Two Richmond police officers were arraigned in Richmond Circuit Court yesterday on charges that they assaulted a man while working an off-duty security job at a nightclub in Richmond's Fan District.
Donnell Patterson and Charles Battle each face one count of misdemeanor assault stemming from an incident June 26 outside Club 534 on North Harrison Street between West Broad and West Grace streets.
Patterson's attorney, John Rockecharlie, described the incident as a "chaotic crowd-control situation" early that morning after patrons left the club around closing time.
The club's owner, Nat Dance, said as many as 350 people leave the club at closing time on some mornings. He estimated that about that many people might have been outside the morning of the incident, but he said some of the people in the crowd had come from another club that had let out.
The club was paying the officers to work security that morning, Dance and Rockecharlie said.
Richmond police officials and city prosecutors declined to describe what happened outside the club or to provide either officer's employment status. A special prosecutor from outside Richmond will be assigned to the case.
Battle's attorney, Claire G. Cardwell, declined to comment. The officers' accuser, Sadaris Fitzgerald, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Dance, who used to own the Cotton Club on Fifth Street in downtown Richmond, was fined $2,000 in 2006 after a judge found him guilty of maintaining a common nuisance at Club 534. The conviction later was thrown out.
According to testimony at the 2006 hearing, the Cotton Club and Club 534 could attract vast crowds that clogged streets and sidewalks.
Dance said yesterday that crowds outside Club 534 are not dangerous or a nuisance. He also said the June incident occurred around the corner from the club and not directly outside it.
Patterson and Battle each are free on a personal recognizance bond. A court hearing for both officers was set for Jan. 25.
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