Police: Kennedy family member arrested for Aspen bar fight
A member of American royalty ended up in the Pitkin County Jail early Thursday morning after being arrested for fighting at an Aspen nightclub, police said.
John Conor Kennedy, 22, also tussled briefly outside the club with an Aspen police officer before he was arrested with the help of a bystander, according to Aspen police Sgt. Rick Magnuson. Kennedy – who apparently goes by Conor – was charged with disorderly conduct, taken to jail and issued a summons to appear in Aspen Municipal Court, Magnuson said.
The incident began about 1:40 a.m., when police were called to Bootsy Bellows nightclub to deal with people who wouldn’t leave, he said. Officer Andy Atkinson responded to the call and was outside the club when he saw a fight break out between two men.
Atkinson reported seeing Kennedy grab another man by his shirt, pull him down so he was bent over and hit him four or five times in the back of the head with his fists, Magnuson said. Officers attempted to break up the fight, but Kennedy continued to try and attack the man, prompting police to try and restrain him, he said.
“Kennedy and I fell back on to the snow bank on the south side of (Hyman Avenue) where Kennedy attempted to pull away from me and stand up,” Atkinson wrote in his report. “I held on to Kennedy’s arms and rolled him over with assistance from a bystander on to his stomach.”
The unidentified bystander also helped Atkinson handcuff Kennedy, according to the report.
Kennedy apologized to Atkinson after he was arrested, the report states.
“Kennedy then said, ‘He called my friend the f-word,’” according to the report.
It was not clear which “f-word” Kennedy was talking about, Magnuson said.
Kennedy is the oldest son of Robert Kennedy Jr. and his second wife, Mary Richardson, according to People.com. Robert Kennedy Jr. is the second son of former President John F. Kennedy’s brother, Robert F. Kennedy. Conor Kennedy briefly dated Taylor Swift in 2012 when he was 18, according to the website.
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