Prosecutors charged an Ohio man on April 21 with seven counts of resisting arrest and simple assault and battery after tackling senior track team member Isaac Waffle April 20.

Austin Matthew Crist, 28, of Montpellier, Ohio, was arrested on Mauck Road about a mile-and-a-half east of Half Moon Lake Road, according to Hillsdale County Sheriff’s Office reports. The site is approximately two-and-a-half miles from the center of campus and a mile-and-a-half from Hayden Park.

Crist’s probable cause conference is tentatively scheduled for May 3 at 10 a.m., according to MiCourt Case Search. If convicted as charged, Crist faces up to two years in prison.

Waffle and sophomore track team member Caleb Bigler said they were running east on Mauck Road as they usually do multiple times a week.

“Isaac as a senior has probably run down this road hundreds of times,” Bigler said. “We run there all the time.”

On this occasion, the runners planned to run six miles, three miles out and back, Bigler said. Bigler noted he was at 2.9 miles on his running watch when something strange happened.

“This dude has just walked out of a driveway and onto the road, and he’s got two big dogs next to him,” he said. “He starts drifting into our side of the road and steps right in front of Isaac and sticks his arms out and says, ‘You want to see black Jesus?’ and tackled Isaac into the ditch in a headlock.”

Bigler said he and Waffle did not see it coming because Crist was not acting unusual.

“Being a naive Hillsdale College student, I thought he was just out for a walk with his dogs,” Waffle said. “There are people like that out there, so you just have to be smart.”

As soon as it happened, Crist’s family sprinted over and pulled him off of Waffle within 10 seconds, Bigler said. Bigler was never touched, and Waffle said he wasn’t hurt in the incident.

“I had the most minor scuff mark on my shoulder,” Waffle said.

Waffle noted Crist was never actually choking him and that he did not fight back. Waffle said he just sat there with Crist wrapped around him.

“He was not in immediate danger of suffocating, and he was only there for a couple of seconds before his family got there,” Bigler said.

After the incident, a neighbor at the house next door who had seen the commotion told Waffle and Bigler she would call the police.

“She thought the dogs had attacked us, and wanted to shoot them,” Bigler said. “The dogs actually never even barked at us. That could have gone very bad if the dogs hadn’t been so chill. They could have ripped our arms off.”

It took four police officers to get Crist handcuffed and in the back of a police car, Bigler said.

“His brother and a family friend, who were both bigger guys, were struggling to keep this guy down,” Bigler said. “I think he hit one of the cops in the face.”

After about half an hour, the two teammates ran back to campus and finished their run unscathed.

“When we got back we were like, ‘Coach, you’re not going to believe what just happened!’” Bigler said.

Bigler said he does not feel any less safe now.

“Like the email said, it was a very isolated incident in the middle of nowhere,” he said. “Fear never struck. It happened so fast that we didn’t even get any adrenaline.”

Bigler said he doesn’t think it should be a concern for students on campus.

“It was three miles away,” Bigler said. “It doesn’t change anything, just like the email from campus safety said.”

Bigler said he and other members of the team continue to use the route without an issue. Nevertheless, he is glad that it didn’t happen to one of the women on the team, especially one by herself.

Joe Kellam, associate director of security and emergency management at Hillsdale College and captain of homeland security and emergency management at Hillsdale Police Department, said central dispatch notified his team immediately.

“Our officer helped with taking the report from Caleb and Isaac,” he said. “I went to the sheriff’s office the following morning to follow up.”

Kellam said one of his security officers, most of whom are either former or current police officers, are trained to react to any emergencies in a timely manner.

“We will get the call from dispatch and students and respond together to assist the local law enforcement in their investigation,” Kellam said.

Kellam said downloading the Rave Guardian app in case of an emergency is a good idea.

“Students can set a call timer and will notify someone they set as a contact if they don’t get back in time,” he said.

Kellam also encourages students to call the security patrol unit if they see anything suspicious.

“We would much rather go out and it not be a problem than to not get a call, and it be a problem later,” he said.