A judge has denied a request by two defendants accused in a violent incident at Bend's Hawthorne Station two years ago. 46-year-old bus driver Michael Lee Brinster pleaded not guilty to charge of assault, strangulation and menacing after placing a black man in a chokehold before removing him from the bus for not wearing shoes. He was later fired as a driver for Cascades East Transit. The victim, Dorian Zane Allstot, was arrested at the scene for allegedly spitting on and threatening Brinster following the incident. The two men appeared in Deschutes County court Monday after signing a civil compromise consenting to the dismissal of all charges against each other. But Deschutes County Circuit Court Judge Alycia Sykora denied the request, ruling that "important factual disputes" between both parties first be decided. A huge public backlash and accusations of racism followed the arrest of Allstot, who is Black, and not Brinster, who is white.