Irony, thy name is Christopher Geldart. The longtime deputy mayor for public safety and justice in Washington, D.C. was placed on personal leave pending an investigation into an assault and battery charge, officials said Wednesday. Geldart, 53, was charged after a Saturday altercation with a trainer in an Arlington gym parking lot, with police saying he grabbed the victim “by the throat.” In surveillance footage obtained by FOX 5, Geldart (in the clip, he is the larger man on the right) can be seen chest-to-chest with the alleged victim, Dustin Woodward. Geldart began cursing and screaming, according to Woodward, after opening his car door and hitting the trainer’s girlfriend’s vehicle. The confrontation briefly became physical after Woodward told him to “shut up,” the trainer added. “He’s way too big to be trying to be a bully, especially with his position,” he said. “Something should be done.” Mayor Muriel Bowser said her office was “reviewing the matter,” but that it appeared to be “a dispute over something minor.”
