A Florida attorney was arrested after an altercation at a wedding reception turned violent. The incident took place at the Boca Lago Country Club in Boca Raton, during a wedding celebration on January 18. The confrontation began when two young girls allegedly cut in front of the attorney in line at the prime rib carving station, which led to a heated exchange between the attorney and the father of one of the girls.
The attorney, Mark Roher, 52, became visibly upset when the girls cut in front of him. Roher confronted the father of one of the girls, expressing his frustration. According to the police report, the father ignored Roher’s verbal complaints, which escalated the situation. In response, Roher allegedly struck the father on the head with a dinner plate, leading to a physical altercation. The plate shattered on impact, and chaos ensued as a number of wedding guests became involved in the melee, attempting to separate the two men.
Witnesses who observed the incident described a tense and rapidly escalating scene. The victim, the father of one of the girls, stated that he tried to disengage from the situation by turning away from Roher. However, Roher followed him and struck him with the plate. The victim also claimed that Roher shoved him and grabbed him by the collar while holding the broken plate over his head. Other witnesses confirmed that the victim had attempted to avoid further confrontation by turning away, only to be struck by Roher, who continued to push and hold him in place.
A worker at the event, who witnessed the altercation, provided a similar account of the events. The worker confirmed that the victim was trying to avoid the confrontation, but Roher persisted, hitting him on the head with the plate. The worker also reported that the plate shattered upon impact, and Roher continued to hold the victim by the collar after the initial strike. According to the witness, the situation was only diffused when other guests intervened, and Roher was escorted away from the scene.
Roher, when questioned by authorities, initially invoked his Miranda rights but later agreed to speak to investigators. He admitted to being upset about the girls cutting in line and acknowledged that he had engaged in an argument with the victim. Roher also admitted to pushing the victim, but he denied striking him with a plate. Instead, he claimed that the reception was a “dry party,” possibly indicating that he was not fully in control of his actions due to frustration or other factors. Despite his denial of using the plate to strike the victim, he did mention that he had suffered injuries during the altercation, including being hit in the face, underarm, and shin while being restrained and escorted away by other guests.
The altercation led to Roher being charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. After being booked into jail, he was released on a $1,000 bond a few hours later. The wedding reception, which had been a celebratory event, was marred by the violence, with broken plates and shaken guests witnessing the escalation from a verbal dispute to a physical confrontation. The incident raised concerns about the potential for public altercations to quickly spiral out of control, especially in social settings where emotions can run high.
The case highlights how a seemingly minor conflict, such as being cut in line at a buffet, can escalate into something much more serious. Roher’s actions, fueled by frustration and anger, led to criminal charges and an arrest, leaving a once joyous event disrupted and a family’s wedding day forever marked by the violence. As the legal process unfolds, Roher will have to answer for his actions and the consequences of his outburst at the wedding reception.
