Charges to be Dropped in UT-OU Bar Fight

Oklahoma prosecutors plan to drop an assault and battery charge against an Oklahoma Sooner football fan accused of nearly castrating a Texas Longhorns fan during a bar fight last year.

Attorney Billy Bock says Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater told him late yesterday that he intends to drop the charge against Allen Michael Beckett.

Brian Thomas has testified that he received more than 60 stitches and is still in pain, although there was no permanent damage.

54-year-old Beckett, a federal auditor and church deacon, contends he was defending himself during an altercation with Thomas on June 17, 2007 at Henry Hudson's Pub in Oklahoma city.

Authorities have alleged that Beckett tore Thomas' scrotum after Beckett taunted Thomas for wearing a University of Texas shirt into an establishment frequented by Oklahoma Sooners devotees.

During a preliminary hearing, Thomas, 35, accused Beckett of attacking him without provocation when Thomas tried to leave the bar.
 
First Assistant District Attorney Scott Rowland confirmed that prosecutors plan to dismiss the charges. He says additional witnesses who were with Thomas on the night of the fight have come forward since the charges were filed.

Bock says a civil suit filed by Thomas against Beckett and the pub's owner still is pending.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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