A judge dropped charges against an ex-LaFayette High School principal arrested last year for fighting a former student and his father.
Walker County State Court Judge Billy Mullinax dismissed counts of affray and disorderly conduct against Mike Culberson on Jan. 10. Culberson said he showed Mullinax video of parts of the fight that occurred in the Fieldstone Farms neighborhood in Rock Spring.
According to a Walker County Sheriff’s Office incident report, Culberson drove by a house that backs up to his on the evening of Sept. 10. His truck was loud, and his neighbors, the Berry family, believed he was revving the engine. They said he also stuck out his middle finger. (Culberson denied both allegations of harassment.)
Art Berry and his son, Nicholas, then confronted Culberson in Culberson’s driveway. Nicholas had been a student when Culberson was LaFayette High School’s principal. Art Berry punched Culberson in the face. Nicholas Barry tried to pull his father away, but Culberson said the boy also took his phone and ran into a field that separates their two houses.
Culberson and Art Berry then struggled against each other, with Culberson ending up on top, squeezing Art Berry with a headlock. In a video, Culberson told Nicholas Berry that his actions were justified, seeing that they had come to his property. Art Berry’s wife, Alexandria Berry, called 911, grabbed a Ruger 10/22 and came outside. She said she never planned to shoot it.
An officer arrived soon after, and the fight broke up. He charged both Culberson and Art Berry. In October, Art Berry pleaded guilty to a charge of affray.
“I just wish that the Walker County Sheriff’s Deputies would have conducted a more thorough investigation than they did before pursuing charges and putting me and my family through all this stress,” Culberson said in a statement today.