<!--Rick Pfeiffer--><table width="234" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="http://static.cnhi.zope.net/flashpromo/niagaragazette/images/byline_234x60.jpg" height="60"><tr><td><div align="center"><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By Rick Pfeiffer</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></font><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:rick.pfeiffer@niagara-gazette.com">rick.pfeiffer@niagara-gazette.com</a></font></div></td></tr></table>
The lawyer for a Niagara University basketball player charged in a “ruckus” with Falls cops says the incident was a “misunderstanding.”
NU player Christopher Armstrong was charged, in the early morning hours of Nov. 1, with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after cops said he created a disturbance outside a Main Street nightclub.
“To be honest, I really don’t think he did anything,” defense attorney Robert Viola said. “I think (the arrest) may have been a little over reaction.”
Falls Roving Anti-Crime Unit officers said they saw a “ruckus” outside the Whisky Bar, in the 2100 block of Main Street, in the early morning hours after Halloween. Officers said they saw Armstrong, who they said was wearing a trenchcoat and appeared to be naked, struggling with a bouncer who was trying to get him out of the bar. Viola didn’t want to discuss what his underage client was doing in a bar or what he was wearing.
“I don’t want to get into it,” he said. “It is certainly no big surprise a 20-year-old can get a drink.”
Armstrong, who officers said was intoxicated, yelled at the cops. After Armstrong repeatedly refused requests, and then orders, from the RAC officers to leave the bar he was arrested. Officers said when they told Armstrong he was under arrest, he tried to pull away from them and was pushed against a nearby tree and handcuffed.
Armstrong, a walk-on player for the Purple Eagles, has been suspended from playing in the team’s first game of the season. In his third season as a non-scholarship member of the team, Armstrong has played a total of 16 minutes in his first two seasons.
Viola said NU coach Joe Mihalich spoke to him early last week about Armstrong’s case.
“He wanted to know what was happening with it,” Viola said.
Armstrong is scheduled to return to Falls City Court on Dec. 9 for a pretrial hearing in the case.
