Arlington gym member punched employee enforcing COVID mask rule, victim and police say
A member of an Arlington gym punched an employee in the face on the Fourth of July after he was told to leave because of his refusal to adhere to new face-mask rules, according to police and the man who was assaulted.
Arlington officers responded to the LA Fitness on Little Road around noon Saturday, a police spokesman confirmed in an email. on Tuesday. Detectives are investigating the incident as a Class A misdemeanor assault with bodily injury, due to the injuries sustained by the gym’s fitness director, Sterling Malone, 31. Police have identified the suspect but didn’t release his name because charges have not been filed.
Malone, who was left with a bloodied lips from the attack, said he revoked the man’s membership to LA Fitness — this location or any other. He had already been planning to remove him as a member when he started to cause a scene, Malone said.
As people worked out around the gym, Malone was reminding them one by one of Gov. Greg Abbott’s new executive order mandating businesses in counties with more than 20 coronavirus cases need to require that face coverings be worn. Inside LA Fitness, that meant members now had to wear masks even on the machines, instead of only having to wear them when moving around. Everyone was complying with the rule, even if some were begrudging, Malone said.
But then, he said, a man without a mask who was using various lifting machines asked him, “What about everybody else?” Malone told him he would talk to the others who didn’t have their masks on, he said, and the man agreed to put on a mask after his current set. He never put it on, though, and became more combative.
“He’s fussing about people not wearing their masks ... and I was like, ‘Regardless of that, we’ve told them, and we’re going to keep telling them if they don’t follow the rules they might get their membership revoked,’” Malone said on Tuesday. “I was like, ‘Besides that, you should follow the rules for yourself. It shouldn’t have to come to that.’”
The man began loudly “yelling, fussing and cussing,” exchanging words with Malone from across the gym, until he eventually asked Malone if he wanted to take this outside. Malone said he agreed, only wanting to lure the man out of the gym so he could lock the door on him.
Once outside, the man punched and kicked at the door in anger, as well as held up his middle fingers, Malone said. And when Malone had to open the door to let two young women inside, the man wedged his way into the opening and “sucker-punched” him in the face, he said.
“I’m just like, ‘Really?’” Malone told the Star-Telegram on Tuesday. “I was moreso shocked as opposed to hurt.”
The police spokesman said the department will be trying to obtain a statement from the suspect as the criminal case moves forward. There were several witnesses to the incident, he said.
The alleged assault is another in a growing series of incidents across North Texas in which customers have expressed outraged by requirements to wear masks in businesses, even as COVID-19 cases are soaring and hospital beds are filling up. Some people at Tarrant County Commission meetings have voiced their feelings that their rights are being violated.
In Fort Worth, a woman recently spit on a convenience store counter after she was told she needed a mask to buy beer.
LA Fitness has been requiring all patrons to wear face masks at all times, per Abbott’s mandate that went into effect Friday, Malone said. There are only some exceptions for certain people with health conditions, he said, and they have to stay 12 feet away from everybody else.
The average age of their gym members is probably around 60, meaning many are vulnerable to COVID-19, Malone said.
“It’s definitely a concern,” he said.
‘I just couldn’t understand that’
Malone has been recovering from the minor injuries to his lips, he said. There are a few cuts and marks left behind.
He has two kids at home, ages 2 and 4, whose overlapping voices cut into his phone call with the Star-Telegram on Tuesday.
What especially angered him about the whole Saturday incident, he said, was the immaturity of the gym member in question. He would’ve understood his anger more if he had expressed he believed it was his right to not have to wear a mask while working out. But he was mainly upset others weren’t wearing masks, Malone said.
It shouldn’t be that big of a deal to wear a mask, he said. And if it is, he said, people can work out outside.
“Everywhere you go you have to wear masks now,” he said. “So why would you think you won’t have to wear it at a gym where you sweat a lot and breathe very heavy around other people? I just couldn’t understand that.”
He posted about the assault on his Facebook page on Saturday, describing what happened and sharing pictures of his lips marred by bloody scratches. More than 1,000 people shared the post and more than 980 commented, most expressing their support for him.
Malone’s wife took to Facebook, too, to share his post. “Because Sterling knows that Black men are rarely given the benefit of the doubt, he controlled (himself) and did not retaliate,” she wrote.
She indicated they will have to wait to see how police will respond. Malone said a couple of officers came to the gym on Saturday to take the report, interviewing him as well as others who witnessed the incident.
It’s “difficult for me to tell law enforcement how to do their job,” he said.
But he believes there needs to be some repercussions in the form of assault charges.
“I was assaulted at work and it was not just a basic disagreement,” Malone said. “I do want some documentation that he has assaulted someone for basically nothing.”
This story was originally published July 7, 2020 at 5:49 PM.
