BELOW DECK Ross Inia felony charges dropped to misdemeanors, case still open

It appears a though Below Deck star Ross Inia is not completely off the hook after his drunken altercation with police in Florida back in December. Ross was facing felony counts of battery on a law enforcement officer and crimes against person — harming a public servant, as well as a misdemeanor count of disorderly intoxication. As we reported, prosecutors opted to not file formal charges against Ross on January 24, but the case was reopened on February 12 with revised charges!

According to court documents, Ross is still facing three counts. But, both felony counts have been reduced to misdemeanors.

Battery on a law enforcement officer was lessened to just misdemeanor battery, and the crimes against person — harming a public servant charge was reduced to a misdemeanor count of resisting an officer without violence. The misdemeanor disorderly intoxication charge remained unchanged.

There was a court hearing in the case early this morning, at which time the disposition hearing was set for April 22.

In case you missed it, Ross was arrested after an alleged drunken altercation with police in West Palm Peach, Florida on December 22.

From our previous post about the arrest:

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According to the report, there was an altercation between Ross and two other men outside a sports bar. Two uniformed officers approached and identified themselves as West Palm Beach Police Officers before attempting to break up the fight. Ross was reportedly pushed to the ground by one of the officers, but he “got up with a closed fist, ran at Det. Foe aggressively and threw an overhand right punch striking Det. Foe in the left side of his face and shoulder area.”

Ross was detained and handcuffed. The reporting officer recalls: “I could smell a strong odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage which intensified as Inia spoke.” The officer’s account continues, as does Ross’s aggression:

During my conversation, Inia had rapid mood changes, yelling and screaming back to calm, then nodded off due to his intoxication level. While under arrest, Inia told Officer Dillard he would harm him and his family multiple times on BWC and advised “he messed with the wrong one.” It shall also be noted Inia made multiple similar threats towards my family while completing paperwork.

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Having the felony charges dropped to misdemeanors is very good news for Ross, who is not a US citizen. I am not certain, but I would have to assume that a felony conviction(s) would have a limiting effect on his ability to travel to, and work in, this country.

We will be sure to monitor the situation and update when we have sentencing and/or a disposition!

Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com