FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — An Olympic track medalist is being charged in Florida with punching a female hurdler who also competed in the Olympics.
A Broward County Sheriff’s Office arrest report says 29-year-old Fred Carly allegedly attacked Alleisha Johnson with a closed fist at a hotel near Fort Lauderdale on Thursday. Carly is charged with misdemeanor battery in the case that left Johnson with a bloody nose.
Carly won a bronze medal in the same event at the 2024 Parisio Games in the 100-meter race at the 2020 Olympics, and Johnson also competed. According to the arrest report, they were previously involved and got caught up in a heated debate at a hotel in Florida, where they were staying before a track meet in the area.
Carly’s lawyer Richard Cooper said in an email Saturday that he has a “target on his back” that leads to unfounded allegations by “a fierce, sometimes jealous competitor.”
“We ask the public not to hurry to the judge as the facts of exculpyaly have finally been revealed,” Cooper said. “Fred looks forward to returning to the competition and moving away from distractions as his legal team is working to resolve these accusations.”
It’s not the first brush in Carly’s law. This is the case when police used a taser on him just months after he was arrested for allegedly punching a Miami Beach police officer on January 2nd. He was charged with domestic battery in May against his wife, according to court records.
His lawyers say he is innocent of those accusations as well.
