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Statesville City Councilman Claims Argument Turned Physical

A view of Statesville City Hall. An argument between two city council members turned heated during a meeting Monday night. Photo: Wikimedia contributor Travis K. Witt for Creative Commons http://bit.ly/2qX2jpO

An argument between two Statesville City Council members became heated on Monday. One  councilman says the argument turned physical and left him injured.

The alleged incident between Statesville councilmen Roy West and Jarrod Phifer happened Monday evening during a closed-door meeting.

Phifer, through personal injury attorney Todd Hollis, says he was left with a broken knee and sprained thumb.

West says he was angry with Phifer and they exchanged words, but denies that a physical altercation took place. He says he told Phifer he "didn't appreciate" an opinion piece Phifer wrote for a local newspaper in which Phifer called him an "elderly, privileged, bitter, bigoted man."

A criminal summons taken out by private warrant was served Tuesday morning on West for misdemeanor assault, battery, and communicating threats.

Wes says he apologized to the council after the meeting, and that he hopes the issue will be resolved.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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