Actor Jailed In Memphis After Altercation On Airplane
Nick Latour a.k.a. E.D. Nixon Jr.
By Lindsay Melvin
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
A veteran character actor and son of a notable civil rights leader was in Shelby County Jail on Wednesday after being hauled off a Northwest plane at Memphis International Airport.
E.D. Nixon Jr., 80, better known by his stage name of Nick LaTour, was arrested Tuesday on charges of disorderly conduct.
He is accused in an airport police affidavit of assaulting a flight attendant and punching an officer.
LaTour, who between 1976 and 2004 appeared on nearly 50 television shows including "Highway to Heaven," "Seinfeld" and "NYPD Blue," was connecting from Montgomery, Ala., through Memphis on his way home to Los Angeles.
The son of E.D. Nixon, who played a crucial role in organizing the Montgomery bus boycotts, LaTour had been in Montgomery seeing to the nonprofit foundation named after his late father, according to friends.
The actor's troubles started late Tuesday as the flight crew prepared for departure.
According to airport police records, a flight attendant was helping another passenger with overhead baggage when she brushed against LaTour's arm.
He elbowed her in the buttocks and then became irate, according to the police report.
"Somehow it was an accident and the stewardess fell," said Willie Douglas, a local civil rights activist and associate of LaTour.
Following the altercation with the flight attendant, the report says, airport officers were called onboard to remove LaTour.
The report says he became argumentative and struck an officer.
"Minimal" force was used to subdue him, according to police.
LaTour had several bottles of prescription medication with him and, because of high blood pressure and elevated sugar levels, he was taken to the Regional Medical Center at Memphis before being transported to jail.
The flight attendant is not pressing charges, records show, but said she expects a nasty bruise.
After a bail bondsman posted the $1,000 bail, Douglas waited for his friend's release at 201 Poplar late Wednesday.
Contact Lindsay Melvin at 901-529-2445.
Scripps Lighthouse
© 2008 Scripps Newspaper Group — Online
E.D. Nixon Jr., 80, better known by his stage name of Nick LaTour, was arrested Tuesday on charges of disorderly conduct.
He is accused in an airport police affidavit of assaulting a flight attendant and punching an officer.
LaTour, who between 1976 and 2004 appeared on nearly 50 television shows including "Highway to Heaven," "Seinfeld" and "NYPD Blue," was connecting from Montgomery, Ala., through Memphis on his way home to Los Angeles.
The son of E.D. Nixon, who played a crucial role in organizing the Montgomery bus boycotts, LaTour had been in Montgomery seeing to the nonprofit foundation named after his late father, according to friends.
The actor's troubles started late Tuesday as the flight crew prepared for departure.
According to airport police records, a flight attendant was helping another passenger with overhead baggage when she brushed against LaTour's arm.
He elbowed her in the buttocks and then became irate, according to the police report.
"Somehow it was an accident and the stewardess fell," said Willie Douglas, a local civil rights activist and associate of LaTour.
Following the altercation with the flight attendant, the report says, airport officers were called onboard to remove LaTour.
The report says he became argumentative and struck an officer.
"Minimal" force was used to subdue him, according to police.
LaTour had several bottles of prescription medication with him and, because of high blood pressure and elevated sugar levels, he was taken to the Regional Medical Center at Memphis before being transported to jail.
The flight attendant is not pressing charges, records show, but said she expects a nasty bruise.
After a bail bondsman posted the $1,000 bail, Douglas waited for his friend's release at 201 Poplar late Wednesday.
Contact Lindsay Melvin at 901-529-2445.
Scripps Lighthouse
© 2008 Scripps Newspaper Group — Online
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