Former School Board Member Arrested After Leesburg Bar Fight: Police

LEESBURG, VA — A bar fight led to criminal charges for two men in Leesburg on Friday morning, the town's police department said. One of the men, Joseph Smith, is a former member of the Loudoun County School Board.

One of the men cut the other with a knife during an altercation in the parking lot, according to the Leesburg Police Department. He received treatment at an area hospital.

Authorities identified the men as 32-year-old Joseph Smith and 39-year-old Eric Dekenipp. Smith is charged with malicious wounding. Dekenipp is charged with simple assault.

Smith was held without bond at the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center. Dekenipp was held on a $1,000 secured bond.

Dekenipp represented the Catoctin District on the Loudoun County School Board from 2016 to 2018. Dekenipp resigned in October 2018 before completing his first term. At the time, Dekenipp told Loudoun Now he needed to spend more time with his family.

The fight began around 2 a.m. on Friday at a bar on East Market Street in Leesburg, investigators said. Authorities believe that four adults had left the bar and started arguing in the parking lot.

Dekenipp and another man started fighting before Smith joined in, the police department reported. After the men stopped fighting, Dekenipp assaulted a woman he knew, authorities said.

"While at the Adult Detention Center, Dekenipp complained of pain to one of his arms. It was determined that Dekenipp had suffered a laceration during the altercation," the police department said in a news release. "It was established that Smith had cut Dekenipp with a knife during the altercation in the parking lot."

Both men were taken into custody on Friday.