DC public safety official suspended after allegedly throttling trainer in gym parking lot: report

On Wednesday, The Daily Beast reported that Christopher Geldart, the deputy mayor for public safety and justice in Washington, D.C., has been suspended following his alleged violent assault on a trainer in a gym parking lot.

According to the report, Mayor Muriel Bowser said that the fight looks like "a dispute over something minor" and the incident is "in review."

"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,'" reported A.J. McDougall. "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," the report continued. "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.'"

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This comes amid a number of scandals that are facing D.C. law enforcement in the past year.

In July, a D.C. police officer was arrested and charged with sexual abuse of a little girl. And at the end of last month, seven D.C. officers were removed from the violent crime division following allegations they took guns from suspects without making arrests.