Former Olympic skiing athlete Picabo Street plans a "self-defense and defense of others" plea against charges of assault to her father late in 2015. The Summit County Justice Court in Park City, Utah, gave a notice to Street for the lawsuit, according to reports.
On Dec. 23, 2015, 44-year-old skiing champion Street called 911 and reported that she had a violent encounter with her 76-year-old father, Roland Street, New York Daily News reported. She reportedly told 911 dispatchers that her father pulled her hair and scratched her face, after which she "put" her father down the stairs.
In a January report from The Guardian, Roland told police that Picabo yelled at him for hitting the house with his car when he was leaving. A violent physical encounter happened when both went inside the house. Roland stated that Picabo grabbed his shoulder and neck areas, and pushed him down two flights of stairs. He said he may have also hit his head. Police reports showed that Roland obtained cuts on his neck and elbow.
A recording of the 911 calls Picabo made the night of the incident was also released earlier in January by the agency, Fox 61 reported. The calls indicated that Roland was the one who attacked Picabo, although a woman, whom she calls mom, can be heard in the background contrasting Picabo's claims.
Picabo was then arrested but was able to pay her bail. Prosecutors then charged her with three counts of misdemeanor domestic violence in the presence of a child and one count of misdemeanor assault. Reports said that the incident was witnessed by Picabo's three children.
Joe Wrona, Picabo's attorney, said that his client is demanding a jury trial for the case. He said that he plans to have Roland, Picabo and her mother at the witness stand during trial.
"I am going to press for a trial as soon as possible because I am confident that a jury will see just how wrong these charges are," Wrona was cited as saying. "I can't wait to present this to a jury. I expect a jury to be as outraged as I am," he added.
Wrona said his client had a very strong defense, referring to the video recorded by police officers' cameras placed on their uniforms when the incident happened. He said that the footage showed a disagreement between the officers involved in the arrest.
"The senior officer had to cajole the younger officer into making the arrest," he said.
