Saving seats at Mormon church in Plain City leads to assault, arrest

(by Pat Reavy deseretnews.com 7-2-13)

It's supposed to be a place of peace and worship.

But on Sunday, a man was arrested at an LDS Church meetinghouse after a fight broke out over saved seats in the chapel.

On Sunday, the Meadows Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had a full house during sacrament meeting because of a missionary farewell and a baby blessing.

A family that normally does not attend that ward but was there Sunday for the blessing had sat down in a pew and was reserving seats for other family members, said Weber County Sheriff's Lt. Mark Lowther.

When 51-year-old Wayne Dodge, a regular member of the ward, sat down in one of the seats being reserved, angry words were exchanged between the two parties.

After the meeting, more words were exchanged, Lowther said. And after church was done for the day, the two sides ran into each other in the parking lot and the argument continued. The fight became even more heated between Dodge and a male member of the other family.

"(Dodge) ended up throwing a couple of punches and striking this individual. He had some blood coming from his face, so he went inside the church to clean up. And when he exited the church, (Dodge) was in his car. I guess there was another confrontation," Lowther said.

Investigators say Dodge then hit the man with his vehicle.

"Ultimately, the victim ended up on the hood of the car," he said. "(Dodge) exited the vehicle and some other people that attended the church service restrained him. And I don't know how, but he ultimately ended up in the bishop's office until law enforcement arrived."

The man who was hit suffered minor injuries and refused to be transported to a local hospital.
Dodge was arrested for investigation of aggravated assault and disorderly conduct.

Lowther said the entire incident could have been avoided if cooler heads had prevailed.

"It's not worth the injury, and it's not worth the legal consequences for something as basic as this," he said.

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http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865582523/Saving-seats-in-Plain-City-church-leads-to-assault-arrest.html

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I only posted this article because Plain City is where I grew up so it is funny to see this.

I was in Plain City today for the 4th of July and talked to some people about it. They mentioned that this article is very one-sided and makes Mr. Dodge look like the aggressor however those that were there and know more about it said there were actually three guys, a man and his two sons, that were antagonizing Mr. Dodge through the entire Sacrament meeting and it was they that really caused the problem.

They said the three men actually went out into the parking lot looking for Mr. Dodge instead of just letting things go. Also, with regards to the man ending up on the hood of the car they said he actually jumped up on the hood as Mr. Dodge was trying to leave the parking lot.

Take that for what it is worth.