The former Washington, D.C., deputy mayor for public safety and justice was cleared of an assault and battery charge stemming from a caught-on-video incident in a parking lot last month.
Prosecutors in Arlington, Virginia, dropped the charge against Christopher Geldart, 53, after they played video in the courtroom that showed a witness claiming that Geldart was not the aggressor, FOX5 DC reported. The judge agreed to throw out the case.
“The Judge made the right decision. No criminal offense happened. Therefore, the charges were dropped and justice is served,” Geldart’s attorney Karin Porter told the station.
Geldart was charged with assault after he allegedly grabbed the neck of Dustin Woodward, a trainer at a Gold’s Gym in Arlington, on Oct. 1. Geldart had allegedly hit Woodward’s girlfriend’s car with his car door while opening it, which led to an argument.
DC DEPUTY MAYOR FOR PUBLIC SAFETY RESIGNS AFTER BEING CHARGED WITH ASSAULT THAT CAUGHT ON CAMERA
This file photo shows DC Deputy Mayor Chris Geldart answer questions at a previous, unrelated press conference.
(FOX 5 DC)
Video of the incident was obtained by FOX5, which attempted to show the video to Mayor Muriel Bowser.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the resignation of Geldart on Oct. 5.
(Brian Stukes/Getty Images)
Geldart was placed on leave while an investigation took place and later resigned from his position.
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FOX 5 DC obtained surveillance video showing an alleged assault carried out by DC Deputy Mayor Chris Geldart outside a gym.
(FOX 5 DC)
Following the judge’s decision, Geldart told the station: “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.”
Meanwhile, Woodward said he is unhappy with the outcome.
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“Y’all did a poor job. There’s no excuse for what you did. Period,” Woodward said in a message to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. “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.”
Fox News’ Adam Sabes and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.