Athlete jailed for punching official

NORRISTOWN » A Chester County weightlifter is behind bars for assaulting an official who ruled his dead lift was improperly executed during a Limerick powerlifting competition.

Lemans Carlos Runner, 28, of the first block of North Third Avenue, Coatesville, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to three to 12 months in the county jail after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of assault on a sports official in connection with the June 2017 altercation at the Spring Valley YMCA in Limerick.

Judge Richard P. Haaz also ordered Runner to complete one year of probation following parole, meaning Runner will be under court supervision for a total of two years. Runner will receive credit for time he spent in jail between June 20, and July 13, 2017, according to court papers.

An investigation began about 12:40 p.m. June 17, when Limerick police responded to the YMCA on Linfield Trappe Road for a report of an assault in a gym during a weight-lifting competition. Responding officers found the male victim, a judge at the competition, on the gym floor suffering from a laceration near his mouth and a swollen lip and being assisted by staff members, according to the criminal complaint filed by Limerick Police Officer Patrick Murphy.

“(The victim) was also glassy-eyed and appeared dazed from being struck in the face,” Murphy wrote in court papers, adding the man was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation and treatment.

Witnesses identified Runner, who had been participating in a dead lift competition at the YMCA, as the attacker and they told police he fled from the scene in a Pontiac Grand Am.

The assault occurred as Runner was performing his dead lift in front of other participants and spectators, according to court papers. The victim, who was the designated judge and official for the competition, was seated directly in front of Runner during Runner’s performance, police said.

“Runner performed his lift and (the victim) deemed the lift a ‘fault,’ or not a proper lift, and raised a red flag, designating his decision,” Murphy alleged in the arrest affidavit. “Runner then approached (the victim) and verbally contested the decision. He then followed his verbal complaint with two closed fisted punches to (the victim’s) face, first a right fist and then a left fist.

“These strikes to (the victim’s) face knocked him to the gym floor, causing him to strike the back of his head on the hardwood floor,” Murphy added. “Runner pursued (the victim) and stood over him, as he lay on his back, and struck him again in the face, with another closed right fist.”

The assault was stopped by others at the competition who intervened and physically restrained Runner. Runner then left the gym and fled from the property in his vehicle, witnesses reported.

Under state law, someone commits the misdemeanor crime of assault on a sports official when the victim is a sports official who was assaulted during a sports event or was assaulted as a result of his or her official acts as a sports official.