Recent bodycam video reveals sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson calling her boyfriend Christian Coleman a ‘coward’ and accusing him of assaulting her before she was taken into custody.
Richardson, the current world champion in the 100m, was arrested last month for allegedly attacking fellow sprinter Coleman at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
The 25-year-old was charged with a fourth-degree domestic violence offense and held for over 18 hours at the South Correctional Entity (SCORE) in Des Moines, Washington.
Security videos show Richardson pushing Coleman against a support column, shoving him, and bumping into him repeatedly. Another angle seems to show her tossing something, possibly headphones, at his head.
On Tuesday, Richardson offered an apology to her boyfriend for the incident. However, newly obtained police camera footage, released by Daily Mail Sport, provides more details about her arrest.
When cops tell Richardson that they are investigating a possible assault, the 25-year-old responds by berating Coleman.
Fresh bodycam footage shows the moment sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson is arrested
The 100m world champion was detained last month for allegedly attacking Christian Coleman
Richardson is led out of the airport in handcuffs after being detailed by Seattle police officers
Coleman broke his silence on Sunday, saying Richardson shouldn’t have been arrested
‘Oh Christian, I assaulted you? I assaulted you?’ she questions. After hearing from officers that a TSA staff member, rather than Coleman, reported the event, she claims to have evidence proving she is the actual victim.
‘Oh okay… because I can definitely have evidence of him assaulting me,’ Richardson says. She later adds: ‘I’m in a domestic violent relationship… I can show you proof!’
At another point in the video, while apparently on the phone, the sprinter continues: ‘So this is the position that Christian Coleman puts me into. Because he’s a coward and I don’t want anything to do with him (from) this point going forward… I haven’t put my hands on him, we had an argument.’
Richardson informs cops that the argument was the result of Coleman being a liar. She later tells her boyfriend: ‘You’re a coward!’
The 25-year-old insists neither she nor Coleman touched the other. ‘I haven’t hit him with anything, not at all. He had headphones that were mine and I just grabbed them – but not physically,’ she tells cops, before appearing to say on the phone: ‘If I ever talk to him again, you punch me in my face. I will never, ever talk to him again.’
Richardson then turns to Coleman, adding: I will never deal with you again.’
Later in the video, the American sprinter is told she is being detained. ‘I’m under arrest right now? What for? Christian, are you serious right now?’ she says.
Footage of the Olympic star shoving her partner at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
The couple appeared to have an argument right after going through security at the airport
‘I’m not going to resist but I’m telling you that we were arguing. I didn’t assault him, I didn’t do anything wrong… Christian I’m going to go to jail because of you right now.’
As she is led away by cops, Richardson asks: ‘So I’m going to jail? Who’s going to bail me out?’ The sprinter also pleads with officers and asks to speak to her family. ‘This is crazy!’ she says.
On Tuesday, however, Richardson took to social media to apologize to Coleman. She said she is ‘taking this time to not only see myself but get myself a certain level of help that overall is going to reflect who I truly am in my heart and in my spirit and not allowing this moment, but accepting this moment to be more.’
In a separate post to her story, Richardson added: ‘I apologize to Christian. He came into my life & gave me more than a relationship but a greater understanding of unconditional love from what I’ve experienced in my past.
‘Due to my past trauma & pain, I was blind & blocked off to not only receive it but give it. I love him & to him I can’t apologize enough. My apologize [sic] should be just as loud as my actions honestly louder. To Christian I love you & I am so sorry.’
Coleman broke his silence earlier this week and said he didn’t press charges and didn’t believe that Richardson should have been handcuffed.
‘For me personally, I feel like it was a sucky situation all round,’ he said, as per Citius Mag on X. ‘I don’t feel like she should have been arrested.’
‘I’m the type of guy who’s in the business of extending grace, and mercy and love,’ he told reporters.
Earlier this week, Richardson addressed the video of her shoving her boyfriend in an airport
‘It didn’t affect me. She’s a human being and a great person, and I feel like you know, we’ve been able to be really good team-mates all year.
‘We’re just two dominant personalities. To me, she’s the best female athlete in the world.’
Coleman continued: ‘She’s just had a lot of things going on, lot of emotions and forces going on inside of her that not only I can’t understand, but nobody can. She’s one-of-one. I know it’s been a tough journey for her this year.
‘But she’s gonna bounce back because she’s the best female athlete in the world. I see it every day. She’s gonna be just fine. She gonna be good, and I’m gonna be good too.’
