A Marine reservist accused of attacking a Greek Orthodox priest with a tire iron after apparently calling him a terrorist was actually defending himself after being sexually attacked by the cleric, his defense attorney said Tuesday.

Jeff Brown said Lance Cpl. Jasen Bruce, 28, had been followed into the parking garage of his Tampa apartment building about 6:30 p.m. Monday by the Rev. Alexios Marakis, who then made sexual comments and grabbed the reservist's genitals. Brown denounced the Tampa Police Department's account of the incident as "one-sided" and "tainted."

"We are confident that the surveillance videos, the long 911 call, the eyewitnesses will all conclusively show that Lance Cpl. Bruce was attacked and was the victim in this case," Brown said.

But the Tampa Police report offered a far different account, saying Marakis was lost when he followed Bruce into the garage and asked for help, then was struck with the tire iron and chased several blocks. When officers arrived, Bruce called Marakis a terrorist and said the priest had shouted "Allahu akbar!" _ Arabic for "God is great."

Tampa Police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said Bruce's charge of a sexual advance was one of several explanations he offered when officers arrived. "One was that he tried to rob him. The other was that he was an Arab terrorist and shouted "Allahu akbar" and he explained that 'That's what they say before they blow you up.' And then he said that he grabbed his genitals and wanted to have sex with him. He gave various accounts of what happened," she said.

Bruce was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and released from jail on bond.

Marakis was treated at an area hospital and released.

Marakis, 29, is visiting from Crete, Greece, and had attended a blessing just before the incident, according to police. Reached at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Tarpon Springs on Monday, he did not appear to understand questions about the attack.

"I don't speak English. I don't speak English," he repeated.

Messages left for the spokesman for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America were not immediately returned.

In a four-minute statement to the press, during which Bruce stood silent, Brown referred to Marakis as a "bearded attacker" six times and used his client's military rank 17 times, denying the very basis of the police allegations. Continued...