PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) — Authorities announced on Thursday that they are considering criminal charges against a man believed to have struck a woman during a concert at the Colorado State Fair. This incident led country music artist Scotty McCreery to halt his performance mid-show and confront the alleged attacker from the stage.
In a video captured at the event, McCreery can be seen pointing into the audience and prompting the band to stop playing. “Right here, right here,” he says. “That’s a lady you just hit, sir. Absolutely not. Who just hit the lady?”
McCreery, who rose to fame as a teenager on “American Idol,” called for police and security assistance and checked on the well-being of the woman involved.
As officials responded to the situation during the concert in Pueblo, Colorado, the crowd reacted with boos and chants. McCreery, 30, addressed the audience, urging them to help identify the person responsible for the incident. He condemned the act of hitting a woman as the “definition of a coward” and instructed the alleged perpetrator to “get the heck out of here” before continuing with the show.
Emergency responders evaluated the woman at the scene, and she chose not to go to the hospital by ambulance, according to Olga Robak from the Colorado Agriculture Department.
The man was briefly detained by authorities but not arrested. The case is now being referred to prosecutors for potential criminal charges, Robak noted.
