We’ve all read the Guide to Klapping Gym Boet, and while it’s an amazing read, and wonderfully illustrates the way countless people feel about “charnas” in gyms around the world, no one took it to heart. Or at least we thought not, until some mad American gymster, who was the embodiment of the Guide, died trying to take things to the next level.

Gold’s Gym in Latham, New York was the scene for what Police Chief Steven H. Heider called a “whirlwind of a battle in a confined space”. Around 05h45 yesterday morning, Chad Brothers, of Troy, began his workout at the gym and straight away witnesses began noticing strange behaviour. He used exaggerated sounds when he worked out and at approximately 06h18 all hell broke loose when he fell or jumped from an elliptical machine.

Troy marched straight over to a treadmill machine which was being used by another gym-goer, increased the speed and proceeded to punch the man in the face. He then pushed over several universal weight machines, each about 320kg (700lb) and also destroyed several display cases and threw 20kg (45lb) dumbells. A false sense of relief washed over patrons as Troy left, but it was short-lived and he returned, heading straight of the manager’s office and tearing computers off the walls and toppling file cabinets.

A female police officer was the first on the scene and ordered the very muscular, 6,1 ft, 105kg hulk to stand down. Perhaps not surprisingly, he resisted and threw boxes at her. She discharged her Taser, hitting him in the chest and the leg which put him on the ground. As she was trying to cuff him he stood up, grabbed the Taser and began shocking himself. Soon after two other officers arrived and shocked him four to five times, and one officer also struck him with a baton.

Finally subdued, it took several other gym patrons and two pairs of handcuffs to restrain the brute. Only a minute after being taken into custody Troy went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at 07h14 when he arrived at the Albany Medical Center Hospital. An autopsy, including a toxicology report, will be performed today to determine if any performance-enhancing drugs were in his system.

[Source: Times Union]