CHARLESTON, SC – A South Carolina lawyer found himself receiving fists from a woman earlier this month when she intervened to prevent the attack on his girlfriend at a bowling alley, officials said.
Pano Michael DuPree, 58, from Charleston, is charged with assault and battery in connection with the March 19 incident. Charleston County prison records show that he was charged on March 20 and released the same day after paying $ 1,087 bail.
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The Post and Courier reported that two witnesses told the police that they saw DuPree arrive at Ashley Lanes and start an argument with his girlfriend. A report of the incident obtained by the newspaper states that he grabbed the woman’s hair and pinned her from behind.
A spectator intervened, running to the pair and punching DuPree in the face, according to the newspaper. DuPree was thrown to the floor, pulling some of his girlfriend’s hair as he fell.
The viewer’s identity was not disclosed.
WCBD in Mount Pleasant reported that DuPree was alert and aware when officers arrived. He was taken to Roper St. Francis Hospital and then to the Medical University of South Carolina to be evaluated by an ophthalmologist.
Police said the police followed him to the hospital after talking to his girlfriend and witnesses, the Post and Courier reported. They arrested DuPree on charges of assault.
The DuPree website states that its practice is specialized in the areas of criminal law and personal injury claims.
The bowling alley incident was not his first personal contact with the law.
DuPree was suspended from law practice for nine months in 2013, after a 2012 arrest, in which he punched and bit a Utah state police officer who stopped the car he was a passenger in. At the time, DuPree was on vacation in Park City, according to South Carolina Supreme Court records.
A fact statement states that DuPree was a passenger in a stationary vehicle on March 22, 2012. While policeman David Wurtz questioned the driver, DuPree “repeatedly interrupted and told the driver not to answer the policeman’s questions.”
“The interviewee told Officer Wurtz that he was a lawyer and that the driver did not have to do what the officer asked,” says the document.
Wurtz called for reinforcements. When asking the driver to get out of the vehicle, DuPree “became belligerent, repeatedly used profanity and refused to cooperate with soldiers’ requests to calm down”
Read the court order suspending DuPree below.
“When the soldiers told the interviewee to stay in the vehicle, he tried to get out,” says the document. “A few minutes later, when the soldiers asked the interviewee to get out of the vehicle so he could be towed, the interviewee refused and locked the vehicle’s doors every time the soldiers unlocked the doors. The interviewee continued to berate the soldiers and call them derogatory names. “
The soldiers eventually used a Taser, which did not work well. As they forcibly removed DuPree from the car, he punched Wurtz in the mouth.
He also bit the soldier’s arm, drawing blood.
DuPree was accused of assaulting a police officer, disorderly conduct, resistance to arrest and public intoxication. He pleaded guilty to reduced charges that September and was sentenced to parole.
During oral arguments about the suspension, DuPree admitted that he started drinking on the morning of his arrest and that he “drank until oblivion,” the court said. The document suggests that DuPree is an alcoholic who voluntarily went into rehab to overcome his addiction.
His license to practice law was reinstated in April 2013. He remains a lawyer in good standing, according to state records.
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The Post and Courier reported that DuPree was also arrested in 2003 after a fight with Charleston police officers in response to a fight at the Charleston Riverview Hotel. Police reports indicated that DuPree was arguing with his wife when two men intervened.
The police were called in for a fight between DuPree and passersby.
Subsequently, the disorderly conduct charges were dropped.