No charges over Palin family drunken Alaska birthday brawl: police

[October 10, 2014]  By Steve Quinn
 
 JUNEAU (Reuters) - Anchorage prosecutors declined to file criminal charges over a bloody, booze-fueled brawl involving the family of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin at a birthday party, police said on Thursday as they released a report describing the melee.

The Palins made national headlines after the fight, which erupted at an outdoor party late on Sept. 6 between revelers there and Palin's husband Todd, son Track and daughters Bristol and Willow, according to an Anchorage police report.

Sarah Palin, a former Alaska governor and the 2008 Republican nominee for U.S. vice president, was present at the site of the brawl when police arrived, but the report does not describe her as getting physically involved in the melee.

The Anchorage Municipal Prosecutors Office declined to file charges in connection with the incident, said Jennifer Castro, a spokeswoman for Anchorage police. She did not say why prosecutors decided against filing charges.

After the fight, Track, 26, appeared "heavily intoxicated" and was "belligerent at first" when officers found him inside a white limousine used by the family, according to the 25-page police report released on Thursday.

Shirtless, with blood around his mouth and an eye injury, Track told an officer that some men were "talking rudely to his sisters, making them cry" and that one of the men punched his friend, sparking a fight.

In a separate scrum, police said the homeowner, Korey Klingenmeyer, pulled Bristol Palin across the lawn by her legs while calling the 23-year-old woman crude names. A witness told police she appeared "heavily intoxicated" and punched Klingenmeyer some five or six times.

A representative for Sarah Palin did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Police also had to break up separate confrontations between Track Palin, Todd Palin and Klingenmeyer, the report said. During the brief confrontation between Todd Palin and Klingenmeyer, police said Willow Palin "got involved flipping (Klingenmeyer) off and getting loud."

Partygoer Matthew McKenna told police "the whole thing was one big misunderstanding among friends due to too much alcohol and people talking trash."

(Reporting by Steve Quinn in Juneau, Alaska; Editing by Eric M. Johnson and Alex Dobuzinskis)

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