A former Anchorage Baptist pastor who was upset that his wife was upgraded to first class, and he wasn’t, hit her during an Alaska Airlines flight last week, federal charges filed against him said.
The man, 75-year-old Roger Holmberg Sr., is banned from future flights on Alaska Airlines, a company spokesman said.
Holmberg was onboard a flight to Anchorage from Seattle on July 2 when at least two people on the plane saw him hit his wife on the head before walking to the bathroom, an FBI special agent wrote in a sworn affidavit.
Holmberg was disruptive toward her earlier in the flight, and was upset that his wife was upgraded to first class when he was not, the affidavit said.
Holmberg’s wife later told authorities he had a history of abuse and broke her finger last year, the affidavit said. She said that her husband knew she had a medical condition where contact to her head could trigger a seizure, and that she hadn’t reported the previous abuse but sought to do so now, according to the affidavit.
Holmberg told investigators during an interview that he was upset because he wanted his wife to sit next to him and had tapped her on the head in passing to get her attention, the affidavit said. He said he and his wife were traveling from their home in Virginia to Alaska for an event related to their ministry, the affidavit said.
Holmberg was previously a pastor at Grace Baptist Temple.
He was arrested on a federal assault charge. He was released Monday from the Anchorage Correctional Center and ordered not to contact his wife.
An attorney for Holmberg declined to comment Friday.