Sha’Carri Richardson, the reigning 100-meter champion, was arrested last week for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Police responded to reports of an altercation at the airport and Richardson was charged on Sunday (July 27) with fourth degree domestic violence, according to the police report obtained by The Associated Press (AP).
Richardson, 25, was booked into the South Correctional Entity in Des Moines, Washington, at 6:54 p.m. Sunday and released Monday at 1:13 p.m.
“USATF is aware of the reports and is not commenting on this matter,” USA Track and Field said in a statement.
The police report said an officer at the airport was notified by a Transportation Security Administration supervisor of a disturbance between Richardson and her boyfriend, sprinter Christian Coleman, who was also scheduled to compete at the championships.
The officer reviewed camera footage and observed Richardson reach out with her left arm and yank away Coleman’s backpack. Richardson then appeared to get in Coleman’s way, and Coleman tried to step around her. Coleman was shoved into a wall.
As The Independent UK notes, an officer on the scene said, “I was told Coleman did not want to participate any further in the investigation and declined to be a victim.”
The report later said that Richardson appeared to throw an item at Coleman. TSA indicated it might have been headphones.
On Thursday, Richardson ran in the opening round of the women’s 100m at the US national championships before withdrawing from the semi-finals. She has an automatic bye to the 100m at the world championships in September in Tokyo as the defending champion. She is still scheduled to compete in the 200m in Eugene, according to AFP.
Coleman also ran in the 100m heats at the US championships, and finished fifth in Saturday’s final.s.