Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that Chris Geldart, the city’s Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice, has resigned amid assault charges and questions about his residency status.

“Chris has been a very capable and effective public servant,” Bowser said in a press conference Wednesday afternoon, describing Geldart’s resignation as a decision they made mutually. “I’m very proud of the work that we’ve done together and we certainly wish Chris well.”

City Administrator Kevin Donahue, who confirmed to reporters Wednesday that he lives in the Chevy Chase neighborhood of D.C., will step in to lead the Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice office while the city looks for a replacement.

Geldart has been on leave since at least Oct. 5, when NBC Washington reported the news of an alleged assault involving Geldart and a personal trainer in a Gold’s Gym parking lot.

On Saturday, Oct. 1, Geldart reportedly got into a verbal dispute after opening his door into the complainant’s vehicle, according to a statement from Arlington County Police. Geldart was charged with alleged assault and battery and turned himself in. He was released on summons and is set to appear in Arlington District Court on Oct. 17, according to records.

FOX 5 obtained footage of the altercation, which was confirmed by Mayor Muriel Bowser when she was confronted by a FOX 5 reporter in a video that has since become a meme. Bowser declined to comment on the footage when confronted, and said in a statement on Oct. 5 that the mayor’s team was “reviewing the matter,” adding that the incident sounded like “something that happens to a lot of people — a dispute over something minor — and we hope it is resolved quickly.”

But the drama continued over the following days, particularly surrounding a detail in the police report which listed Geldart’s address in Falls Church, Virginia. D.C. law stipulates that any high-ranking official must be a D.C. resident during their tenure. (FOX 5 attempted to reach Geldart at the Virginia address listed in the report, but did not end up getting ahold of him.)

According to D.C. Council documents, first reported by Washington City Paper, Geldart’s address was listed in Ward 6 when he was nominated as the director of the Department of Public Works in 2019. He’s also registered to vote in D.C.

On Friday last week, two days after the video surfaced, Bowser confirmed that she had not granted Geldart any exemptions for the residency requirements. During a press conference Wednesday, Bowser confirmed that Geldart’s children and family lived in Virginia, while Geldart maintained a residence in D.C.

“All of the issues are distracting from the job that we have to do,” Bowser said.

The mayor declined to say whether it was the assault charge or the Falls Church residency that weighed more heavily in the office’s decision to part ways with Geldart. Last Friday, Bowser told reporters she saw “some concerning behavior,” and that “in these roles, we all have to live up to the expectations of our public, that we make D.C. proud.”

When asked Wednesday about her office’s original statement, which characterized the incident as something that happens to a lot of people, Bowser said she had not yet reviewed the video.

“I think all the reports suggest that [it] was over a possible door ding, so I will call that minor,” Bowser said. “Do I think the effects of that were minor? No. I think that was serious, the response was serious, but I think what is was about…it was about nothing.”

Bowser appointed Geldart to the role in January of 2021. Before his position as Deputy Mayor, he served as Operational Lead in the city’s initial COVID response. Prior to that, he led the city’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency for five years. He resigned in 2017, shortly after an Office of the Inspector General report concluded he had committed ethics violations — including using his public office to secure work for his girlfriend’s (now wife’s) company.