'I'm Relieved': Man Accused In Heinz Field Head-Butting Incident Agrees To Plea Deal
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The man accused in a head-butting incident last year at Heinz Field appeared in court Wednesday morning where he agreed to a plea deal.
Chad Ferguson, 44, walked into City Court with his attorney Phil DiLucente. What led him to this point dates back to Dec. 2, 2018 at the Pittsburgh Steelers- Los Angeles Chargers game at Heinz Field.
Cell phone video is what prompted a police investigation.
"There is one million views on Facebook of this video. He has suffered greatly, and he just wants to put this in the past. He had the opportunity of fighting it, but he decided this is best for all parties involved," said DiLuncente.
Ferguson and his attorney decided to reach a plea agreement, which dropped the simple assault charge to simple harassment. He will also have to pay restitution to the victim.
"There was a restitution payment for time and travel to Pittsburgh since the alleged victim is from out of town. It was approximately a few thousand dollars," DiLucente said.
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The alleged victim says he was sitting with his adult granddaughter at the game, and the next thing he knew, he was head-butted in the face. He would later learn that his nose was broken.
Fan Kate Brendel first posted the video on her Twitter account, and hundreds of thousands of people responded.
There is no place for drunks fighting at the game. I am taking my family to a game and I don't want them to have to deal with this. They need to be banned. @steelers
— Steelers Nation (@ddwoodring) December 3, 2018
The video was viewed millions of times and shared thousands of times.
But DiLucente says Ferguson was not the aggressor. He also says his client was not drinking; instead, it was the other guy who was intoxicated and offensive.
"There was clearly offensive language, and quite frankly, everyone in that section was trying to deal with it. When somebody did speak up, one of them, my client, amongst others, then there was reaction from this person. Video does lie, and why it lies is because, if it's not turned on at the beginning of a situation, and just at the end, we had plenty of witnesses that would testify there was other contact with him, but this young man just wants to get on with his life," DiLuncente said.
So, the case ends today.
When Chad Ferguson was asked how he felt about the outcome he said, "I'm relieved."
