Runner who smacked female reporter’s butt on live TV arrested, charged with sexual battery
On December 7, a female journalist covering a family-friendly local foot race – the Enmarket Savannah Bridge Run in Georgia – was smacked on the butt by one of the runners in that race as he sped by the reporter. Adding insult to injury, WSAV reporter Alex Bozarjian was live and on-air at the time of her sexual assault. The reporter filed a sexual battery report with the Savannah Police Department, telling police that when the man ran by her, he slapped her backside and grabbed her buttocks.
Yesterday, that runner was arrested and charged.
A runner accused of slapping and grabbing the backside of a female reporter during a race in Georgia last weekend was arrested Friday on a misdemeanor charge of sexual battery.
Thomas Callaway, 43, was arrested after turning himself in, Savannah police confirmed to NBC News Saturday. He was released on $1,300 bail. ~ NBC News
The video of that sexual battery, captured live, has since gone viral. Bozarjian took to Twitter on the same day of her assault to say, “No woman should EVER have to put up with this at work or anywhere!!” Her Tweet has also gone viral, garnering as of this writing, more than 200,000 retweets and 736,000 likes.
Fox News reports that it was the race’s sponsor, the Savannah Sports Council, who eventually identified the butt-smacking Callaway, who has since apologized to Bozarjian on her station, WSAV.
“I am not that person that people are portraying me as,” Callaway said. “I make mistakes, I’m not perfect and I’m asking for forgiveness.”
“Alex, I am sorry. I did not mean to do this. I think you’re a great, great asset to this community and to the local media and to the national media. You’re very talented. You’re an amazing woman from what I’ve gathered, and I apologize.”
Callaway, who works as a youth minister and Boy Scout leader, is now banned from any and all races sponsored by the Savannah Sports Council. His charge of misdemeanor sexual battery is punishable by up to a year behind bars in a Georgia jail.
“It was extremely vulnerable,” Bozarjian said. “I would say that the reason why maybe it caught so much fire is because the emotion is extremely relatable for women all over the world.”
For more on the story, see the video accompanying this article.
~ Posted by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter
