Man sentenced in RAFB assault on bike-riding chaplain
A 61-year-old man must surrender to authorities to begin serving a jail stint Friday, about two months after being found guilty of assaulting a bike-riding chaplain on Robins Air Force Base.
Federal jurors deliberated a little less than two hours April 24 before finding Gregory Thomas guilty of misdemeanor assault in a Sept. 15, 2016, incident on a base fitness trail.
Thomas, a military retiree turned civilian employee, was sentenced Monday to 30 days in jail, according to federal court records.
Witnesses testified during the April trial that Thomas — who was walking on the trail — jabbed his elbow into the arm of Paul Gunn and said “the trail is not for bicycles,” causing Gunn to fall from his bike. Gunn, a Nashville, Tennessee, pastor, was on assignment at the base to help train chaplain recruiters.
Thomas testified as the only witness for his defense and claimed the encounter was an accident.
Amy Leigh Womack: 478-744-4398, @awomackmacon
This story was originally published June 28, 2017 at 3:23 PM with the headline "Man sentenced in RAFB assault on bike-riding chaplain."