Watch: Martial Artist Attempts Spinning Kick at Va. Police Officer
What to Know
- A Virginia Beach police tackled a man after he attempted a spinning kick at an officer during an arrest over the Fourth of July weekend that was captured in a viral video.
- Timothy Allen Wegert, 33, was charged with felony assault on a law enforcement officer, along with misdemeanor assault, disorderly conduct and obstruction charges following the incident.
- Wegert, a former martial arts instructor and three-time world champion, was identified by police as the man in the video, although authorities have not yet disclosed what led to the confrontation.
By Gavin Stone
Source The Virginian-Pilot
The man shown in a viral video apparently attempting a spinning kick to a police officer in Virginia Beach over the Fourth of July weekend was charged with a felony.
At 2:20 a.m. July 5, police officers were flagged by someone reporting an assault in the 1300 block of Atlantic Avenue. They later arrested Timothy Allen Wegert of Monroe — a community near Lynchburg — in a moment captured on video showing an officer sprinting down the beach toward Wegert, wearing black and white striped pants. Wegert, 33, squares up and goes for what appears to be a spinning heel kick and misses, allowing the officer to tackle him to the ground.
Three other officers can be seen assisting. Police confirmed Wegert is the man in the video.
The video of the arrest was shared on Instagram by the popular Shore Drive Shuffle account, where it has been seen by thousands.
Wegert is charged with felony assault on a law enforcement officer along with misdemeanor counts of simple assault, disorderly conduct and two counts of obstruction of justice, according to Virginia Beach police.
It’s unclear what precipitated the arrest. The investigation is ongoing.
Wegert is the former CEO and master instructor at UpLevel Martial Arts in Charlottesville, according to Bill Peters, a family friend and owner of the UpLevel location. Peters said Wegert was fired as CEO in 2021 for his conduct outside of the business, which he said included multiple assaults. Wegert has recently been teaching dance, according to Peters.
“I know him very, very well, I know the whole family — what a nice family,” Peters said. “It’s a shame.”
Peters confirmed Wegert is a three-time world champion in martial arts and a fourth-degree black belt, having trained with UpLevel since he was a child. UpLevel describes itself as “Charlottesville’s best martial arts school.”
Video taken around 9:15 p.m. on Saturday appears to show Wegert in the same, distinctive black and white striped pants, mixing acrobatic dance with martial arts moves at Mahi’s a few blocks down Atlantic Avenue from where he was later arrested.
Casey Bunce, 42, a physical therapist from Virginia Beach who recorded the video of him dancing, said Wegert seemed to be “just dancing and having a good time.” Bunce had seen him on the beach the day before and said he was “quite a character,” and heard he had been at Mahi’s “going nuts” on the dance floor.
“He’s definitely an outgoing character but seems very nice,” Bunce said. “After I recorded the video I gave him a high five and he said, ‘Thank you brother,’ so he wasn’t aggressive at all.”
______________
©2026 The Virginian-Pilot.
Visit pilotonline.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.