INDReporter

Fitzgerald issues apology for Mardi Gras incident

by Walter Pierce

"I want to put this entire episode and the sad and hurtful series of events that preceded it behind me - behind all of us."

Erin May Fitzgerald, the 41-year-old mom and schoolteacher who was knocked unconscious by developer and retired cancer physician Glenn Stewart during a Mardi Gras altercation in Lafayette, has issued a public apology for her actions related to the unfortunate incident. Fitzgerald was briefly hospitalized after the attack by Stewart, who witnesses say punched Fitzgerald after she attempted to pull a banner attacking her stepmother, Ind co-publisher Cherry Fisher May, from a float Stewart entered in the Fox 15 Independent Parade under the name of his retail development on Kaliste Saloom Road, Parc Lafayette.

"I made a mistake," Fitzgerald writes in the apology issued Monday to local media. "I was upset when I saw a float dedicated to harming a person who is not only my stepmother, but also my good friend. I acted irresponsibly in attempting to pull one of the float banners down. I want to put this entire episode and the sad and hurtful series of events that preceded it behind me - behind all of us."

Fitzgerald and her stepfather, John St. Julien, were issued misdemeanor disturbing the peace citations for their role in the incident. Stewart was issued the same misdemeanor summons, but was arrested later at his home and booked into the parish jail on a felony second-degree battery charge after investigators interviewed Fitzgerald at a local hospital.