Rocky Mount Town Council candidate Phillip Bane has filed an assault and battery charge against Assistant Town Manager Mark Moore.
The charges appear connected to a May 9 encounter involving Bane and members of Rocky Mount town staff. The incident took place in the town office parking lot and resulted in a call to police.
The Roanoke Times previously published videos of the encounter. The videos were obtained through a public records request and included two videos taken by town staff and one video from a security camera.
The videos show Town Manager Robert Wood exiting the town office and heading to his parked car. Bane, standing outside when Wood exits, walks with Wood to his car. At that point, Moore exits the office and crosses the parking lot to Wood’s car.
Wood enters the driver’s seat of his car and attempts to shut the door, but Bane stands between the seat and the door, preventing it from closing. Wood tells Bane to get out of his door.
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Moore moves between Bane and Wood and, with his back to Bane, backs Bane away from Wood’s car. Wood gets out of his car and Moore continues to stand between Wood and Bane until the police arrive.
Courts and governmental offices were closed Monday due to the Columbus Day holiday, as The Roanoke Times sought to confirm the charge.
Town Attorney John Boitnott said Moore has been issued a summons.
“The summons reads, ‘assault and batter Phillip Bane in violation of section 18.2-57, Code of Virginia.’ ... We were notified of the issuance of the summons and Mr. Moore has received notice of the summons,” Boitnott said.
“I was somewhat surprised that the magistrate would issue a summons for ... an offense that allegedly occurred over five months ago. In my opinion, this appears politically motivated given the fact that Mr. Bane’s actions followed the recent articles published by The Roanoke Times,” Boitnott said. “There are online videos that were posted in connection with those articles that I believe are self-explanatory to anyone who wants to watch them.”
Bane and town officials have been involved in an ongoing dispute over zoning issues with a downtown property Bane is developing. Police have been called by town officials on several occasions over incidents created by the matter.
Bane is one of six candidates in the race for three town council seats. The election is Nov. 8.