President-elect Donald Trump's pick for secretary of the Army allegedly punched a concessions worker in the face at a horse auction last year, The New York Times reports.
Vincent Viola — a billionaire Wall Street trader, former Army Ranger, and the owner of the Florida Panthers hockey team — was attending the racehorse auction in Saratoga Springs, New York, last August, when the incident is said to have occurred. While the police did not see Viola actually punch the concessions worker, when they arrived on the scene the employee had a "swollen, bloody lip."
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Vincent … was notified by his wife, Theresa, that a man who worked for the food service at the horse sales had pushed her after she tried to get some water from the kitchen area for a woman who had just fainted in the building. Vincent states about 45 minutes after the incident occurred, Theresa located the subject who had pushed her and then pointed him out to Vincent. Vincent then reportedly confronted the subject, [redacted], [and the] two subjects then engaged in a verbal dispute. [Redacted] states the argument escalated with Viola punching him just prior to my arrival on scene. [Redacted] sustained a swollen, bloody lip as a result of the alleged punch. [via Deadspin]
Neither Viola or the concessions worker is pressing charges. Viola's stable ended up buying a colt from the auction worth $200,000, a son of a sire named Paynter and a mare named More Oats Please.
A spokesperson for Viola did not dispute to the Times that Viola had punched the concessions worker. "Mr. Viola loves his wife and regrets the incident," the spokesman said.
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