BOSTON -- Concert-goers, and even Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart, were caught off-guard on Wednesday night when a fight broke out on opening night at usually sedate Symphony Hall.
Now, the man popped in the face at the opening night at the Boston Pops says he'll press charges.
Matthew Ellinger described what happened to start what's being called "The Brawl at Symphony Hall."
The 27-year-old says the man in front of him was talking incessantly, so he asked him to quiet down. The man, whom police identified only as a 44-year-old male, then threatened to throw him off the balcony.
Ellinger reported the man to an usher, which prompted the man to punch Ellinger in the face, then grab him by the hair.
The two were separated and the man was seen on video, his shirt unbuttoned, being escorted out.
Ellinger said people with a temper like his assailant aren't safe in society. He says he wouldn't be doing anyone a service if he just let it go.
7NEWS exclusive video of the fight showed two men struggling in the balcony -- one having his shirt pulled off -- as several people stood around them.
Lockhart briefly halted the performance, which featured Ben Folds, while the men were escorted out.
Witnesses said they heard a scream from the balcony, and the sound of chairs falling, then a second scream as the fight escalated.
"The first time there was a scream, Keith looked up that way but he kept going," audience member June MacIndoe told Boston's WHDH-TV. "Then about a minute and a half later...there was a big scream and you could hear chairs falling over and you could see them up there, fists going."
At that point, Lockhart stopped the performance for a couple of minues, she said. "He just stood there, you know, quiet."
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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