Before William Hendon was shocked by a Taser and arrested by Cincinnati police while on the field at Great American Ball Park during a Cincinnati Reds game Tuesday night, he did a backflip.
“Everybody thinks you landed that backflip,” Municipal Court Judge William Mallory said during Hendon’s arraignment Wednesday morning.
“I’m pretty sure I did,” said Hendon, who appeared in court still wearing a Reds jersey.
Police arrested Hendon, 19, of Cleves, on felony criminal trespass and obstructing official business, a misdemeanor, court records show. The judge reduced Hendon’s criminal trespassing count to a misdemeanor, at the behest of prosecutors, because he was wrongly charged with a felony.
Hendon, a sophomore at the Ohio State University, pleaded not guilty. It’s unclear what his relationship is to Sylvia Sieve Hendon, a retired judge who served on the bench in Hamilton County before being elected to the Ohio First District Court of Appeals, however, she was present for the hearing at the Hamilton County Justice Center.
The Enquirer has left a voicemail with the retired judge seeking comment.
Hendon ran onto the field at Great American Ball Park during the Reds-Cleveland Guardians game Tuesday night, did a backflip and ran from police, video shows. An officer approached Hendon but he did a backflip and ran before an officer stopped him by using the Taser.
Hendon “did knowingly run onto the Reds playing field during the game without permission to do so,” an officer wrote in one of his criminal complaints.
Another court document says Hendon purposely impeded a public official’s lawful duties and “did with purpose to delay his arrest run from police.”
“You’re a star, Mr. Hendon, you got your 15 minutes of fame,” Mallory said.
Hendon was booked into the Hamilton County Justice Center at 10:51 p.m. and was held overnight without bond according to the jail docket.
Mallory allowed Hendon to remain out of jail on his own recognizance, though Hendon is currently banned from Great American Ball Park. He is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on July 3.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Judge to fan who crashed Reds game: ‘Everybody thinks you landed that backflip’
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