Runner banned from racing for slap on reporter’s butt after she blasts him for ‘violating’ her on TV

Youth minister slaps horrified female reporter on the behind during live broadcast of 5km run – before Twitter sleuths track him down and race organizers ban him

  • A race organizer in Georgia has banned one of its runners from future events
  • The runner was asked not to return after he slapped a female reporter in the butt
  • The reporter Alex Bozarjian of WSAV is left stunned in live footage of the incident
  • She later tweeted thgat she was ‘violated, objectified, and embarrassed’
  • The Savannah Sports Council tweeted on Sunday that it was taking action
  • The runner was banned and police were notified of the incident 

A youth minister who slapped a female reporter on the behind while she delivered a live cross during a 5km run has been banned from running in the event.  

Georgia man Tommy Callaway was seen on video running up behind reporter Alex Bozarjian of WSAV and taking the swipe during the Enmarket Savannah Bridge Run.  

Bozarjian posted the video to Twitter, with the caption: ‘To the man who smacked my butt on live TV this morning. You violated, objectified, and embarrassed me. No woman should EVER have to put up with this at work or anywhere!! Do better’. 

The video, which has more than 600,000 views, prompted outraged Twitter sleuths to track Callaway down.

Alex Bozarjian of WSAV is seen in footage of her covering the Enmarket Savannah Bridge Run on Saturday when a male runner comes up from behind her and slaps her in the butt

Bozarjian is seen in the footage taken of her while covering the Enmarket Savannah Bridge Run on Saturday looking stunned just moments after an unidentified runner smacked her on the butt without warning

Bozarjian is seen in the footage taken of her while covering the Enmarket Savannah Bridge Run on Saturday looking stunned just moments after an unidentified runner smacked her on the butt without warning

Bozarjian fired back on Twitter her outrage over the incident

Bozarjian fired back on Twitter her outrage over the incident

The sleuths used the runner’s bib number to match it with a name in online records. He was identified as Tommy Callaway, a youth church minister from Statesboro, according to social media posts and the MarathonInvestigation website. 

The social media posts do not say what church he works at. However, MarathonInvestigation claims that it verified his name through photos and a cross reference of his bib number.

DailyMail.com did confirm that the number,  7553, in images of the runner was listed under Callaway’s name and his statistics at OnlineRaceResults. 

Savannah Sports Council tweeted on Sunday that it was taking action against Callaway. 

‘Yesterday at the Enmarket Savannah Bridge Run a reporter from WSAV was inappropriately touched by a registered participant of the event,’ the organization Tweeted. 

‘Our title sponsor, Enmarket and the Savannah Sports Council take this matter extremely seriously and fully condemn this individual’s actions,’ the group said. 

‘Yesterday afternoon we identified him and shared his information with the reporter and her station,’ council added’.

Cops were aware of the incident and had spoken with Boozarjian, who is pictured in the studio at WSAV

Cops were aware of the incident and had spoken with Boozarjian, who is pictured in the studio at WSAV

‘We will not tolerate behavior like this at a Savannah Sports Council event. We have made the decision to ban this individual from registering for all Savannah Sports Council owned races.’

Cops were aware of the incident and had spoken with Boozarjian, confirmed a spokeswoman from Savannah Police Department, reports the Washington Post. 

Investigators will proceed, depending on what the female report wants to do next. 

Bozarjian did not respond when DailyMail.com reached out. 

The runner also did not respond when contacted by DailyMail.com. 

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk