from Virginia named Roger Allan Holmberg was taken into custody on July 2 after he arrived in Anchorage, Alaska, based on allegations of assaulting his wife during an Alaskan Airlines flight from Seattle. He became violent to his 59-year-old wife when she was upgraded to first class while Holmberg sat in coach, reported a criminal complaint obtained by the Independent.
According to the complaint, Holmberg confronted his wife of about 18 months shortly after takeoff, demanding to know how she had secured the upgrade. Witnesses reported that he asked, “How the hell did you get the upgrade?” to which she replied that she was a “gold point member” before requesting that he not speak to her in that manner.
The fight escalated during the flight. Holmberg reportedly approached his wife two more times. During one of those visits, he ordered her to look at something on his phone then gave her the middle finger. In incident number three, Holmberg allegedly tried to hit his wife but was blocked by her seatmate. According to the complaint, he “still appeared to strike the top of the victim’s head with his hand.”
An off-duty policeman sitting nearby got involved and warned Holmberg that he would be wearing handcuffs if he caused any more incidents. After this warning, there weren’t any further confrontations for the rest of the flight.
At 6:41 p.m., upon landing, Holmberg was arrested by airport police. His wife reported a history of abuse, including one incident whereby Holmberg allegedly broke her finger when the argument escalated. She further disclosed that she was suffering from epilepsy, adding that her husband knew that if he struck her, it might cause a fit.
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Upon questioning, Holmberg confessed to having marital problems but attributed this to his wife’s behavior. He went on to explain that she was at times disrespectful, even accusing her of anger issues, stating that once she broke her own finger when he was being assaulted by her and another time she had grabbed his genitals hard. Holmberg said he was unhappy about being made to sit at opposite ends of the aircraft, but he had only “tapped his wife on the head in passing to get her attention,” saying he was not violent toward her or any other person and never had the slightest intention of causing her harm.
The couple, celebrating their twentieth anniversary of knowing each other, were en route to Alaska on some ministry business when tragedy struck.
Holmberg now faces one count of simple assault, punishable by up to one year in prison should he be convicted. Neither Holmberg nor his wife returned requests seeking comment on the incident.
This incident sharply highlights the dangers of in-air hooliganism and marital disputes, raising serious questions about passenger safety and the responsibility of the police and the airline authorities in handling such incidents.