"Charlottesville police are investigating a scuffle that broke out Tuesday during Sen. George Allen’s campaign stop at the Omni Charlottesville Hotel, city Police Chief Timothy J. Longo said Wednesday.

Mike Stark, 38, filed a complaint with city police Tuesday evening, saying he was assaulted at the rally.

Stark, a first-year University of Virginia law student, approached Allen on Tuesday morning as the Fairfax Republican was walking toward the hotel lobby after a series of speeches.

A struggle broke out between Stark and several Allen supporters, and Stark was wrestled to the floor and escorted from the building.

Two local television stations captured the end of the scuffle on film, and by Tuesday afternoon footage of the incident appeared on national television networks and Web sites.

Charlottesville police executed search warrants Wednesday at the two local stations to obtain the footage.

Longo said investigators are interviewing witnesses and watching the videos in an effort to determine who started the struggle.

“We shouldn’t jump to conclusions based on that small segment of video,” the chief said Wednesday, adding that the aired footage didn’t show how the incident began.

Allen may also be interviewed, “when it’s most relevant,” the chief said.

Stark said Tuesday that Allen supporters attacked him and put him in a headlock after he calmly asked the senator if he had spit on his first wife.

Allen’s camp, however, said in a statement Tuesday evening that Stark “aggressively went after” Allen and Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., and that Stark pushed an Allen staffer.

No one was hurt in the incident, but injury is not a prerequisite for assault charges, Longo said.

Stark also said Tuesday that he intended to try and press charges against Allen, though the senator was not directly involved in the incident.

“At any time he could have stepped up and said, ‘This is not how my campaign operates,’” Stark said.

Longo said criminal charges against the senator are unlikely.

“I would not think he’d have sufficient basis for a criminal complaint [against Allen],” he said.

The incident has spilled into the political arena. On Tuesday, the Allen campaign characterized Stark as a supporter of Democratic candidate Jim Webb, and called on Webb to apologize for Stark’s actions.

A Webb campaign spokeswoman said Wednesday that Stark was not a campaign staffer and that it was ridiculous to ask Webb to apologize.

The criminal investigation will probably be complete “within a matter of days,” Longo said." (Rob Seal, The Daily Progress, November 2, 2006)

Contact Rob Seal at (434) 978-7265 or rseal@dailyprogress.com.

Editor's Note: An index to coverage of George Allen on the Loper website may be found at http://loper.org/~george/archives/2006/Aug/925.html