Weddings are supposed to be a happy celebration of a couple coming together.
Tensions boiled over among hungry guests.
And a buffet line turned into a battlefield at a Florida wedding over one bad decision.
A Florida lawyer turns a plate into a weapon over buffet line dispute at a wedding
A South Florida couple’s wedding was marred by a dispute over cutting in line at the buffet that turned violent.
Attorney Mark Roher, 52, was patiently waiting in line for the prime rib that was being served at a cutting station at the Boca Lago Country Club in Boca Raton, Florida.
Syed Raza allowed his daughter and another young woman to cut the line for the prime rib.
Roher tried to confront the father about the etiquette of the buffet line but was ignored.
That is when things started to get chippy.
Roher slammed his dinner plate on Raza’s head and grabbed his collar.
“The slimmer man ignored the man yelling at him and did not respond,” the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office arrest report stated. “Without provocation, the large, bald man struck the slimmer man on the head with a dinner plate. From thereon, a melee began between a large number of the wedding guests.”
The wedding reception turned into the Royal Rumble because of a dispute over prime rib.
Eventually, the buffet melee calmed down and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office was called.
Prime rib dispute could cost Florida lawyer his law license
Roher told sheriff’s deputies that there was no alcohol being served at the wedding and claimed that he never struck Raza with the plate.
He claimed that he was the victim in the incident after he was attacked by various guests during the brawl.
“[Roher] also informed me that he had several injuries of where he was grabbed and escorted away,” a sheriff’s deputy wrote in the arrest report. “He mentioned that he was hit in the face, underarm, and shin.”
But employees at the country club and wedding guests claimed that he had turned his plate into a weapon.
“[A country club employee] confirmed that the plate had shattered and that [Roher] pushed the victim and was holding him by the collar,” the arrest report stated.
Roher later told deputies that he wanted to press charges against Raza.
“I want to press charges against him because out of the numerous people that beat me up, he’s the only one I could identify as kicking me,” Roher said. “So he kicked me. I saw him. He’s the only one I saw kicking me, so I don’t know why he’s not getting charged.”
The Florida attorney admitted that he shoved Raza.
“[The defendant] stated that he was upset that he was being cut in line and…did get into an argument with the victim,” the arrest report added. “Mark also admitted to making first contact by pushing the victim.”
Roher was charged with felony aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
He is facing up to five years in prison and could lose his license to practice law if he is convicted.
No prime rib is worth getting arrested over and potentially losing a career.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this story.
