An elderly evangelical pastor is facing federal charges after allegedly assaulting his wife on a flight because she was upgraded to first class and he wasn’t.
Incident details
The altercation occurred on July 2 aboard Alaska Airlines flight 275 from Seattle to Anchorage. Roger Allan Holmberg Sr., 75, verbally abused his wife and flipped her off in front of shocked passengers, according to a criminal complaint.
The couple, traveling to Alaska from their home in Virginia for a ministry-related meeting, had been married for a year and a half after knowing each other for two decades. Holmberg’s previous wife had passed away.
Holmberg, who does not have an attorney listed in court records, is set to make his initial appearance in Anchorage federal court on Monday. He remains detained and was unavailable for comment. A phone number listed for him was out of service. Holmberg’s 59-year-old wife did not respond to voicemails and texts seeking comment.
Onboard altercations
A passenger seated next to Holmberg’s wife in first class recounted that the trouble began shortly after the 3.5-hour flight started.
Holmberg, who was flying coach, confronted his wife at her seat, demanding, “How the hell did you get the upgrade?” She replied, “I’m [a] gold point member. Don’t speak to me like that.”
In a second incident, Holmberg walked up to his wife and handed her his phone, told her to read what was on the screen, “then gave [her] the finger,” the complaints says.
During a third confrontation, “he pushed in front of” his wife’s seatmate “and attempted to swing his arm towards [the] victim,” according to the complaint. The seatmate “leaned forward to block the attempted strike, but [Holmberg] still appeared to strike the top of victim’s head with his hand,” the complaint read, noting that Holmberg’s wife later said he’d roughed her up in the past, and that one confrontation had left her with a broken finger.
Intervention and aftermath
An off-duty police officer sitting nearby noticed the disturbance and heard Holmberg’s wife tell him, “You cannot be doing that.” The officer realized Holmberg had struck his wife and warned him that further incidents would result in handcuffs. Holmberg ceased his disruptions at this point.
Upon landing at 6:41 p.m., an FBI special agent and an Anchorage Airport Police officer met the plane. Holmberg’s wife, who was not visibly bruised or bleeding, informed authorities that her husband had a history of abuse, including breaking her finger last September. She stated that Holmberg struck her on the head during the flight, knowing that contact to her head could trigger a seizure due to her epilepsy.
Holmberg admitted that he and his wife had been seeing a marriage counselor and blamed their issues on her, claiming she had previously grabbed his leg while driving and his genitals with force. He downplayed the severity of the incident, stating he “tapped his wife on the head” to get her attention and that he did not intend to hurt her.
Legal consequences
Holmberg was arrested on one count of simple assault within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States and transported to the Anchorage Correctional Center. His arraignment is scheduled for Monday at 10:30 a.m. local time. If convicted, Holmberg faces up to a year in prison. An Alaska Airlines spokesperson confirmed that Holmberg “has been banned from our flights.”