Black Widow
03-25-2009, 06:00 PM
Victoria police will not lay charges in the melee that erupted after a February wrestling event at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre where pro wrestler Chris Jericho was swarmed by heckling fans and accused of punching a woman.
Police have interviewed several witnesses and watched hours of video recordings of the incident after the World Wrestling Entertainment bout Feb. 7, said police spokesman Sgt. Grant Hamilton. The evidence presents conflicting stories and charges would not be approved by the Crown, he said.
"It's hard to determine who provoked who."
Jericho alleges fans Ashley Levey and her boyfriend Kalen Johl assaulted him when he got out of his Chevy Tahoe, which was blocked by a mob of people as he drove away from the arena. Levey accused Jericho of spitting on her and punching her in the face.
Hamilton said Jericho has co-operated with police.
The profanity-laced shoving match was captured on cellphone cameras and a recording posted to YouTube has attracted thousands of viewings.
The incident sparked a firestorm of online debate from wrestling fans, some saying the 20-year-old Ashley Levey pushed and harassed Jericho and others saying the 225-pound wrestler overreacted.
Arena security guards were criticized for doing a poor job of handling the brawl.
Hamilton said police have spoken to officials from International Crowd Management and in the future officers may attend high profile events to prevent things from getting out of hand.
The Victoria Times Colonist
Police have interviewed several witnesses and watched hours of video recordings of the incident after the World Wrestling Entertainment bout Feb. 7, said police spokesman Sgt. Grant Hamilton. The evidence presents conflicting stories and charges would not be approved by the Crown, he said.
"It's hard to determine who provoked who."
Jericho alleges fans Ashley Levey and her boyfriend Kalen Johl assaulted him when he got out of his Chevy Tahoe, which was blocked by a mob of people as he drove away from the arena. Levey accused Jericho of spitting on her and punching her in the face.
Hamilton said Jericho has co-operated with police.
The profanity-laced shoving match was captured on cellphone cameras and a recording posted to YouTube has attracted thousands of viewings.
The incident sparked a firestorm of online debate from wrestling fans, some saying the 20-year-old Ashley Levey pushed and harassed Jericho and others saying the 225-pound wrestler overreacted.
Arena security guards were criticized for doing a poor job of handling the brawl.
Hamilton said police have spoken to officials from International Crowd Management and in the future officers may attend high profile events to prevent things from getting out of hand.
The Victoria Times Colonist