Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


Three people charged in connection with the assault of a deputy outside of the Big Chicken restaurant in Hartland Township last year have entered pleas.

22-year-old William Prieto of Howell pleaded guilty to one count of assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder and three counts of assaulting/resisting/obstructing a police officer. A charge of carrying a concealed weapon was dismissed.

49-year-old Holly Strong of Brighton pleaded guilty to three felony counts of assaulting/resisting/obstructing a police officer, in exchange for a charge of disarming a peace officer being dismissed.

Her daughter, 21-year-old Abagail Strong, pleaded guilty to three counts of assaulting/resisting/obstructing a police officer.

The three were charged with assaulting a Livingston County Sheriff's deputy working crowd control for NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal’s visit to the Big Chicken restaurant on September 27th.

The Sheriff’s Office earlier said Prieto “began being confrontational toward a deputy. The deputy de-escalated the situation and continued with scene security. After Mr. O'Neal had arrived and was in the restaurant a bystander alerted Deputies that this same individual was making assaultive remarks about the deputies and was digging into a backpack. The bystander then alluded to the fact they believed he had a weapon in the bag.”

The Office said a deputy attempted to contact Prieto, who took a swing at the deputy. The deputy drew his taser and at that time, Holly Strong who was with Prieto, attempted to disarm the deputy and was joined by her daughter in obstructing the deputy from taking Prieto into custody for the attempted assault on an officer.

A release stated “Two other deputies on scene went to the aid of the first deputy and attempted to move the two females out of the way and take the male subject into custody. When the deputy moved the two females out of the way they fell to the ground. Seeing this the male suspect attacked the deputy from behind attempting to put him in a headlock/chokehold. The other two deputies fired Taser's, but they had no effect. The three deputies were able to wrestle the male subject into handcuffs and secure him. The two females were advised that they were under arrest and continued to resist and attempt to flee but were also taken into custody.”

The Livingston Daily reports witness video footage seems to contradict the department's narrative of what happened and “The witness video then shows the tackled deputy punching Prieto in the head multiple times while he's pinned to the ground, while the other two deputies repeatedly use their Tasers”.

Family members have said Prieto is autistic and suffers from Schizophrenia.

The deputy who was assaulted sustained minor injuries. The event continued without further incident.

Prieto will be sentenced January 16th, while the Strongs will be sentenced January 23rd in Livingston County Circuit Court.