Soul diva Patti Labelle's bodyguards charged over videotaped airport assault

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 8:54 PM on 9th July 2011

Two people in Patti LaBelle's entourage have been slapped with assault charges in connection with the attack of a military cadet at a Texas airport.

Norma Harris, 63, and Efrem Holmes, 43, were charged this week for allegedly pushing West Point cadet Richard King into a nearby pillar, giving him a concussion and several head injuries.

Both are charged with misdemeanour assault in the incident which happened on March 11 at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston.

The original police report named King, 23, as a suspect after it was filed by officers who can be seen on airport surveillance video taking photographs with LaBelle, 67, after the incident happened.

King filed a lawsuit in early June against LaBelle alleging police misconduct and claiming the Lady Marmalade singer ordered members of her entourage to attack him.

The shocking assault was captured by airport surveillance footage which shows King been punched violently in the face, apparently by a bodyguard.

King is also seen being knocked back, before the pair are joined by another guard.

The two continue to punch him until he falls over, hitting his head on a concrete pillar.

'His blood spattered on the concrete and his clothes, then pooled beneath him as he lay helpless on his back with a severe concussion,' the lawsuit reads.

In the tape, King is seen struggling to get up until a stranger passing by finally helps him. King then runs inside the terminal for assistance.

In his lawsuit King claims that LaBelle 'watched the vicious assault with approval'.

He says that the bodyguards are 'violent, paid thugs who have no qualms against assaulting innocent people.'

LaBelle was said to be in the area, waiting to be taken by stretch limo to the L'Auberge du Lac Casino and Resort, where she was performing that night.

According to the lawsuit, after getting into her vehicle, LaBelle spotted King standing close to her luggage, and subsequently rolled down the window demanding that her bodyguards take action.

King alleged that after LaBelle gave her orders, he was 'pounced' on by two bodyguards, who began their violent assault.

The singer's representatives describe a very different version of events, claiming that they acted in defence, when an intoxicated King began harassing LaBelle and other passengers inside the limo.

After arriving back to the car with the group's luggage, the limo driver says he approached King, who almost immediately took a swing at him, punching in the face.

Defending himself, the driver said he pushed King, who fell back and hit his head on the curb.

King has admitted that he consumed some alcoholic beverages on the plane, but was not drunk.

'I had some drinks on the plane, but I mean, I wasn’t anywhere near intoxicated or anything along those lines,' he told KHOU 11 news.

In his lawsuit, King is asking for actual and punitive damages, attorney fees and court costs.

But LaBelle is counter suing the former West Point cadet who, saying he started the fight.

LaBelle’s lawsuit accuses King, who was suspended from the United States Military Academy as a result of the incident, of cursing the singer and using racially and sexually offensive language.

LaBelle, who is a Grammy Award winning music legend, received a Lifetime Achievement honour last month at the BET Awards.

[Edited 7/10/11 22:39pm]

The moment I notice that Patti was going to filed a counter-lawsuit, I just knew that this controversy was not going to end peacefully in an out-of-court settlement.

Big mistake Patti!

it looks like this situation ain't going away anytime soon

I love Patti but she had this coming.

I am soooo happy to hear this outcome. IMHO Patty sits on a very high horse.

Get the drag queen looking screaming minnie. She is so full of herself and over-the-top.

This incident finally shows the world how Patricia Holt really is. For far too long people have thought this mouthey manly football shouldered screamer was some sort of angel in her demeanor. She showed her fakeisms on the BET awards recently - how she can go from Casey Anthony tears to stone face at the drop of a dime.

The bloodied victim in this vicious attack has never been offered any sort of olive branch by Holt, or an ounce of humane concern over his beatdown.

I hope the court cleans her oversized pocketbook.