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Assault and battery charge dropped against former DC Deputy Mayor Chris Geldart
An Arlington judge sided with prosecutors ultimately clearing former D.C. Deputy of Public Safety and Justice, Chris Geldart, of any wrongdoing after Dustin Woodward, a fitness trainer, accused Geldart of grabbing him by the neck after an argument in the Gold's Gym parking lot on Wilson Boulevard in Arlington, Virginia back in October.
ARLINGTON, Va. - An Arlington judge sided with prosecutors ultimately clearing former D.C. Deputy of Public Safety and Justice, Chris Geldart, of any wrongdoing after Dustin Woodward, a fitness trainer, accused Geldart of grabbing him by the neck after an argument in the Gold's Gym parking lot on Wilson Boulevard in Arlington, Virginia back in October.
FOX 5 obtained exclusive video showing the alleged assault.
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DC Deputy Mayor charged with assault and battery after Arlington gym parking lot altercation
Chris Geldart, a DC Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice has been charged with assault and battery after a parking lot altercation at a Gold's Gym in Arlington.Dustin Woodward, a trainer at Gold's Gym in says DC's Deputy Mayor Chris Geldart grabbed him by the neck in the gym's parking lot.
Karin Porter, Geldart's Attorney, said, "The judge made the right decision. No criminal offense happened. Therefore, the charges were dropped and justice is served."
FOX 5's Sierra Fox asked Geldart if he regretted his behavior from that day outside the Arlington Courthouse and he responded, "I've already said that. I've already said that to The Post and all that. The way I presented myself that day is not who I am. However, I don't think any of that ever rose to the level of where we are today."
When asked what is next for him, Geldart said "taking care of my family." He did not specify what is next for his career.
Back in October, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Geldart's mutual resignation as D.C. Deputy Mayor of Public Safety and Justice.
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DC deputy mayor charged with assault
One of D.C.'s deputy mayors is facing criminal charges after a physical altercation that happened in a Gold’s Gym parking lot. FOX 5 obtained the video and spoke to Mayor Muriel Bowser about the incident. FOX 5's Sierra Fox has the exclusive from Arlington.
During the court hearing, an Arlington prosecutor played a video of police interviewing a witness who claimed Woodward was the aggressor in the incident although he also mentioned it seemed it was a mutual heated argument and fight over a door ding.
Woodward said he was not aware that body camera footage existed before seeing it in the courtroom. He was surprised because he remembers that same witness calming down the situation and telling him – "it's not worth it."
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Former DC Deputy Mayor Chris Geldart due in court Monday
Video, given exclusively to FOX 5, shows the moment Geldart grabbed Dustin Woodward – a trainer at the Gold's Gym on Wilson Boulevard in Arlington - by the neck.
"Honestly, when they told me about the video footage, I didn't believe it because that's the first time I heard about it," said Woodward.
The prosecutor acknowledged Woodward was not pleased with the case being dismissed before the courtroom. Woodward then spoke before the judge asking her not to drop the charges. However, the judge said it's up to the Commonwealth to decide what cases it goes forward with and this situation was not handled well by either party ultimately agreeing to toss the case.
Woodward is upset with the outcome and feels that justice was not served. This is his message to the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office:
"Ya'll did a poor job. Ya'll did a poor job. There's no excuse for what you did. Period. It wasn't justified. There's plenty of evidence to pursue that. You just chose not to. This is another situation where the judicial system fails. That's all this is."
However, Geldart had this to say: "Appreciative that the Commonwealth Attorney did their job. Did their due diligence. They left it all up to the witnesses. Looked at the whole matter and came to the conclusion that they did."