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Details emerge as additional charges filed against couple involved in viral punching video

Additional charges filed against couple involved in viral punching video

Altoona police have filed additional charges against the couple involved in a July 4 incident that gained national attention via a viral video that showed an officer punching the man in the face — punches confirmed in the criminal complaint filed by that officer.

The charges against Ryan M. Coke, 43, and Melissa L. Gleixner, 35, include terroristic threats, stalking and harassment and stem from interactions between the pair and two neighboring households at Logan Hills Apartments during the two days prior to the punching incident in Gleixner’s apartment that went viral when shared on a YouTube police watchdog channel.

According to the new affidavit, based on 911 calls by neighbors, body camera and dashcam footage and statements and a video from neighbors, along with the prior criminal complaint, there were three sets of hostile interactions — two between the couple and a woman in an adjoining apartment who was insulted repeatedly and threatened and one between Coke and a neighbor couple outside, with Coke challenging the man to fight, after which Coke chased the man’s car and threw something at it, according to the complaint.

In the first instance, on the afternoon of July 2, Coke and Gleixner came into their apartment yelling about being “busted,” because apartment complex management had been informed that Coke was staying there despite not being on Gleixner’s lease, according to the complaint.

There commenced loud banging on the common wall of the neighboring apartment, prompting the neighbor to call 911, according to the complaint.

When a pair of officers responded, Gleixner claimed to have been sleeping alone in her apartment, although she admitted to screaming, after which she shut the door upon the officers, according to the affidavit.

When those officers then went to the apartment of the neighbor who had called 911, Gleixner yelled at them to “do some real cop work,” police records state.

And after Gleixner may have thought the officers had gone, she allegedly yelled at the neighbor, calling her a “f—–g pig,” according to court documents.

In the second instance, on the afternoon of July 3, the neighbor again called 911 after Coke and Gleixner came to Gleixner’s apartment and began yelling at the neighbor, calling her a “fat pig” and “antagonizing her for calling police the previous day,” according to the complaint.

Their insult of the neighbor aligned with names the couple had previously called the neighbor, including “fat ass” and “stupid whore,” police records state.

Gleixner had also previously said to the neighbor, “just you wait, sweetheart” — a statement the neighbor perceived as a threat, according to the complaint.

A different neighbor heard some of this interaction and corroborated the first neighbor’s version, according to the affidavit.

When three officers arrived in response to the July 3 911 call, the neighbor told them Gleixner had screamed, “you called the cops, you fat f—–g pig,” according to the complaint.

The neighbor was scared and also tired of being harassed — both on her own account and on account of her baby daughter, the neighbor told officers, according to the complaint.

When the officers contacted Gleixner then in her apartment, Gleixner was “defensive and argumentative,” police records state.

When an officer asked her “calmly,” to “lower your voice,” Gleixner said, “I don’t have to do s—, bitch: kick rocks,” then slammed the apartment door on the officers, according to the complaint.

In the third instance, later that same day, a man carrying a baby and another man left the apartment building, when Coke shouted from Gleixner’s apartment, “don’t be slamming the door, you p—–,” according to the affidavit.

Coke then jogged out of the building with a cigarette in his mouth, raising his arms in a way that indicated he wanted to fight the man with the baby, who was now in his car, court documents state.

Concerned about the safety of himself, his baby and the companion, the neighbor began driving away, as Coke gave chase, yelling “that’s what I thought, that’s what I thought, keep driving away,” according to the complaint.

While chasing, Coke threw something that may have hit the car, according to the complaint.

The driver had to take evasive action to avoid hitting Coke, who had run in front of the vehicle, according to the complaint.

When the neighbor returned with his girlfriend, after picking her up at work, Coke was hiding behind a parked vehicle at the apartment complex, waiting for him and again challenged him to fight, according to the affidavit — which included supporting statements from neighbors.

Based on what she saw and what she’d been told on the way back home, the girlfriend then called 911. When her boyfriend informed Coke that 911 dispatchers were on the phone, Coke retreated to Gleixner’s apartment and turned out the lights, court documents state.

Officers, led by patrolman Travis Glass, responded to the call and interacted with Gleixner and Coke in Gleixner’s apartment early on July 4, according to the complaint.

During that interaction with Glass, Coke and Gleixner minimized what had happened and asserted that no crime had been committed — with Coke refusing to identify himself to Glass, police records state.

Glass insisted on Coke indentifying himself, saying he was conducting an official police investigation and identification was therefore mandatory, according to the complaint.

When Gleixner began shutting the door on Glass, Glass used both hands and a foot to force his way in, as Coke retreated into the apartment, according to the complaint.

Glass forced his way in past Gleixner’s attempt at obstruction and her attempt to keep Glass from identifying Coke, “as (officers) had reasonable suspicion to believe that Coke was the suspect in the crime they were investigating,” the complaint, authored by Sgt. Thomas Venios, states.

Pushing Gleixner aside, Glass went after Coke, trying to get control of Coke’s hands, while ordering him to drop a lit cigarette, police records state.

Coke grabbed a coffee table stacked with items with both hands and flipped it, after which Glass grabbed Coke’s right wrist. Coke tried to pull away, and “Glass was struck on the top of the head by Coke,” the complaint states.

Coke landed on a couch, Glass lost his grip of Coke’s right wrist, then Glass punched Coke twice in the face, after which Coke brought his hands up to protect himself, grabbing Glass’s right forearm, after which Glass pulled Coke off the couch by his upper right arm, according to the affidavit.

Another officer intervened, and, with difficulty, they brought Coke under control, using pepper spray twice, according to the complaint.

Gleixner tried to intervene with them, but two other officers restrained her, also with difficulty, police records state.

Coke is charged with one misdemeanor count each of terroristic threats, resisting arrest, obstruction of justice, disorderly conduct and harassment, four misdemeanor counts of stalking to cause fear and one summary count of being the occupant of a disorderly house.

The charges against Gleixner are identical, with the addition of witness intimidation.

Preliminary hearings for Coke and Gleixner on the charges are set for Sept. 26 before Magisterial District Judge Ben Jones.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.

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